How Much Should a 12 Week Old Be Eating

I always "fed on demand". If my girls were hungry for more, I gave them more, and neither one of them is over weight. They are 12 and 7. If anything, they learned that they don't have to "stuff", because food is always available. Even now, the girls eat when they are hungry, so some days they eat a lot of food, and other days, they eat very little.

Babies and young children know when to eat and when to stop eating. They are in tune with their bodies and know what they need. Sometimes babies go through growth spurts and need a lot of food and then sometimes they just slow down and don't eat much at all. It is all normal. Also, babies get a little chunky and it is not an indicator of what they will look like later. They start to become "streamlined" sometime in their second year, so don't worry about her weight. There is more than enough time to worry about that later.

I had the same problem with my son at 8 weeks. he would always seem hungry so i would feed him till he fell asleep... which ususally was 6 oz. of formula. but i foud out that that was WAY too much for a 8 week old. Babies are new to this whole having to depend on someone to feed them thing. They are used to it just comming automatically. So they will stuff themselves cause they arent sure when the next meal will be. but i had to cut him back and i was feeding him 4 oz every 3 hours. he was a little fussy about it at first cause his stomach was over stretched, but about a week later 4 oz was satisfying him. then when he turned 3 months i started giving him 5 oz every 4 hours. He is 11 months now and not overweight. So try sticking to your guns with the 4 oz for now. he may not like it at first but he will adjust. Trust me he isnt starving, he just has to learn to depend on you and learn that you will feed him again. hope i could help. good luck.

Keep count of the dirty diapers. Most baby books can tell you how many wet diapers to look for to make sure that he gets enough. I would talk to the pediatrician and get the ok before introducing cereal though. Doing it too soon can cause life-long allergies to certain foods.

My son was also eating about that much and 5-6 times a day. Don't worry, you just have a big boy. My son is now 7 mo old and still eats like a horse, but a lot less often. He also started sleeping through the night very early. He will let you know when he is full. Have fun! Just wait still he starts crying when the 8oz bottle is all gone :)

Hi J.,
I myself am a first time mom of a beautiful 5 month old son. My son has always been an eater. He can now drink a 6-8oz bottle with no problems. When my son was about 8 weeks or so he was eating about what your son eats now. When I took my son for his check up I asked his doctor and he said that you can never over feed a baby. He said that every baby grows at his/her own pace and they will tell you when he/she is hungry or not. So I never really worried about whether or not if it was too much becuase I did start to notice that he would let me know when or not he was hungry. I just went for his check up again not to long ago and his doctor said that he was perfectly healthy and that this is the time babies should be putting on some weight because by the time he/she hits 1 year he will begin to stretch out. So personally, with the advice of my doctor, I think that if your son is hungry and you can satisfy him with a reasonable amount of formula (4-5oz) I think your ok and so is your baby. Oh, what I did start doing though was at 7-8 weeks I began to add a little bit of rice cereal to his bottle. That way he wasnt drinking so much (3-4oz) and staying satisfied longer. I started that because my son began getting collicy with all the formula. That helped out a lot. He was eating about the same amount but not eating as many times throughout the day. I hope this helps.

If you think he is eating too much formula. Try mixing it with a little rice cereal. I know a lot of people who mix it with their formula in a bottle, but I started spoon feeding my grandddaughter. It takes a little practice. Be sure to have a bib on them and a towel for cleanup..There will definitely be cleanup. At first, 5 bites of cereal or so is good. That will cut down on the formula...

I would let your baby be the guide...he will stop eating when he's full. You could try offering him a pacifier after 4 oz to see if he just needs more suckling time. If he fusses even with the pacifier, he's probably still hungry.