Bottlefeeding in hospital

How much you should bottlefeed

Every baby is different and their appetites vary massively – it can be normal for them to take more or less feeds than what’s recommended in the table, and rarely will they wake exactly three hours after the previous feed is finished.

The table below provides a guide to how often you should feed your baby, relative to their age.

If your baby is premature or of a low birth weight, their feeding requirements will be different. Your doctor will be able to advise you if you are at all unsure.

How to time feeds

If you’re trying to gauge how long your baby is feeding for, and how long they are going between feeds, time feeds from the moment they start until the beginning of the next feed. With winding and changing, every feed may last about an hour.