How much formula to feed a 6 month baby

Amount and Schedule of Baby Formula Feedings

In the first week after birth, babies should be eating no more than about 1 to 2 ounces (30 to 60 ml) per feed.
During the first month, babies gradually eat more until they take 3 to 4 ounces (90 to 120 ml) per feed, amounting to 32 ounces per day. Formula-fed babies typically feed on a more regular schedule, such as every 3 or 4 hours. Breastfed babies usually take smaller, more frequent feedings than formula-fed infants.

If your baby sleeps longer than 4 to 5 hours during the first few weeks after birth and starts missing feedings, wake them up and offer a bottle.

By the end of the first month: Your baby will be up to at least 3 to 4 ounces (120 mL) per feeding, with a fairly predictable schedule of feedings about every 3 to 4 hours.
By 6 months: Your baby will consume 6 to 8 ounces (180–240 mL) at each of 4 or 5 feedings in 24 hours.

Formula feeding based on body weight

On average, your baby should take in about 2½ ounces (75 mL) of infant formula a day for every pound (453 g) of body weight. But they probably will regulate their intake from day to day to meet their own specific needs, so let them tell you when they've had enough. If they become fidgety or easily distracted during a feeding, they're probably finished. If they drain the bottle and continues smacking their lips, they might still be hungry.

There are high and low limits, however. If your baby consistently seems to want more or less than this, discuss it with your pediatrician. Your baby should usually drink no more than an average of about 32 ounces (960 mL) of formula in 24 hours. Some babies have higher needs for sucking and may just want to suck on a pacifier after feeding.

On-demand feeding

Initially it is best to feed your formula-fed newborn a bottle on demand, or whenever they cry with hunger. As time passes, your baby will begin to develop a fairly regular timetable of their own. As you become familiar with their signals and needs, you'll be able to schedule their feedings around their routine.

Eating & sleeping patterns

Between 2 and 4 months of age (or when the baby weighs more than 12 lb. [5.4 kg]), most formula-fed babies no longer need a middle-of-the-night feedings. They're consuming more during the day, and their sleeping patterns have become more regular (although this varies considerably from baby to baby). Their stomach capacity has increased, too, which means they may go longer between daytime feedings—occasionally up to 4 or 5 hours at a time.

If your baby still seems to feed very frequently or consume larger amounts, try distracting them with play or with a pacifier. Sometimes patterns of obesity begin during infancy, so it is important not to overfeed your baby.

Getting to know your baby's feeding needs

The most important thing to remember, whether you breastfeed or bottlefeed, is that your baby's feeding needs are unique. No book―or website―can tell you precisely how much or how often they need to be fed or exactly how you should handle them during feedings. You will discover these things for yourself as you and your baby get to know each other.

More information

How Often and How Much Should Your Baby Eat?
Making Sure Your Baby is Getting Enough Milk
Is Your Baby Hungry or Full? Responsive Feeding Explained (Video)
Remedies for Spitty Babies

Last Updated: 5/16/2022

Source: Adapted from Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 7th Edition (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Pediatrics)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Formula Feeding FAQs: How Much and How Often (for Parents)

en español: Preguntas frecuentes sobre la alimentación con leche de fórmula: ¿Cuánto y con qué frecuencia?

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Primary Care Pediatrics at Nemours Children's Health

Whether you plan to formula feed your baby from the start, want to supplement your breast milk with formula, or are switching from breast milk to formula, you probably have questions.

Here are answers to some common questions about formula feeding.

How Often Should I Feed My Baby Formula?

Newborns and young babies should be fed whenever they seem hungry. This is called on-demand feeding.

After the first few days of life, most healthy formula-fed newborns feed about every 2–3 hours. As they get bigger and their tummies can hold more milk, they usually eat about every 3–4 hours. As babies get older, they’ll settle into a more predictable feeding routine and go longer stretches at night without needing a bottle.

Talk to your doctor if you have concerns about feeding your baby, especially if your baby is very small, is not gaining weight, or was born early (prematurely).

How Can I Tell When My Baby Is Hungry?

Signs that babies are hungry include:

moving their heads from side to side
opening their mouths
sticking out their tongues
placing their hands, fingers, and fists to their mouths
puckering their lips as if to suck
nuzzling again their mothers' breasts
showing the rooting reflex (when a baby moves its mouth in the direction of something that's stroking or touching its cheek)

Babies should be fed before they get upset and cry. Crying is a late sign of hunger. But every time your baby cries is not because of hunger. Sometimes babies just need to be cuddled or changed. Or they could be sick, tired, too hot or too cold, in pain, or have colic.

How Much Formula Should I Feed My Baby?

In the first few weeks, give 2- to 3-ounce (60- to 90-milliliter) bottles to your newborn. Give more or less depending on your baby’s hunger cues.

Here's a general look at how much your baby may be eating at different ages:

On average, a newborn drinks about 1.5–3 ounces (45–90 milliliters) every 2–3 hours. This amount increases as your baby grows and can take more at each feeding.
At about 2 months, your baby may drink about 4–5 ounces (120–150 milliliters) every 3–4 hours.
At 4 months, your baby may drink about 4–6 ounces (120-180 milliliters) at each feeding, depending on how often they eat.
By 6 months, your baby may drink 6–8 ounces (180–230 milliliters) about 4–5 times a day.

Watch for signs that your baby is hungry or full. Respond to these cues and let your baby stop when full. A baby who is full may suck with less enthusiasm, stop, or turn away from the bottle.

Why Does My Baby Seem Hungrier Than Usual?

As babies grow, they begin to eat more at each feeding and can go longer between feedings. Still, there may be times when your little one seems hungrier than usual.

Your baby may be going through a period of rapid growth (called a growth spurt). These can happen at any time, but in the early months are common at around:

7–14 days old
between 3–6 weeks
4 months
6 months

During these times and whenever your baby seems especially hungry, follow their hunger cues and continue to feed on demand, increasing the amount of formula you give as needed.

Is My Baby Eating Enough?

At times, you may wonder whether your baby is getting enough nutrients for healthy growth and development. Babies who get enough to eat seem satisfied after eating and are regularly peeing and pooping.

At your baby’s checkups, the doctor will review your baby’s growth chart, track your little one’s development, and answer any questions. Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about your baby’s feeding and nutrition.

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Date reviewed: November 2021

/content/kidshealth/misc/medicalcodes/parents/articles/formulafeed-often

How much formula should be given to a child depending on age,

- Polina Alexandrovna, when might a baby need powdered milk formula?

— There are several situations when a mother is physically unable to breastfeed her child and switches to artificial or mixed feeding (covers the child's nutritional needs partly from breast milk, partly from formula):

Contraindications to breastfeeding by mother and / or child.
Lack of milk is true hypogalactia.
Psychological reasons why a mother is not ready to breastfeed.
The child needs a special medical formula.

- What determines the amount of formula that a child eats, and how to calculate how much formula a child needs?

- Often mothers think that the amount of formula depends only on age, but the weight of the child is also an important factor . Each age has its own formulas for calculating the mixture for one meal.

Important! The weight of children of the same age, especially the first months of life, can be radically different. Accordingly, the volume of the milk mixture for them will be different.

On mixed feeding, the total amount of milk nutrition per day that the child should consume depends on the amount of breast milk. The main part of the mother gives breast milk, and the amount that is not enough for the daily norm, replenishes, feeding the mixture.

- Let's talk about how much formula a child needs and what a baby can do at different periods of development. Let's start from the first days of the baby: how much formula should a newborn baby receive?

- The stomach of a newborn holds about 10 ml per feeding. With each subsequent day, the volume of the stomach and nutrition increases by 10 ml, that is, on the second day of life it is 20 ml, on the third - 30 ml, by the seventh day - 70 ml. Formula-fed baby receives power at intervals of three hours.

The volume of the mixture on artificial feeding up to 1 month:

the amount of food per day - 500-700 ml,
the number of feedings in one day is 8-10.

HOW MUCH FORMULA SHOULD BE GIVED IN 1 MONTH

- By one month, the child has a feeding regimen. By this age, the baby begins to open his eyes more often and fix his eyes on his mother, especially at the time of feeding (the distance at which the baby can focus his eyes is 20 cm, this is the distance from the mother’s chest to her eyes). Some babies gradually learn to hold their heads: it doesn’t work out completely, but they are already trying.

The volume of the mixture on artificial feeding from 1 to 2 months:

the amount of food per day - 600-900 ml,
the number of feedings in one day is 7-8.

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 3 MONTH BABY NEED

- The baby continues to grow and gain weight. He raises his head more confidently. She can smile at her mother and start laughing closer to four months.

Volume formula for bottle-fed 3 to 4 months:

the amount of food per day - 750-950 ml,
the number of feedings in one day is 6-7.

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 4 MONTH BABY NEED

- The baby recognizes his mother very well. At this age, a “complex of revival” appears - when mom or dad, a close relative, comes into the room, the baby comes to life (begins to walk, move arms and legs). In physical development, this is the period of the first attempts to roll over, and some babies begin to roll over from their tummy to their back.

Volume formula formula fed 4 to 5 months:

food volume per day - 850-1000 ml,
the number of feedings in one day is 5-6.

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 5 MONTH BABY NEED

Volume formula for formula-fed 5 to 6 months:

food volume per day - 850-1000 ml,
the number of feedings in one day is 5-6.

RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF BREAST-MILK SUBSTITUTE FOR FORMULATION FEEDING

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 6 MONTHS BABY NEED

- Some babies can crawl or are just learning to do so. Others follow a different scenario and learn to sit - they begin to sit down and hold in this position. Usually a child does one thing: either learns to sit and then begins to crawl, or begins to crawl and from this position begins to sit.

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 6-12 MONTHS BABY NEED

- The baby becomes more mobile and can move wherever he wants. Begins to be interested in subjects that were previously inaccessible to him. Gradually preparing for walking - learned to crawl, began to get on his knees and then fully on his legs, move, holding the handles on the supports, then walk by one handle. At about 12 months, the baby takes its first steps.

HOW MUCH FORMULA DOES A 12 MONTH BABY NEED

— The kid is mature enough and independent. There is an active development of walking, speech. The child becomes a smaller copy of an adult with his own desires and needs.

After 6 months, children receive complementary foods, and this happens differently for different babies, so it is not possible to specify the total amount of food for all. At this age, everything is calculated individually, and the amount of supplementary feeding with a mixture depends on the amount of complementary foods , which the child receives.

- How to work out the optimal frequency of feeding?

- It is advisable to focus on the indicators of the table. For example, on the packaging of each formula of the MAMAKO ^® Premium mixture, there is a feeding table that is averagely suitable for babies of different ages. If the child eats little and often, then this can become a problem at the stage of complementary feeding (the child gets used to eating every hour, but he will not be given complementary foods on demand). By the time complementary foods are introduced, it is desirable that the child has established 5 meals a day (maximum 6 meals a day), not counting night feedings.

How to determine how much formula your baby needs

- Polina Alexandrovna, is it worth focusing on the behavior of the child and considering that his body "knows how best", or should we try to do everything clearly according to the standards?

“Parents need to follow the rules. If you know the norm of the amount of food, you can assess how much the child, following his desires, consumes this norm - whether he has enough, whether he eats less or asks for food in excess. If you focus only on the wishes of the child, you will not be able to assess how normal the situation is.

Usually, if the baby does not eat enough food, he does not gain weight and is slightly behind in development. Nothing good comes out of this, just like if a child goes over the norm. We must try to stay within the norm. However, sometimes it is permissible to deviate from the rules for a short time (the baby is sick and has a poor appetite).

- How to understand that the child has enough formula and does not need to try to supplement?

- According to the signs that are noticeable to the mother or that can be assessed:

behavior - the child is calm, active, in a good mood - he is unlikely to be malnourished;
appearance — the child gains weight well or, on the contrary, began to look thinner;
weighing - if the child gains weight and height within the normal range, we can say that the food is sufficient

diet for a 6-month-old baby with breast and artificial feeding, sample menu for a week in the table, diet for a day

Published: 02/10/2021

Reading time: 4 min.

Number of reads: 233939

Author of the article: Ponomareva Yulia Vladimirovna

Pediatrician, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Allergist-Immunologist

Changes in a child in the first year of life are very rapid, and every month is not like another. The 6-month milestone is very important, it is largely evaluative and transitional. By this age, most babies have doubled their birth weight, are about 15 cm tall, and some babies have already erupted teeth. The age of 6 months is also transitional in terms of nutrition. Breast milk or an adapted formula is still the basis of the diet, but with the beginning of the second half of life, all children, without exception, should begin to receive complementary foods. Despite the general graph of growth and weight gain and indicators of psychomotor development, the status and diet of children at 6 months can be very different.

Contents: Hide

First meal at 6 months
Start of meal at 4-5 months
Second six months of life
Sample menu for a week for a baby at 6 months
First meal at 6 months

If the baby is healthy and breastfed, and his mother eats a full and varied diet, exclusive breastfeeding is possible until this age. Cereal complementary foods in this case are preferable to start. This is due to the high energy and nutritional value of cereals, the ability to significantly enrich the baby's diet with a delayed start of the introduction of complementary foods.

However, the rate of expansion of the child's diet in this situation will be accelerated. Before the 8th month of life, it is necessary to introduce all basic food groups into the baby’s menu, since in the second half of the year the need for additional intake of nutrients and micronutrients is very high. Another reason explaining the importance of the rapid introduction of complementary foods is the formation of immunity of the immune cells of the intestine to ordinary food. If a child is introduced to these foods at the age of 4-8 months, the risk of developing food allergies has been proven to be reduced.

Complementary foods start at 4–5 months

In today's life, the nutrition of a nursing mother, unfortunately, is not always complete. Therefore, for most breastfed babies, complementary foods already need to be introduced from 5 months in order to prevent deficient conditions.

If a child is bottle-fed, then by the 4th month of life, the baby will not have enough adapted formula alone, and in this group of children, the timing of the start of complementary foods usually shifts a month earlier than in breast-fed babies. Accordingly, by 6 months, children will have vegetable puree and gluten-free porridge (buckwheat, corn and rice) in their diet. In the first half of life, monocomponent meals are used (that is, from one type of grain and vegetables), prepared on the basis of water, breast milk or an adapted mixture.

Fruit puree and juice can be another possible complementary food for children under 6 months without allergy. In a child with a risk of developing or manifesting allergies, the timing of the introduction of fruit complementary foods is shifted to the 8th month.

Second six months of life

Children over 6 months of age can supplement their diet with cereals containing gluten. First of all, these are oatmeal and wheat porridge, and then multi-cereal dishes with the addition of other cereals (millet, barley, rye). If the child does not have any manifestations of allergies, milk porridge can be included in the menu at this age. Bebi Premium industrial baby food products include specially prepared milk that is safe to use in healthy babies in the first year of life.

From the age of 6 months, the baby's diet is expanded with such important products as meat and cottage cheese. These products are a source of high-quality protein, fats, and are also rich in minerals such as iron, calcium, and phosphorus. Pediatricians and nutritionists recommend introducing meat and cottage cheese as part of combined dishes based on a fruit and vegetable and / or grain component in a ratio of 1 (cottage cheese / meat): 4–5 (fruits / vegetables / cereals).

To enrich the diet with polyunsaturated fatty acids in the second half of the year, the menu includes vegetable oil in the amount of 3-5 grams / day, which can be added to the complementary food dish. The volume of each feeding is approximately 150-170 ml, and the child can already stand up to 3.5 hours between meals.

In the table below, we offer a menu of 6 months for a week for a child who started receiving complementary foods at the age of 4-5 months, and by the time the second half of life begins, dairy-free gluten-free cereals, vegetable and fruit purees have already been introduced into his diet.

Day 1

903/15 breast milk formula 315 150 9breast milk 50 321

meal	menu	ml/g
Early morning

	Apple juice	60

12.30	Courgette puree, olive oil	100/3
	Turkey puree	30
	Compote	50

60315	Breast milk/formula	150

19. 30	Pear puree with cottage cheese	60/30
	Baby instant biscuits "Bebiki" classic	20
	Bebi Premium Baby Instant Herbal Tea	50

Bedtime	Breastmilk/formula

Day 2

50 9032 0331

meal	menu	ml/g
Early morning	Breast milk/formula	150

09.00	Bebi Premium Active Day Milk Oatmeal	100
	Breast milk/formula
	Bebi Premium baby drinking water	50

12.30	Carrot puree, corn oil	70/3
	Veal puree	30
	Dried fruit compote	50

Afternoon milk porridge with biscuits, cherries and apple Bebi Premium	100
	Breast milk/formula	50

20. 00	Apple-pumpkin puree with cottage cheese 9Bebi Premium Instant Herbal Tea 0315 Breast milk/formula	150

Day 3

meals	menu	ml/g
Early morning	Breast milk/formula	150 9	100

Breast milk/formula	50

	Apple juice	60

12.30	Milk Rice Porridge with Pumpkin and Apple Delicious Bebi Premium Lunch	100
	Compote cottage cheese	60/30
	Baby instant biscuits "Bebiki" classic	20
	Breast milk/formula	50

0315 Mashed Potato, Olive Oil	60/3
	Mashed Rabbit	30
	Instant Baby Herbal Tea	bi Premium	50

Before bed	Breast milk/formula	150

Day 4

9Breakfast 316 Bebi Premium 0315 50 Instant herbal tea Bebi15 Children's instant tea Premium

meal	Milk buckwheat porridge with dried apricots and apple Bebi Premium	100

Lunch (12. 30)	Vegetable soup with beef and olive oil	100/30/3	Dried fruit compote	50

Afternoon snack (4 pm)	Plum puree with cottage cheese	60/40
	Breast milk/formula	50	0331
Dinner (19.30)	Milk night porridge 3 cereals with apple and chamomile Bebi Premium	100
	50

Before bed	Breast milk/formula	150

Day 5

9Breakfast 316 9031 316 9032 1 0316

meal	Bebi Premium Milk Corn Porridge	100
	Breast milk/formula	50

	Pear juice	60
Lunch (12. 30)	Cauliflower and broccoli soup, olive oil	80/3
	Rabbit meat soufflé 40315 40315
	Compote	50

Afternoon snack (16.00)	Milk porridge "Delicious afternoon snack with Bebi Premium biscuits and pears"	100
Breast milk/formula	50

Dinner (19.30)	Apple-carrot puree with curd
	Bebi Premium Instant Herbal Tea for Children	40

At bedtime	Breast milk/formula	150

6th day

312 meals menu ml/g Early morning Breast milk/formula 150 903 16 316 Breakfast (09. 00) Milk porridge “Cereals with raspberries and cherry Bebi Premium» 100 0315 Bebi Premium baby water 50 Lunch (12.30) Rice soup with carrots and olive oil 5 Veal puree 40 Dried fruit compote 50 Afternoon snack (16.00) Breast milk/formula 150 Dinner (19.30) Pumpkin puree with curd 60/40 315 Baby instant biscuits "Bebiki" classic 20 Baby instant herbal tea Bebi Premium 50 Bedtime Breast milk/formula 180
Day 7
5 Breast milk/formula

meals menu ml/g

150

Breakfast (09.
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