When you're breastfeeding, figuring out whether your baby's getting the right amount to eat is usually a pretty simple calculation — if plenty's coming out in the diaper, enough'due south going in. With canteen-feeding, however, there'southward some math to practice. Afterwards all, yous'll want to know how much you can wait your picayune i to downwards, 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 likewise come with some caveats. Canteen-fed babies, only like breastfed babies, know when they've had enough. But because formula commitment is regulated by caregivers, it'due south possible that parental pushing — prodding your footling i to take those last few ounces — can consequence in your bottle-fed baby getting likewise much of a proficient thing.

So take your cues from your babe'due south hunger and feed to match her ambition instead of to a specified number of ounces. As long every bit your baby is gaining enough weight, is wetting and dirtying enough diapers, and is happy and salubrious, you can exist sure you're on target. Remember: Permit your footling one call the shots — and call it quits — when information technology comes to feedings.

Formula feeding guide

So given those caveats, y'all may notwithstanding 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 2 to ii½ ounces of formula per pound of body weight over a 24-hour flow. In exercise, that may work out to somewhere between 18 and 36 ounces per day, depending on your baby's size and mood.

So, if your baby weighs 10 pounds, that could translate to 20 to 25 ounces of formula a day; in a 24-60 minutes period you'll exist feeding your baby about three to 4 ounces every iv hours.

But remember, every baby is dissimilar — bigger babies tend to drink more than smaller babies, and your baby's 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 petty one at each repast — and always accept your cues from your infant. If she becomes fidgety or easily distracted during a feeding, she'south probably had enough. If she drains the bottle and starts smacking her lips for more, she might even so be hungry.

Formula-feeding chart

Wondering simply how much formula to give your baby? Use this formula-feeding nautical chart every bit a guide.

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

How much formula does a newborn need?

Your adorable bundle's tummy is tiny (the size of a fist — hers, not yours), so information technology'south best to beginning slowly when it comes to feedings.

For newborns, offer merely i to 3 ounces at each feeding every three to four hours (or on demand). Gradually up the ounces, calculation more than as the demand becomes greater, but never push a baby to take more than she wants.

How much formula should you feed your baby past age?

Your cutie will be taking in more than formula at each feeding, anywhere from 3 to seven ounces, depending on her age. Her tummy capacity has increased, too, which ways she'll probable stretch out the fourth dimension between feedings.

In general, here's what y'all can expect:

  • 2-month-olds will normally drinkable 3 to 6 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 24-60 minutes menstruation.
  • 3-month-olds will mostly drink iv to vi ounces of formula around every four hours. That adds up to 24 to 36 ounces of formula in around half dozen feedings total in a 24-hour menstruum.
  • four-month-olds will often drink 5 to seven ounces of formula every iv to five hours. That adds up to 24 to 32 ounces of formula in four to six feedings total in a 24-hr menses.
  • 5-calendar month-olds will typically drinkable 6 to 8 ounces of formula around 5 times per twenty-four hours. That adds up to 24 to 36 ounces of formula total in a 24-hr menses.
  • half dozen-month-olds will normally drink six to eight ounces of formula four to v times per solar day. That adds upwards to 24 to 32 ounces of formula total in a 24-hr period.

Have a serious sipper who consistently seems to want more than that? Discuss it with your md. The upper daily intake formula intake for babies 6 months and younger is 32 to 36 ounces per 24-hour period, co-ordinate to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Formula-feeding schedule

Now that y'all've got the amounts figured out, when should your piffling eater be drinking upwards? Early on, it's all-time to feed your newborn on demand whenever she is sending out hunger cues similar lip smacking, rooting and finger sucking. Equally you get a sense of her appetite and natural rhythms over the form of a month or ii, you lot'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 practise mealtimes by the clock or try to enforce nap or bedtimes, try to get with your little one'southward menstruum. You tin can offering an ounce or ii of formula every 2 to three hours, or viii to 12 feedings within a 24-hour period. Simply those are more loose guidelines than hard rules. Ultimately, you'll want to feed your newborn on demand when she seems hungry.

Within a few months, she'll outset to constitute a rhythm that you tin employ as the ground for a feeding and sleeping schedule.

Can a baby swallow likewise much formula?

Healthy babies, when immune to drink (and eventually swallow) to their appetites without whatsoever prodding by parents, will abound at the rate that's normal for them. If your little one'due south weight is increasing at a steady clip and following a familiar curve, there'southward no need to worry that she'southward overeating. But if your baby's canteen becomes the liquid equivalent of an all-you-tin can-eat buffet, at that place's a chance she can hands get too much.

Here are signs to wait 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 form of excessive spit-upwards. Put too much in her picayune tum, and it'southward spring to come dorsum up.
  • Excessive weight gain. If your baby'due south weight seems to be consistently moving upward faster than her height, check with the doc. She may be picking up also many pounds also quickly because she's taking in too much formula.

If your pediatrician tells you that your infant seems to be overeating, there are a few things you tin do to slow down her formula intake (and the charge per unit of weight gain):

  • Feed for the right reason. The correct reason being because she's hungry. Not because she's unhappy, or because she'southward bored, or considering she got a boo-boo, or considering she's peckish attending. Infant's recently fed but crabby? Offer comfort with a cuddle, non an extra feed. Baby's fussy afterward a meal? Consider that she may just need a burp, not a second serving.
  • Offering your baby a pacifier to satisfy the demand to suck. Or assist her find her yummy fist or fingers. Some babies simply demand extra sucking (not an extra bottle) between meals or after a feed.
  • Brand certain yous're non under-diluting the formula. Ever check the characterization when you're mixing formula to make sure you're non inadvertently adding too petty water — which tin increase the calorie count per ounce considerably.
  • Ask the physician if you lot can offer your baby water. Unremarkably non recommended earlier 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 downwards on her consumption of calories without a doctor's communication — this tin can lead to a sodium imbalance.

Figuring out feeding times can experience like a lot at offset. In the first, endeavour to follow your babe's lead and continue the full general rules of thumb for feeding times and amounts in mind as helpful guideposts. (And if yous have any questions, always ask the pediatrician.) Over time, the two of you will fall into a feeding rhythm and y'all'll go a sense for how much your little 1 needs to drinkable and when she's likely to expect a sip.