Feeding an Infant

My son is 4.5 mos... at 3-4 mos he was taking 4-6 oz bottles each feeding (occasionally even 8 oz). He is a BIG boy (19 lbs), and is now regularly taking 8 oz per feeding.

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my sons ranged between 6-8 ounces for this age. They fed every 3 hours +/-. They were both bruisers! Both were put on cereal by their drs before 4 weeks.....yep, weeks. Unheard in today's world!

the kids in my daycare have ranged from 4-6 ounces. Most are on cereal by 3-4 months, & some are on fruit/vegies at 4 months too. Not all drs follow the guidelines, nor do all moms.

Sounds like your DD is right on target....

1 mom found this helpful

At this age my son was taking 4-6 ounces. Sometimes he would take as little as 3, but it was normally around 4

My daughter started daycare at 4 months. Was there from 7 am to about 4 pm. I nursed her before she went to school, sent her with 3 six ounce bottles of breast milk, then nursed her 2-3 times after I picked her up and before I put her to bed.

DD took 12 ounces per work day except for her 6mo. growth spurt which was 14-16. I started out with small bottles, of only 2-3 oz each, and over time she went to 4-5 ounce bottles fewer times a day. At that age, DD would only have taken a 3 oz bottle of pumped milk, and then I nursed any time she was with me.

kellymom.com is a good resource, as is the book Nursing Mother, Working Mother.

We were told not to give her cereal til 6 mo. and that worked well for us.

Depends on the day. I've had him go through only 14 ounces or less of milk when I'm at work (I leave around 8, am home before/by 6). I've also had some days lately when he's gone through 24+ ounces (they've had to bust into the freezer for that--I usually only pump about 18 to 20 ounces on normal days). He's 5 months old, but has had the same up and down feeding needs.

He'll go through one 8 ounce bottle and then be pretty happy for a while. It might help, too, to specify that he is over 20 pounds and has a perpetually high growth curve (above the 95th for height/weight).

I was curious about what everyone else was doing on this one...my son is turning 4 months old on the 19th. He hasn't had any bottles yet, but I am going to start pumping a little bit this week, so that he can be babysat once in a while or fed by my husband sometimes. I know I nurse him during the day every 3 or 4 hours, then usually before bed, more, because he stocks up before sleeping for the while night. When he nurses, sometimes he nurses for 20 - 30 min and other times only 10 min, so I have no clue how many ounces that is.

At 4 months my son was taking about 5-6 ounces every 3 hours. When I went back to work I also froze some milk in ice cube trays and took a bag of cubes with him to daycare. On days when he was still hungry after his bottle they would just thaw 2 cubes (1 oz) and give him that. It was easier for me than freezing smaller portions in bags.

breastfed babies should take in about one ounce for every hour you are away from them

My second son never took more than a 3 oz bottle (breastmilk) at daycare. He did 2-3 of these in a 9 hour day, nursing right before drop off and as soon as we walked in the door. My first son liked an 8 oz bottle in the morning and a 3 oz in the afternoon (I think he was a little older than that?). I ALWAYS worried about their milk intake during the day! Good luck to you -- seeing all the different answers is both frustrating and comforting!!

My not so little guy will be 4 months on the 27th and he drinks 4 oz every hour and half to two hours. He does this all day long until about midnight and he will wake up about 7 or 8 and eat, change, and go back to sleep for 2 hours and then do it again for an hour and then he's up for a while. So, I guess he eats about 32-40 oz a day total. He is formula fed though, and he is about 17 pounds if that helps at all.

In addition: make sure that the Daycare Provider.... is feeding your baby ON-DEMAND... not according to a 'schedule.' Otherwise, baby will not be getting adequate intake.
Especially at growth-spurts... a baby gets hungrier and NEEDS to feed, more often.
Thus, the need for on-demand feedings, per the baby.
Not according to a schedule.
Babies also often "cluster feed"... which means that they need to feed even every single hour. And this is normal and common.

At that age, my son was drinking about 6 ounces.

When you are home, always direct nurse at the breast. Otherwise, your milk production, will, decrease.

And feed baby on-demand once you are home... and at night, too.
Your baby is very young.