The pattern across the first year is that daily total rises steeply for about three months and then flattens, while the number of feeds falls and the size of each rises.
Typical formula amounts by age
| Age | Per feed | Feeds/day | Daily total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newborn | 1–3 oz | 8–12 | 16–24 oz |
| 1 month | 3–4 oz | 7–8 | 24–28 oz |
| 2 months | 4–5 oz | 6–7 | 26–32 oz |
| 4 months | 4–6 oz | 5–6 | 28–32 oz |
| 6 months | 6–8 oz | 4–5 | 24–32 oz |
| 9 months | 7–8 oz | 3–4 | 24–30 oz |
| 12 months | 7–8 oz | 3 | 16–24 oz |
A commonly used guideline for formula is roughly 2.5 oz per pound of body weight per day, with a usual ceiling around 32 oz in 24 hours.
⚠️ These are typical ranges, not targets. Babies vary considerably and a baby who consistently takes noticeably more or less than the range is a conversation with a paediatrician rather than a problem to correct at home.
Breastfed babies plateau earlier
A breastfed baby's daily intake settles around 24 to 30 oz by about a month and stays broadly there for the rest of the first six months, because breast milk composition changes as the baby grows.
This surprises parents returning to work and expressing milk, who expect bottle volumes to keep climbing. They generally do not, and preparing 8 oz bottles for a four-month-old usually results in wasted milk.
Why the total flattens
Growth rate slows sharply after the first few months. A newborn doubles birth weight in about five months and does not double again for another year and a half.
Then from around six months, solid foods start displacing milk, so milk volume falls while total nutrition continues to rise.
Feeding on cue rather than by the clock
The schedule above describes what tends to happen, not what should be imposed. Feeding in response to hunger cues — rooting, hands to mouth, increasing alertness — works better than a timetable, and crying is a late cue rather than the first one.
Signs of a good feed are steady sucking with audible swallowing, and a baby who releases the bottle and relaxes when finished. Forcing the last ounce is worth avoiding; the ability to stop when full is worth preserving.
Nights
Most babies need at least one night feed for the first several months. Many drop night feeds somewhere between four and nine months, and the range is wide.
There is no age at which night feeding must stop, and a baby who has been sleeping through and starts waking again is often in a growth spurt rather than regressing.
When to ask
Fewer than six wet nappies a day, consistently poor weight gain, refusing feeds repeatedly, or forceful vomiting after feeds all warrant a call rather than an adjustment at home.
So does a baby who seems constantly hungry despite taking amounts at the top of the range, which can indicate something other than appetite.
This page describes commonly cited ranges. Your paediatrician's advice for your baby takes precedence over any of it.
Paced bottle feeding
Holding the baby more upright and the bottle more horizontal slows the flow and lets the baby control the pace. It reduces the tendency to overfeed that comes from a fast-flowing bottle emptying before the baby has registered fullness.
It also matters for babies who take both breast and bottle, because a bottle that delivers milk faster than the breast can make the breast frustrating by comparison.
Teat flow rate is part of the same question. Most babies do well on a slow flow for far longer than the packaging suggests, and moving up a size because of age rather than because of the baby's behaviour is a common misstep.
Preparing and storing
Prepared formula keeps in the fridge for a limited period and a bottle the baby has drunk from should be discarded within the hour, because saliva introduces bacteria into the milk.
Expressed breast milk has different storage rules again, and they are more generous. Both sets of figures are worth having written down somewhere rather than recalled at 3am.