"How Much Should I Feed My Baby?"

Hi M. -
In my experience, it's best to feed your baby as much as he wants whenever he wants it. Babies don't overeat for emotional reasons, they eat because their little bodies burn calories so fast. His appetite will be different on different days too, so some days he'll just nibble and other days he'll eat everything he can get his little hands on. I'd just indulge him (with healthy foods of course) and give him a variety to eat too. My son is 2 1/2 and some days he takes 2 bottles plus lots of other food and other days he has 4-5 bottles (8 oz.) plus lots of other food. He's not overweight at all and is thriving.
We like the organic foods at Whole Foods Market. Also, soy milk is very nutritious and tasty now, we like the Odwalla brand.
You'll be fine.
Good luck to you!!! - L.

Hi M.-

At your son's age, he needs to drink at least 32oz of breastmilk or formula a day (thats 5-6 6OZ bottles in a 24 hour period) - but rest assured that you are NOT feeding him too much! Count yourself very lucky - so many parents of infants and toddlers have picky eaters, and have to be constantly worried and on top of how much their baby is eating. Your baby is not one of those children, and neither was my daughter! My little one had doubled her birth weight by 3 months, and I have never had to worry for one second if she was getting enough nutrition - she is now 1 1/2, eats three adult sized meals a day with 2-3 snacks in between, and is the healthiest, least picky child I have ever met. Its so nice to not have to worry about how much food she is getting.
Also rest assured that your son WILL stop eating when he is filled - babies do not know how to "overeat" - they merely eat until their stomachs feel full. Because he is not taking his bottle during the day, try putting his milk or formula in a sippy cup and see if he will drink it that way during meal time (babies his age generally take to the sippy cup really well as long as you get the Avent cups with the soft, sippy nipple on it. You can get them at the grocery store). If he is still not wanting to take his bottles, I'd cut down to one container of food at meal time and offer him the bottle before or after he eats his solids. My daughter started rejecting her bottle for food at about his age, but my pediatirician really stressed the fact that she needed to drink at least 32 oz. in a 24 hour period for proper body and brain developement. If you can see if you can stick a bottle in in between meals so you are feeding him food/bottle/food/bottle throughout the day.
Count yourself very lucky that you have a good, happy eater on your hands :)
Good luck!

Hey M.,

It sounds like he is eating a bit to much. Babies don't eat like us. They still need the bottle. He should get at least 5 6-8oz bottles per 24 hours. Then feed him the baby food as needed.

J.

We had the same problem, I started giving Aiden milk about half an hour before he usually had his solids, he still eats all the solid food and he gets the nutrtion he needs.

Hi, There is new information that has come out recently by medical doctors that babies should be only breast fed or bottle fed for the first year of life. I started mine at around 5 to 6 months with only cereal and started other solids closer to one year. It does seem like people are starting children younger and younger on solids thinking it will help them sleep or put more meat on their bones. I'm wondering if this might be the reason our children have more weight problems now than ever before. Some cultures believe that a fat baby is a healthy baby, but that is not true. In our past people breast fed for the first two years of life, it's only been in the past 50 years that a lot of mom's have stopped doing that. I wonder if that is more for our own benefit than our childrens. My youngest breast fed for the first two years because he was allergic to milk and had a heart defect and started eating solids at 6 months, and only cereal, he is now 8 1/2, rarely gets sick, is thin and very active. Hope this helps some.

My son (who is now 14 months) was an eater. I had the same worries! I fed him a few times a day as well. If he is not throwing up (from the normal "spit up") then I wouldn't worry too much! He still needs the nutrients from the bottles so what I did was feed him a smaller portion and follow up with the bottle right away.
He is now very structured on his eating and is still and eater, but not overwieght. He drinks out of a sippy cup between juice water and milk(except his one night bottle right before bed--which we are currently trying to get out of that hard habit)
If you are too worried, mention to your doctor (I did) and he gave me the same advice. I hope this helps!

hi M.! I am new this site and i just thought i would try and help you out here with your feeding question. my baby girl is 8 months now...i feed her 3-4 6oz. bottles a day + cereal and fruit in the morning and a vegetable and fruit for dinner. she does not take a bottle after eating just between breakfast and dinner feedings. i have read several times where it is VERY important that you baby get more formula/breastmilk than anything else at this point. your son should be at LEAST drinking 18oz of milk a day if not more, plus fruits/vegetables. I have also read several times too that if your baby wants more, feed him more. dont hold back on that. Just remember that he DOES still need his milk...that is THE MOST important nutritional thing you can do for him :)
Please let me know if you have any more questions. hope that helps. take care :)

What does the pediatrician suggest?

Hi M.,

I have a 5 1/2 month old son also. My son has a 6oz bottle when he first wakes up then about 3 hrs later I give him about 2 Tbsp of cereal and 1/3 of a jar of fruit. He then has another 6oz bottle after eating that. That usually holds him over for 4 hours then he has another 6oz bottle. In the evening I will give him more cereal and veggies followed by another 6oz bottle. He usually goes to bed about 2 1/2 hours after his dinner but I try to give him a 4oz bottle just before he goes down to hold him off over night. This has been working well for us but then every baby is differant. I have heard that at this age it is important to still give them there bottle with each meal because that is where they get most of there vital nutrients they need. I am not really sure just how true that is though. As long as your baby seems satisfied and happy Im sure he is getting enough. I would check with your pediatrician though the next time you go in just to put your mind at ease. Good luck!

I just took my daughter for her 6 month well check and she will be 7 months tommorrow. She eats the same pattern as your baby but she does drink her 6 oz maybe 4 oz sometimes and my doctor said that was fine. I was concerned that I was feeding her to much also and she told me you can't over feed a baby they know when to stop. And she does I can tell. I would ask when you have your well check