This very helpful feeding table is summarized from The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg. It is designed for a baby who weighs 6-6 1/2 lbs. or more at birth, and assumes your baby doesn’t have any digestive or neurological problems. For preemies, use their developmental age.
The First 3 Days
- Bottle-feeding: 2 oz. every 2 hours (between 16 and 18 oz. total)
- Breast-feeding: 1st day – 5 min. at each breast (all day, whenever baby wants); 2nd day – 10 min. at each breast (every 2 hrs); 3rd day – 15 min. at each breast (every 2 1/2 hrs); 4th day or once milk comes in – Hogg recommends emptying one breast before switching (every 2 1/2 hrs).
- Breast-feeding moms should feed more often to get the milk flowing at this time.
Up to 6 weeks
- Bottle-feeding: 2-5 oz. per feed (7 or 8 feeds per day; 18-24 oz. total)
- Breast-feeding: Up to 45 minutes
- Feed every 2 1/2 – 3 hrs during the day; cluster feed in the early evening (feed at two-hour intervals in the early evening, at 5 and 7 or 6 and
- “Dream Feed” your baby somewhere between 10 and 11 pm. This means you feed your baby while she’s asleep. Not talking, turning on the lights, or changing diaper. Just feed and plop baby back in the crib.
- Babies are capable of going 4-5 hours during the night, depending on weight and temperament.
6 weeks-4 months
- Bottle-feeding: 4-6 oz. per feed (6 feeds + dream feed; typical range is 24-32 oz.)
- Breast-feeding: Up to 30 minutes
- Feed every 3 – 3 1/2 hrs; by 16 weeks, should be able to go 6-8 hrs during the night. Don’t continue cluster feeding past 8 weeks.
- Goal should be to extend the time between feedings during the day, so that at 4 months, your baby lasts around 4 hrs between feeds. Exception for babies going through a growth spurt.
4 – 6 months
- Bottle-feeding: 5-8 oz. per feed (5 feeds + dream feed; typical range is 26-38 oz.)
- Breast-feeding: Up to 20 minutes
- Feed every 4 hrs; should be able to go 10 hrs during the night.
- Between 4 and 6 months, some babies’ appetites are affected by teething and their newfound mobility. So, they may consume less.
6 – 9 months
- Bottle-feeding: 5 feeds a day, including solids. Liquid intake is typically 32-48 oz. Liquid consumption declines by the number of oz. of solids baby is eating. (A baby who once took 40 oz. of liquid now takes 15 oz. of solids and 25 oz. of liquid, totaling 40 oz.)
- Breast-feeding: Give food first and then the bottle or 10 min. on breast. Since they can gulp liquids quickly at this age, it will probably only take 10 min. (versus the 30 minutes).
- Typical routine: 7:00 – Liquid; 8:30 – Solids “breakfast”; 11:00 - Liquid; 12:30 – Solids “lunch”; 3:00 – Liquid; 5:30 – Solids “dinner”; 7:30 – breast or bottle before bed.
Hope this summary helps. Check out Hogg’s book for detailed information!
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This makes me feel much more confident about what I've been doing for my almost-6-months baby. As we start daycare next Monday (OMG the world may come to an end on this day), I've been trying the following schedule:
7 am Bottle (6 oz)
11 am Bottle (5 oz)
1 pm Solids (vegie w/ cereal)
3 pm Bottle (5 oz)
5 pm Solids (vegie w/ cereal)
7 pm Bottle (6 oz)
8 pm LIGHTS OUT!
The baby seems happy. May need to squeeze in another solids in the morning, though…
Laura – Looks goood! Sounds like you have a good routine going. Good luck with first day of Daycare
Wow. I feel lucky. I feed my 6 month old only 4 times a day. She is BIG (93rd percentile!)…
6:30 am: bottle (7 oz)
11 am: 1 Tbsp yellow veggie, 2 Tbsp Single grain cereal, bottle (6 oz)
3 pm: bottle (7 oz)
7 pm: 3 Tbsp single grain cereal, bottle (7 oz).
She does eat less than guidelines I have seen, but my girl is 19 lbs, so I don't think I am under feeding her!
My baby is 9 weeks old going on 10 weeks and he's taking 2-3 oz every 2 hours. I want to get him on the 3 hour baby whisperer schedule but he will not take more than 3 oz at a time. He will gag and throw up when I try to feed him more than that. What should I do? Help!
J's Mom – I'd try to ease into the longer stretches slowly. First add a little bit more (or nurse a little longer) for a couple days. Then continue this gradually so your LO is consuming just a tad more than 3 oz over the course of a week or so. You can also try giving a paci between meals to see if that satiates his sucking need. If both these don't seem to work, I'd consider just going with what he's capable of consuming happily. It may be that he has a tiny tummy. Which is no fun for mommy, I know. As they get older, their tummies get bigger and are capable of holding more calories between meals. Be careful though, if he's throwing up..don't want to push too hard. Good luck!
My 6.5 month old prefers solids to liquids. He wont nurse or take it from a bottle when he wants solids.
7 am – Nurse him for about 5-10 min
9 am – 1 Stage 2 fruits (short nap)
10.30 am – Nurse him for 10 min
11.30 am – 3 oz of cereals( he takes his longer nap after this)
3 pm – Nurse for 10 min
4 pm – 1 Stage 2 Veggie(short nap)
5.30 – Nurse for 10 min
7 pm – 3 oz of cereals (bed time after this)
He wakes up atleast thrice during the night & I nurse him back to sleep.
His weight has dropped from 75 to 50 percentile. I think he needs more milk, but cant make him drink. Please share your ideas to get his intake better. Thanks.
Anon – I went back and reread some of Baby Whisperer's thoughts on babies at this age. First, she reminds readers that babies will drink more efficiently at around 6 months… meaning, he will be able to drink more in just 10 minutes than before. So that's one thing to keep in mind. Secondly, as he eats more solids, remember to deduct 2 ozs of liquid for each 2 oz of solids. Less liquid intake for more solid intake. Do you have any idea how many oz he is getting overall? If you bottle feed/pump etc, you can estimate better. I would definitely compare the oz in to the table provided and see where he fits in. Another suggestion is to feed him dinner at 5:30, then only milk at 7ish (before bedtime). He may be getting quite full from the solids at 4 and then at 7. I'd say at 6 months, 3 meals a day is pretty sufficient so as not to take away from the milk. Lastly, at 6 months you can start thinking about different types of sleep training. It doesn't have to be CIO/Ferber, but try to think of a technique that is comfortable for you. But the 3 middle of the night wake ups is probably habitual at this point rather than necessary. Additionally, the milk at night may be throwing off his milk intake during the day. Try using a paci or other soothing technique to get him back to bed. Hope those ideas help! I'm curious what your Pediatrician thinks about the drop from 75% to 50%… is it a concern for your Ped?