I really worry about how much is enough formula. Can you give me guidelines?

If your baby is under 6 months old and is feeding only on formula then every day baby needs to consume 60ml of formula for every 450g of body weight as a rough guide. So if your baby weighs 4kg then the total formula for the day is roughly 530ml. Since you are probably feeding every 4 hours, there are 6 feeds per day. Dividing 530ml by 6 gives us roughly 88ml per feed.

Remind yourself constantly that this may vary considerably from day to day and feed to feed. The danger of a plump baby comes from not accepting when baby indicates that he has had enough, and cajoling baby into eating a little more. Overweight is not the only problem this may lead to. Overfeeding can lead to tummy ache and vomiting as well.

If baby seems dissatisfied with the feed on a regular basis and yet has eight wet nappies and is gaining well, it could come back to needing to suckle. Try changing the teat for one with a smaller hole, or ask your doctor about occasionally offering a tiny drink of water.

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