Infant Eating Patterns

My five month old son started food at four months. His current eating pattern is: Breakfast - 2Tbls cereal, 1 jar fruit & 6oz bottle, Lunch - 2 Tbls cereal, 1 jar veggie & 6oz bottle (sometimes I skip the cereal and do 1 fruit and 1 veggie with the bottle), If he is hungry between lunch and dinner I give him a 6oz bottle, Dinner - 2Tbls cereal, 1 jar veggie & 6oz bottle. He's in bed at 8:00 and doesn't eat again until he gets up in the morning...usually between 6:00 and 7:00. We're getting ready to start meats. My Ped. said by six months he should be on three meals a day. So far so good and my baby boy is happy with it. I know all docs are different so I just thought I'd let you know it's okay to start food if you're ready!

When we were doing only bottles Ped's rule was to never stop feeding just because the bottle was empty...let your baby stop because she's full. So I'd make an 8 oz bottle and let her stop when she's done.

Good Luck!

Infants are growing uncontrollably at this stage of the game. When my girls were hungry, I fed them. I never put them on a schedule or limited their intakes.

If she takes all the 6oz and then an hour or so later seems hungry again then increase the amount in the bottle , she may not be able to take 8oz in one feed but you could maybe try 7oz. Keep in mind that the amounts are guidelines and all babies are different , she should be going roughly 3-4 hrs between each bottle.

Going on from your update , yes 8oz can be normal for some babies , let her guide you , she will only take what she wants and once full/satisfied will stop eating , in a month or so you will probably start some solids so her eating habits will change again. Being a parent for the first time is a learning process for everyone , do you have any friends with kids? Also your mom or MIL will be able to offer some advice , I always found the best advice came from friends and my mom!

Hope this helps

Good rule of thumb; if she is draining a 6 oz bottle then try an 8 oz next time but try and space out her bottle to 4 hours between. You didnt say how often she eats between bottles.

Around this time my daughter started teething and it effected her sleeping and eating habits greatly. Have you started baby foods yet? I started baby cereal once a day around lunchtime when she was about 5 months, and added baby squash after a week. She was happy to eat at the table with the family and it helped her sleep better at night. All babies are different, but they let you know when they are hungry. I wouldn't worry about over/under feeding as long as she is happy and still thriving.