How Much Breast Milk for Newborn?

When you bring your baby home from the hospital, you may be asking how much breast milk for newborn? t’s easy to let your baby nurse when they want and stop when they’re ready, but here are some guidelines for how much milk your baby needs.

When you first bring your baby home from the hospital, the baby’s stomach is the size of a cherry, and it can only hold 0.1 to 0.2 ounces of milk at a time. In other words, your baby can only hold a teaspoon of colostrum in their stomach at a time, meaning you’ll need to feed the baby constantly for the first 24 hours. Try to time yourself to 2 hours to give your baby rest in between because it is hard work on your little one. Skin to skin is going to be very helpful in this precious first 48 hours.

A three-day-old baby’s stomach can hold 0.8 to 1 ounce of milk at a time. At this point, your milk production comes in, and feedings should get easier. If your baby weighs around 6 to 9 pounds at birth, it will need 14 to 22 ounces of milk per day. This will come over the next 10-14 days so just plan a gradual increase each day.

Once your baby hits a week old, their stomach is the size of an apricot, and it can hold 1.5 to 2 ounces of milk at a time. When offering a bottle fill it 2.5 ounces and let your baby determine the amount they need.

When your baby hits a month old, their stomach has reached the size of a large egg, and it can hold 2.5 to 4 ounces of milk at a time. At this point, your baby should have gained about a pound of weight and will need 17 to 24 ounces of milk a day. I aim for one ounce per hour.

There is plenty of variation with these numbers because it depends on how much your baby weighs. HOw old your baby was at birth. Your supply and more. Focus on overall goals. Try for one ounce per hour and weight gain of .5lbs per week for the first 12 weeks.

Allowing your baby to nurse throughout the day is the best way to make sure your baby is getting plenty of nutrients. Also with any bottle given make sure that you are not forcing them to finish the bottle or eat the same amount for each feed. They will vary and this is normal. Finally alternate sides you feed on left to right, even twitch bottles. This helps with neck strength. We hope this helped answer the question of how much breast milk for newborn – if you have further questions, you can reach out to us for additional advice.