How much should a newborn eat?

How much a newborn drinks

For a baby of typical weight (7 lb, WHO median). A heavier baby drinks a little more, a lighter one a little less: about 2½ oz per pound a day (about 165 ml per kg), rarely more than about 32 oz (960 ml) in 24 hours (AAP). The calculator above does it for your baby's weight. Night feeds are a typical picture, not a target: babies vary a lot.

What's different at this age

Day 1–2: half an ounce. A bottle-fed newborn may take only about ½ ounce (15 ml) per feed for the first day or two, then usually 1 to 2 ounces (30–60 ml) per feed (AAP). The CDC says the same for the first days: 1 to 2 ounces every 2 to 3 hours. Many babies are sleepy on day 1; feeds still come every 2 to 3 hours (CDC).

Day 3–7: a little more each day. As the days go by, most babies take more per feed and settle near the top of that 1–2 oz range by the end of the week, sometimes a little more. In the first week, keep feeds small: the AAP suggests no more than about 1 to 2 ounces per feed. Let your baby stop when they turn away; you don't need to finish the bottle.

How big is a newborn's stomach?

Small, and harder to measure than the pictures suggest. A review of the few studies that measured it put a newborn's stomach at about 20 ml (⅔ oz) at birth (Bergman 2013), which is why early feeds are tiny and frequent. The cherry, walnut and egg drawings you'll see in hospital leaflets are teaching aids, not measurements; what matters is that capacity grows quickly over the first days.

Weight dips first. Almost every newborn loses weight in the first days; the AAP's line is no more than 8–10 % of birth weight. In a study of over 140,000 newborns, half were back to birth weight by day 9–10, but 14 % of babies born vaginally and 24 % born by cesarean were still below it at 2 weeks (Paul 2016). That's why the first checkups weigh your baby.

Night feeds

There is no night yet. Newborns feed around the clock, every 2 to 3 hours, 8 to 12 times in 24 hours (CDC, AAP). If your baby sleeps longer than 4–5 hours in the first weeks and starts missing feeds, the AAP advises waking them for a bottle; patting, undressing or a diaper change usually does it (CDC).

Breastfed babies: what to watch instead of ounces

Breastfed newborns get colostrum, a few teaspoons per feed at first, and that's what they need until the milk comes in. Nurse at least 8–12 times every 24 hours (AAP); the counts of wet and dirty diapers below are the check, not milliliters.

Is my baby getting enough?

• Diapers: 2–3 wet diapers a day in the first few days, then 6 or more by day 5–7, with pale or nearly colorless urine (AAP).
• Stools: blackish and tarry on days 1–2, greenish-yellow by days 3–4, yellow and loose by day 5–7 for breastfed babies (AAP).
• Weight: a loss of no more than 8–10 % in the first days (AAP), then back toward birth weight over the next 1–2 weeks (Paul 2016).
• Feeds: 8–12 a day and a baby who seems satisfied for 1–3 hours afterward (AAP).

Hungry or full? Paced bottle feeding

Hungry: hands to mouth, turning toward the breast or bottle, puckering, smacking or licking lips, clenched hands (CDC). Crying is a late sign. Full: closes their mouth, turns away from the breast or bottle, relaxes their hands (CDC).

Paced bottle feeding lets your baby set the speed: hold them fairly upright, keep the bottle closer to horizontal so milk flows only while they suck, and pause every few minutes (Kassing 2002). The NHS puts it simply: be guided by your baby, give them plenty of time and don't force them to finish. Leftover milk means it worked.

When to call the doctor

• Fever: a rectal temperature of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or more in a baby 3 months or younger: call right away, even with no other symptoms (AAP).
• Too few wet diapers, dark urine, a sunken soft spot or a baby who is drowsy and hard to wake (NHS).
• Won't wake for feeds or feeds poorly for several feeds in a row.
• Losing more than 8–10 % of birth weight, or not gaining back toward it by the 2-week check (AAP, Paul 2016).

Trust your instinct: if your baby seems unwell, call, whatever the numbers say.

Born early? Use the corrected age for the number of feeds and for starting solids, and real weight for the amounts. Our corrected age calculator works it out.

Questions

Feeding by age

All ages: the baby feeding chart · the full feeding calculator · how to prepare formula safely · water and tea

Same age: weight percentiles · wake windows and naps