Estimate how much formula your baby needs

1. How to calculate formula requirements

The amount of formula your baby needs each feed depends on...

his age
his weight
his present rate of growth; and
the number of feeds each day.

As a guide only, from 1 week to 5 or 6 months of age, formula requirements for a full term infant (i.e. not premature) can be calculated as follows:

2.5 oz per pound of body weight per day
OR
150 ml per kilo of body weight per day

Divide this figure by the number of feeds your baby has each day, to provide an estimate on how much to formula to offer at each feed. (It's always a good idea to add a little extra in his bottle just in case he would like a little more.)

2. When this calculation is no longer be applicable

Somewhere around the age of 5 or 6 months the amount of milk your baby requires will decrease, because of a natural slowing in the rate of growth, and the above calculations will no longer be applicable. This natural slowing of growth can occur at a younger age for babies who gained large amounts of weight during the early months, or at a later age for babies who struggled to gain sufficient weight in the early months. The table below can then be used as a guide.

A further decrease in the amount of formula your baby requires can be seen sometime around the age of 9 months. This occurs as your baby's rate of growth naturally slows further. This decrease may also coincides with an increase in the amount of solid foods eaten at this age.

Although solid foods will add value to your baby's diet from 6 months, milk (breast or formula) remains the most important food for babies until 12 months, so care should be take to maintain the right balance between solids and milk.

Age	Average number of feeds per day	Ounces Per day	Millilitres Per day
1 month	6 to 8	12 - 22	350 - 600
2 months	5	27	750
3 months	5	27 - 32	750 - 900
4,5,6 months	4 to 5	27 - 36	750 - 1000
7,8,9 months	3 to 4	22 - 28	600 - 800
10,11,12 months	3	22 -28	600 - 800
Over 12 months	3	22	600

Written by Rowena Bennett
RN, RM, RPN, CHN, Grad Dip Health Promotion.

Added Nov 2003.

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