5 month old- introducing formula- how much

[Heg1984]

My 5 month old has been ebf to now but we have decided to introduce a bottle of formula a day for various reasons. I am a little confused as to how many oz to give him. According to instructions for his weight he should be on 7oz, however when we have given him expressed breast milk the most he has ever had is 5oz. Should we stick with that or try 7oz?

There is a big difference in the amount of ebm they need and the amount of manufactured baby milk. A BF baby will drink roughly a floz an hour, 25 floz over a day. A formula fed baby needs roughly 2.5 floz per pound in weight.

If you are only doing one bottle, I’d leave it at the 5fliz he will drink

My DS is 5 months old and I tried to introduce a bottle of formula a day a couple of weeks ago. He will not take it 😩 he's had a few bottles of breast milk before and after an initial "eww what the hell is this rubber thing in my mouth?!" Once he knew what it was, drank it all up. My DS will only ever drink 3-5oz at a time as well.

The amount of formula they drink is not necessarily the same as the amount of ebm they would drink.

My DD (10 weeks) has a bottle on an evening. Usually formula, but if I have managed to express then she’ll have that instead. She’ll drink up to 6oz of formula, but rarely more than 3-4oz of breast milk. I heard it’s because your milk changes over time to suit your babies needs, so they always take a similar volume, whereas they need more formula as they get bigger.

Also my DS was formula fed. The box is just a guide. Most babies don’t take the exact amount it says. Start with 5oz and if he does drink it all then you can always give more

Thank you everyone for your help. We started with 5oz which he took quite happily so will try 6oz next time.