Newborn feeding chart
How much formula, by weight and by age. The chart below is the American Academy of Pediatrics rule of thumb worked out in full, so you do not have to do arithmetic at 3am. Print it for the fridge, or put your baby’s weight in the calculator for their own numbers.
This site provides research and comparisons, not medical advice. Consult your pediatrician before changing your baby's formula.
Your baby’s numbers
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- Per 24 hours
- 22 oz
- Feeds a day
- 8–12
- Per bottle
- 1.75–2.75 oz
This is the age-band average. Add a weight above for a figure calculated from the AAP rule instead.
These are population averages, and your baby has not read them. Use the figures as a sanity check after a feed rather than a target during one: hunger and fullness cues outrank the ounces printed on the bottle.
Formula by weight, under 6 months
The AAP gives about 2.5 oz of formula per pound of body weight per day, with a usual ceiling of roughly 32 oz in 24 hours for a healthy term infant. That is the whole calculation; everything below is it applied.
| Weight | Per 24 hours | At 8 feeds | At 6 feeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 lb | 15 oz | 2 oz | 2.5 oz |
| 7 lb | 17.5 oz | 2.25 oz | 3 oz |
| 8 lb | 20 oz | 2.5 oz | 3.25 oz |
| 9 lb | 22.5 oz | 2.75 oz | 3.75 oz |
| 10 lb | 25 oz | 3.25 oz | 4.25 oz |
| 11 lb | 27.5 oz | 3.5 oz | 4.5 oz |
| 12 lb | 30 oz | 3.75 oz | 5 oz |
| 13 lb | 32 oz (ceiling) | 4 oz | 5.25 oz |
| 14 lb | 32 oz (ceiling) | 4 oz | 5.25 oz |
| 15 lb | 32 oz (ceiling) | 4 oz | 5.25 oz |
| 16 lb | 32 oz (ceiling) | 4 oz | 5.25 oz |
Rows at the ceiling are not a mistake. Past about 13 lb the weight rule would keep climbing, and the AAP’s daily maximum takes over.
Formula by age, 0 to 12 months
Weight is the better guide under six months. After that, how quickly solid food displaces formula varies so much between babies that an age band is the more honest answer.
| Age | Per 24 hours | Feeds a day | Per bottle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1 month | 22 oz | 8–12 | 1.75–2.75 oz |
| 1 to 3 months | 30 oz | 6–8 | 3.75–5 oz |
| 3 to 6 months | 32 oz | 5–6 | 5.25–6.5 oz |
| 6 to 9 months | 25 oz | 4–5 | 5–6.25 oz |
| 9 to 12 months | 20 oz | 3–4 | 5–6.75 oz |
Three things the chart cannot tell you
- Wake a newborn who sleeps past 4 to 5 hours in the first few weeks and offer a bottle. This is the opposite of the advice for older babies, and it is the one instruction most first-time parents reach the second week without hearing.
- Cues outrank the numbers. Slowing down, turning away and going loose-limbed mean the feed is over, even with formula left in the bottle. Pushing the last half-ounce is the most common route to overfeeding.
- Wet nappies are the fastest check at home: 4 to 8 in 24 hours from about the end of the first week. Weight belongs to your pediatrician, not a bathroom scale.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page traces to the American Academy of Pediatrics: the 2.5 oz per pound rule, the 32 oz daily ceiling, the 1 to 2 oz first-week cap, the 3 to 4 hour feeding interval and the wake-to-feed guidance.
One place we knowingly differ. The same AAP page gives 6 to 8 oz at 4 or 5 feedings by six months, which is more than our age table shows from six months on. That figure describes a baby who has not yet replaced feeds with solid food; ours tapers as solids come in. Neither is wrong, and we would rather say so than quote a source next to a number that does not match it.
Related
- How much formula should I feed my newborn? — the reasoning behind the first rows
- Formula volume and feeding frequency by age — the full 0 to 12 month reference, week by week
- Paced bottle feeding — the technique that makes cues easier to read
- Storing baby formula — how long a prepared bottle keeps