You have just changed your baby's diaper, and went to bed, to finally rest. Suddenly, you hear a loud wail. Your baby is crying, again! This time, it is the hungry cry.

But what if we tell you that you no longer have to disrupt your rest with your baby's cry for hunger? This is only possible when you already know when to feed your baby. Babies cannot tell when they are hungry, so more often than not, parents may miss to understand they are hungry, until the hunger cry starts. But there are some cues you can look for to feed your baby!

Hunger Cues In Your Baby

Increased Activity

Your baby might become more alert and active. Thinking about food can make babies excited, so you may notice them moving around more than usual.

Head-Turning

Babies often turn their heads from side to side as if searching for food.

Mouth Movements

Look for signs like opening and closing their mouth, resembling a tiny bird waiting to be fed.

Rooting Reflex

Turning their head toward the breast, chest, or bottle is a classic hunger cue.

Sucking Motions

Babies may make sucking motions with their mouths, even if they don’t have a pacifier or bottle nearby.

Lip Smacking or Drooling

Increased drooling, lip-smacking, or sticking out their tongue are all signals they’re getting ready for a meal.

Sucking on Hands or Clothing

Your baby might start sucking on their fingers, hands, or even their clothes as a sign of hunger.

Clenched Fists

Watch for little fists clenching in frustration and impatience.

Focused Eye Contact

Babies who recognize their primary feeder might stare and follow you around the room with their eyes.

Facial Expressions

A furrowed brow or a distressed look might be your baby’s way of saying, “When’s the next meal?”

The “Neh” Sound

According to Dunstan baby language, the sound “neh” just before crying often means hunger.

Also remember that hunger pangs are strong enough to wake most babies, even from deep sleep. However, if your baby consistently sleeps for extended periods, it’s important to ensure they’re feeding frequently enough for their age.

For newborns, it’s generally recommended that they don’t regularly sleep longer than 4 hours at a stretch. Occasional long naps are fine—especially if they give you a much-needed rest! However, if your baby frequently sleeps through feeding times, consult your pediatrician to determine if gentle wake-ups for feeding are necessary.

How do you know your baby is feeding well enough?

It can be difficult to ensure that your baby is well fed, especially if you are breastfeeding, or when your baby is not of the age when he can talk. However, there are signals too for this, in fact your baby also learns how to signal that they need more milk or food.

It also depends on the age. For instance, a newborn will feed often, usually every 2 to 3 hours and sometime smore often. They feed up to 12 times every 24 hours. As your baby grows, their tummies grow too, in fact the tummy grows form a size of cherry at birth to walnut in 3 days. In a week, it is at the size of plum and in a month, it is of the size of a large chicken egg.

The "I am not hungry right now" signs for babies are:

• releasing or pushing away the breast or bottle
• closing their mouth and not responding to encouragement to latch on or suck again
• open and relaxed hands (instead of clenched)
• relaxing their body and even going a little limp
• looking around and showing interest in playing or other things
• looking content and maybe even smiling
• appearing happily drowsy and ready to go back to sleep

An analysis of health records from more than 1 million births found that the share of newborns whose parents refused the vitamin K shot rose by more than 57% during the first half of 2026. The rate increased from 5.2% to 8.1%, according to Reuters.

Vitamin K is a routine injection given to newborns within hours of birth. The number may sound like a small percentage but doctors are worried as vitamin K deficiency can cause sudden, potentially fatal bleeding in otherwise healthy babies, including bleeding inside the brain.

Why Do Newborns Need Vitamin K?

Newborns, however, are born very little vitamin K. Only small amounts cross the placenta during pregnancy, while the bacteria that help produce the vitamin have not yet become established in a newborn's intestine. Breast milk also contains very small amounts.

This leaves babies temporarily vulnerable to vitamin K deficiency bleeding, or VKDB. The standard vitamin K injection given after birth is meant to prevent that deficiency from becoming serious.

Also read: UK Flu Jabs Begin For Children And Pregnant Women: What You Need To Know

What Happens If A Baby Does Not Get The Shot?

The most concerning part about VKDB is that parents may have no warning that something is wrong with the baby. Bleeding can occur internally, including in the intestines or brain. According to the CDC, around 30% to 60% of late VKDB cases involve bleeding inside the brain.

Late VKDB can occur from one week to six months after birth, often in babies who are born completely healthy. The CDC says newborns who do not receive the vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding than babies who receive it.

Possible symptoms can include unusual sleepiness, irritability, seizures, vomiting, bruising or a bulging soft spot on the baby's head. But importantly, most cases have no warning signs before a life-threatening bleed occurs.

Also read: US Woman Gives Birth To Naturally Conceived Triplets Weighing Nearly 19 Pounds

Why Are More US Parents Refusing It?

Reuters' analysis found that refusals accelerated sharply this year. Pediatricians and public-health experts linked the trend to growing mistrust of medical interventions and misinformation, amid other changes in US public-health messaging.

The CDC has historically recommended a vitamin K injection at birth, with the practice dating back decades. Its guidance says the shot is the most reliable way to prevent VKDB.

Doctors Are Concerned About The Current Trend

The concern among pediatricians is that if refusal rates continue climbing, VKDB could stop being a rare neonatal emergency and start appearing more often in hospitals.

For a newborn who looks perfectly healthy, the risk can seem invisible and not so concerning. The problem is that the bleeding the vitamin K shot is meant to prevent can also be invisible until it becomes a medical emergency.

The UK today began the first phase of its flu vaccination program, offering jabs to millions of children and pregnant women ahead of winter.

Nearly 19 million people received their flu jab in England last year, helping prevent an estimated 104,000 hospitalizations.

Why Do Early Flu Vaccinations Matter?

Flu season typically peaks in December and January. Starting vaccinations earlier for children and pregnant women aims to protect those most vulnerable to serious illness and limit the spread of the virus before it circulates more widely.

Starting vaccination in September gives children and pregnant women time to build protection before flu begins circulating more widely. As per the NHS, the children’s flu vaccine can take up to 14 days to work.

Who Gets the Flu Jab First?

Children and pregnant women are among the first groups offered vaccination because they are more vulnerable to serious illness from flu.

Most school-aged children will receive their vaccine, via nasal spray, at school.

Parents of two- and three-year-olds, as well as children in clinical risk groups, will be invited to arrange vaccination through their GP practice.

Pregnant women can receive the flu jab at any stage of pregnancy through their maternity team, GP practice or participating pharmacy.

NHS teams are also taking vaccines into local communities, including through high street pharmacies and mobile vans.

Why Are Young Children and Pregnant Women More Vulnerable?

Flu can be much more serious than a bad cold. Every winter, thousands of children require hospital care because of the virus, while pregnant women also face a higher risk of serious illness.

Flu can spread quickly among younger age groups, which means vaccinating children can also help limit transmission to people who may be more vulnerable, including babies, grandparents and pregnant women.

Vaccinating pregnant women can also help protect their newborn babies in their first weeks.

“Flu can really knock you for six, and for some children and pregnant women it can mean becoming seriously ill or ending up in hospital. Getting vaccinated only takes a few minutes, but it can make a real difference – helping protect you and the people around you from getting seriously unwell,” said Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England.

When Will Other Groups Get Vaccinated?

From 1 October, flu vaccinations will be offered to other eligible groups, including:

• People aged 65 and over
• Adults with some long-term conditions
• Care home residents
• Carers
• Close contacts of people who are immunocompromised
• People experiencing homelessness
• Frontline health and social care workers

Parents of two- and three-year-olds will also be able to book appointments at participating community pharmacies through the National Booking Service from October.

NHS Expands RSV Vaccination Program

The NHS’s year-round RSV vaccination program is also expanding from today to include people aged 65 to 74 with a weakened immune system or certain long-term lung conditions.

RSV can make babies and adults with long-term lung conditions seriously unwell and increase their risk of hospitalisation.

Eligible people can receive the vaccine through their GP practice or, in some areas, a participating pharmacy. Those eligible should expect an invitation from their GP.

Pregnant women can also receive RSV, whooping cough and flu vaccines to help protect their newborn babies in their first weeks.

“Vaccinations play a vital role in protecting those most at risk from flu and they are also crucial for relieving pressures on our NHS over the winter months,” Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Yvette Cooper said.

“Everyone who is eligible for a free vaccination will be notified through their phone or in the post,” Cooper added.

A US woman has naturally conceived and given birth to a healthy set of triplets, a rare pregnancy that medical professionals described as an uncommon occurrence.

Nyla Craft from South Bay region in Los Angeles, already a mother of two — a daughter and a son — gave birth to three boys: two identical twins and a third who is their fraternal sibling, said chief of neonatology Dr Rohit Passi at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

“This is a very rare pregnancy and a rare outcome,” Passi said.

Triplets Conceived Naturally

The triplets were conceived naturally, Passi said, which happens in only about one in 10,000 pregnancies.

They were carried for 36 weeks, which is considered a good gestational period for triplets. All three were born at a healthy weight, with a combined weight of about 19 pounds — around three pounds short of the reported world record total weight for triplets, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Also read: Scottish Toddler With Rare UV Disorder Gets UV-Safe Home: All About Inherited XP

Pregnancy Was Physically Demanding

Craft said she first learned she was expecting triplets during a doctor’s appointment earlier this year.

“Earlier this year, I went to the doctor and I saw like two different sets,” she said. “I was like, oh my goodness, I’m having twins. And she was like, no, there are three. And I was like, oh my gosh, triplets.”

Craft said the physical demands of carrying the triplets were unlike anything she had experienced before.

When she learned the three babies weighed a combined 19 pounds at birth, the figure put her difficult pregnancy into perspective, ABC7.com reported.

Rare Combination Of Identical And Fraternal Twins

Quynh Vo-Hanser of Kaiser Permanente South Bay said the pregnancy was especially unusual.

“This is a really rare event,” Vo-Hanser said. “This is what we would refer to as a mixed triplet. This is a spontaneous pregnancy, which meant that it was achieved naturally. And within this triplet set, there’s an identical twin set, and then the fraternal sibling.”

Vo-Hanser emphasized the rarity of the birth. “Within the United States, there are 3.5 million deliveries and about 2,400 are triplets,” she said.

Hospital Assembled Larger Delivery Team

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The rare delivery on August 18 required a larger-than-usual medical team to care for both the mother and the three babies.

There were three NICU nurses, one for each baby, along with two doctors caring for the babies and additional doctors and nurses looking after Craft. “There were about 15 people in the delivery room when we normally have about five,” Passi said.

Triplets Came Close To Reported World Record

The trio’s combined birth weight of about 19 pounds also put them close to the reported world record for the heaviest set of triplets at birth, which stands at 22.7 pounds.

The combination of a naturally conceived triplet pregnancy, an identical twin pair and a fraternal sibling, all born at 36 weeks and of the same sex, made the delivery particularly unusual, according to the medical team.