Formula feeders: how many ounces does baby eat?

missamelia5 · June 2011

I'm having a hard time finding anything that tells me how much my baby should be eating at each feeding. I found charts with recommendations by age, BUT she only weighs 6 pounds (maybe up to 6 1/2 by now) at 5 weeks. We're having bad spit-up issues, and it just dawned on me that maybe I let her eat too much... she takes anywhere from 2.5 to 3 ounces. ??? Thoughts??

kewltif · June 2011

My six week old is probably about 11 pounds and eats 3.5-4.5 ounces.

atkinson4545 · June 2011

They are suppose to eat 2.5 oz for every pound they weigh in a 24 hour period. So if you LO is weighig 6.5 lbs then she should be eating between 16-18 oz a day. Some babies eat more and some eat less though but this is wht my pedi told me as a general rule of thumb. Most babies dont eat if they arent hungry though, and keep in mind that the majority of what babies spit ip is not actual formula, its largely a lot of saliva and mucus, so shes still getting what she needs if she is producing enough wet diapers and gaining weight.

jjones59 · June 2011

My 5.5 week old eats 6 oz every 4 to 5 hours or so.

RavenandJosh · June 2011

My LO is 5 weeks today and he is all over the place with his eating. He generally eats 3 oz during the night every 3 to 4 hours and about 4 or 5 oz during the day anywhere from 2 to 3 hrs. Sometimes he will take half and then an hour later he wants the other half so it seems like I am feeding him every 1.5 hours.

RingOfFire11 · June 2011

my LO is eating 2.5 ounces every 2-3 hours (sometimes 4 hours at night) - she is just over 9 pounds too. i was told to use the following:

baby's weight x 2.5 = ounces per day (ounces per day divided by # of feedings in 24 hour period = ounces per feeding).

my pediatrician said you can multiply the baby's weight by 2.0 and then by 2.5 to come up with the range baby should be consuming, but general rule is 2.5 per pound.

tpalladino@hotmail.com · June 2011

As a general rule, my pedi told us to take the age in months and multiply times 2. My DS is a little over 2 months and he takes 4oz pretty consistently. At some feedings he may not quite finish the 4, at others, he may drink up to 5. I let him guide us. If he's full, he stops drinking.

Heather & Nayt · June 2011

My 6 weeker is around the 8 lbs mark and she is eating 3 oz every 3 hours. What formula are you using? We had to switch to a sensitive to cut down on constant spit up.

Shelleybell · June 2011

my lo had weight gain issues the first week so pedi wanted us at 3oz every 3 hours. that is what we have been doing and she is right around the 6lb mark.