How Much Should I Feed My Infant?

This is a hard question to answer for any first time mother, and it is one every new mom seeks a resolution for.  The sad truth is, there is no magic number. Most pediatricians say newborn babies should have 2-4oz every 2-4hrs. Only mom will be able to tell what the right schedule is for your baby. This will take some practice.

Before we dive into this topic too much, the general rule of thumb is 2.5 oz x lbs. So if your baby is 6lbs, he or she should be eating about 15oz throughout the course of the day. If he weighs 10lbs he should be eating about 25oz in a day. How much they eat at what time is up to the baby and you.

So Where Do I Start?

The best way to start is with 2oz of breast milk or formula every two hours. If your baby isn’t finishing the 2oz bottle, try feeding him or her every three hours instead; again if it still seems like too much, try every four hours. Likewise, if your baby finishes the bottle like a trooper and is fussy again before the two-hour marker comes, try feeding him or her 3oz instead, and if that still isn’t enough go with four. A hungry baby will start by making suckling motions with his mouth, then perhaps gum smacking, followed by crying. What mom’s job is at this point is to read those cues and adjust accordingly.

Like every first time mother, I struggled with this. I was afraid of over or under feeding my baby. For the first week or two he only ate 1oz every 2hrs. After that I bumped him up to 2oz every 2hrs. Then a period of fussiness kicked in. Only an hour after he ate my son would start crying and nothing I did would console him. I didn’t want to just stick a bottle in his mouth to try to quiet him. I wanted to know what the real problem was. I thought that perhaps he was lactose intolerant, so I fed him soy formula for a week. That didn’t help. I thought he was overly tired and wouldn’t sleep so I tried sitting and rocking with him. In the end I discovered the solution was simple. All he wanted was more food. Once I started feeding him 3oz every 2hrs he was content for a couple of weeks. Then he started fussing about a half an hour before his feeding time again. I remedied this by feeding him 4oz every 2hrs. For the first feeding it worked like a charm. For the second feeding he didn’t want to finish his bottle. So what do I do now? I adjusted his feeding schedule. Instead of every two hours I started feeding him every three hours. This worked like a charm. As he grew older and his appetite started to grow I made similar adjustments to his feeding schedule.

The only way to know what is right for your baby is to read his cues and adjust accordingly.

Typical Baby Progress:

• 1-2 Weeks: 1-2 oz every 2 hrs
• 2-4 Weeks: 2-3 oz every 2 hrs
• 4-6 Weeks: 3-4 oz every 3-4 hrs
• 6-8 Weeks: 4-5 oz every 3-4 hrs
• 8-12 Weeks:  5-6 oz every 3-4 hrs

Some time between 8-12 weeks of age a baby will start sleeping longer through the night, requiring less late night feedings. Generally by 12 weeks of age they will only wake one or two times during the night for a bottle. Trust me, you will know their schedule as well as they do as time goes on. I started to wake shortly before my son at night. I would go, make his bottle, and by the time I came back to the room with it he was just starting to wake up.

In a future post I will address how to start weaning your baby off those mid night feedings after they are past the 12 week marker.