When yous're breastfeeding, figuring out whether your infant's getting the right amount to eat is commonly a pretty unproblematic calculation — if enough'due south coming out in the diaper, enough's going in. With bottle-feeding, however, there's some math to practise. Later on all, you'll want to know how much you can wait your little one to down, or how much formula will get the babysitter through the twenty-four hour period — or you through the week. Which is why rough guidelines for formula amounts are so handy.

But these guidelines as well come up with some caveats. Canteen-fed babies, but like breastfed babies, know when they've had enough. But because formula delivery is regulated past caregivers, it'south possible that parental pushing — prodding your little one to take those terminal few ounces — can result in your bottle-fed baby getting as well much of a proficient thing.

And so take your cues from your baby'south hunger and feed to match her ambition instead of to a specified number of ounces. As long as your babe is gaining enough weight, is wetting and dirtying enough diapers, and is happy and healthy, yous can be sure you're on target. Recollect: Let your piffling one phone call the shots — and call information technology quits — when it comes to feedings.

Formula feeding guide

So given those caveats, you may nonetheless be wondering how much formula in full general your baby needs. As a rule of thumb, infants under 6 months who haven't yet started solids should be taking two to 2½ ounces of formula per pound of body weight over a 24-60 minutes menstruation. In do, that may work out to somewhere between 18 and 36 ounces per solar day, depending on your baby's size and mood.

So, if your baby weighs ten pounds, that could interpret to twenty to 25 ounces of formula a day; in a 24-hour period you'll be feeding your infant about iii to 4 ounces every four hours.

Only call back, every baby is different — bigger babies tend to drink more than smaller babies, and your baby'due south appetite may vary day-to-day and feeding-to-feeding. So treat these guidelines as rough approximations — there are no absolutes when it comes to how much formula to feed your little i at each repast — and always take your cues from your babe. If she becomes fidgety or easily distracted during a feeding, she's probably had enough. If she drains the bottle and starts smacking her lips for more than, she might still be hungry.

Formula-feeding nautical chart

Wondering merely how much formula to requite your baby? Utilise this formula-feeding nautical chart as a guide.

formula-feeding chart, how much formula does my baby need

How much formula does a newborn need?

Your ambrosial bundle's tummy is tiny (the size of a fist — hers, non yours), so it's all-time to start slowly when it comes to feedings.

For newborns, offer simply 1 to 3 ounces at each feeding every 3 to four hours (or on demand). Gradually upwards the ounces, calculation more as the demand becomes greater, but never button a baby to accept more than than she wants.

How much formula should you lot feed your babe by historic period?

Your cutie will exist taking in more than formula at each feeding, anywhere from 3 to seven ounces, depending on her historic period. Her stomach capacity has increased, as well, which means she'll likely stretch out the time betwixt feedings.

In full general, here's what you can wait:

  • 2-month-olds volition ordinarily drinkable iii to half-dozen ounces of formula every 3 to four hours. That adds up to xviii to 32 ounces of formula in effectually eight feedings total in a 24-hour catamenia.
  • three-month-olds will by and large drink 4 to 6 ounces of formula around every 4 hours. That adds up to 24 to 36 ounces of formula in around vi feedings full in a 24-hour period.
  • 4-month-olds will often drink 5 to seven ounces of formula every iv to v hours. That adds up to 24 to 32 ounces of formula in 4 to 6 feedings total in a 24-hour period.
  • 5-calendar month-olds will typically potable half dozen to 8 ounces of formula effectually five times per twenty-four hours. That adds upwardly to 24 to 36 ounces of formula full in a 24-hour menstruum.
  • 6-month-olds will normally drink half dozen to eight ounces of formula four to five times per day. That adds up to 24 to 32 ounces of formula total in a 24-hour period.

Take a serious sipper who consistently seems to want more than than that? Talk over information technology with your doctor. The upper daily intake formula intake for babies 6 months and younger is 32 to 36 ounces per 24-hour period, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Formula-feeding schedule

Now that y'all've got the amounts figured out, when should your picayune eater be drinking up? Early on, it'southward best to feed your newborn on need whenever she is sending out hunger cues similar lip smacking, rooting and finger sucking. As you lot go a sense of her ambition and natural rhythms over the grade of a month or two, y'all'll be able to transition to more formal mealtimes.

Newborn formula-feeding schedule

Much as you might be longing for some predictability right now, newborns aren't typically ones to stick with a schedule for eating or sleeping.

Rather than exercise mealtimes by the clock or effort to enforce nap or bedtimes, effort to go with your petty 1's flow. You can offer an ounce or two of formula every two to three hours, or eight to 12 feedings within a 24-hour period. Merely those are more loose guidelines than hard rules. Ultimately, you lot'll want to feed your newborn on demand when she seems hungry.

Within a few months, she'll first to constitute a rhythm that you can employ as the basis for a feeding and sleeping schedule.

Tin can a baby eat too much formula?

Healthy babies, when allowed to drink (and eventually eat) to their appetites without any prodding by parents, will grow at the charge per unit that'due south normal for them. If your petty one's weight is increasing at a steady clip and following a familiar curve, there'southward no demand to worry that she'southward overeating. But if your infant's canteen becomes the liquid equivalent of an all-you-tin can-eat buffet, there's a chance she can easily get likewise much.

Here are signs to look for that may indicate your babe is taking in more than formula than she needs:

  • Frequent spit-ups. Overfeeding tin can lead to overflow in the class of excessive spit-upwards. Put too much in her little stomach, and information technology's bound to come back upwardly.
  • Excessive weight gain. If your babe's weight seems to be consistently moving upward faster than her peak, check with the doctor. She may exist picking upwardly too many pounds too speedily considering she's taking in too much formula.

If your pediatrician tells you that your infant seems to exist overeating, there are a few things you tin can do to slow downwardly her formula intake (and the rate of weight gain):

  • Feed for the right reason. The right reason being because she's hungry. Not considering she's unhappy, or considering she'southward bored, or because she got a boo-boo, or considering she'southward craving attention. Baby'southward recently fed merely crabby? Offer comfort with a cuddle, not an extra feed. Babe's fussy after a meal? Consider that she may just demand a burp, not a second serving.
  • Offer your baby a pacifier to satisfy the need to suck. Or help her notice her yummy fist or fingers. Some babies just need extra sucking (non an extra canteen) between meals or afterwards a feed.
  • Make sure you're non nether-diluting the formula. Always cheque the characterization when you're mixing formula to brand certain you're not inadvertently calculation too little water — which can increase the calorie count per ounce considerably.
  • Ask the doctor if y'all can offer your baby water. Usually non recommended before solids are started at 6 months, a few sips of water could quench her thirst without filling her up. But don't over-dilute formula with water to cut down on her consumption of calories without a doctor'due south advice — this tin can lead to a sodium imbalance.

Figuring out feeding times tin can feel similar a lot at first. In the beginning, try to follow your baby'southward atomic number 82 and keep the general rules of pollex for feeding times and amounts in mind as helpful guideposts. (And if you take any questions, always ask the pediatrician.) Over time, the two of y'all will autumn into a feeding rhythm and you'll get a sense for how much your little one needs to drink and when she's likely to expect a sip.