How much are you supposed to feed your baby when they are almost 4 months old as far as milk goes?

Question

I am afraid I am feeding my son too much. I feed him about 6 ounces each time every 3-4 hours, but sometimes I am afraid I am feeding him too much! And when am I supposed to start feeding him jar food?

Answer 1

You are not feeding him too much.
If he is hungry, feed him.

Babies don't know how to be greedy, they run on instinct so when he is full, he will let you know. If he eats too much he will throw it up, not spit up, actually throw up. But at his age, he knows how much to eat until he's full.

When he can hold his head up and when can sit up on his own with only a little help is when he can start tasting baby foods. They have to wait until they sit up because that's when their reflex actions cut out. Normally at 2-3 months if you put a spoon of food in his mouth he will automatically spit it out.

I started around 4 months with feeding my kids baby foods.

Do not replace baby food with milk, even if he is eating baby food, he still needs the nutrition of a formula meal. So still, go by his indications, if he's hungry or full, he'll eat or not eat.

Start out with single veggies, peas, carros, squash. and keep feeding him just one (peas) for at least 5 days straight, this way you can find out if he has allergies to any one particular food. If you mix the foods you won't know which one gives him the bad reaction.
You start with veggies because if you start with sweet fruits he will get used to the taste and will not want to switch to veggies.

After you go through the veggies and fruits you can give him the mixed jars then when you are through with those start with the meals with meat in them.

Your baby needs formula until he turns 1 then he can drink cows milk.

Answer 2

What's the weight of the baby? Babies should be eating 2 to 2 1/2 ounces per pound of body weight in a 24 hour period. For example, if the baby is 10 lbs, that would translate to 20 to 25 ounces total in a day or 3 - 4 ounces every four hours.

Remember, every baby is different, and this is just a rough guideline. If the baby seems to be healthy, gaining weight at a normal pace, etc. then you are fine. If you are concerned about anything, don't hesitate to ask your doctor. Lord knows I went to the doctor about once every 2 weeks at the beginning! My baby girl is 9 months old now and you'll be amazed how much different it will be in a few months!

As for solids: according to most doctors now, baby food should not be started until about 5 or 6 months. That's a question for your doc.

Answer 3

My baby just turned four months old..and i am actually giving away my bottles that hold only four ounces because she is eating 6-8 oz and beyond now. She has been doing that for about two weeks so it is completely normal at this age I am betting. Jar food is not recommended until the baby is six months old. If you would like to feed him more then start with runny ceareal though i might give him a stomatch aches..and though you may not be from canada a baby at four months should be eating what your baby is.

Answer 4

I would say that 4-6 oz at 4 months would be about average.

Really, try making a larger bottle every so often by 2 to 4 oz once every 7 days if your baby drinks more then it is time to give more at some point your baby will drink up to 8oz per formula bottle. Subtract the amount of what is left in the bottle by what the baby has just consumed and that would be the new average size of bottle you should be making for your baby till he needs more. Another way to tell if baby is still hungry is his demeanor happy baby means a content and satisfied baby, unhappy baby is a hungry baby. Babies usually STOP eating when satisfied especially after feeding so many times a day. You really shouldn't be so worried that he is over eating for that reason. Rice cereal at 4-5 months With Doc's permission you can try rice cereal BUT, if baby pushes it out of mouth with tongue then wait a week and try again. Solids (Gerber's) 6-8 months. Some of babies abilities are associated for the most part with developmental phases that your baby will be achieving for example holding up its head and supported sitter independent sitter..... The different Developmental phase your baby is at will USUALLY determine his or her ability to do other things like swallow. Visit the following Gerber link and click on the current Developmental phase your son is at now and select the Product Catagory you wish to infrom yourself about and the website will tell you what is the next product that is approriate for his particular phase. Always ask your doctor.
http://www.gerber.com/prodphase
~Good luck

Answer 5

Sounds to me that you are doing just fine. When my daughter was that age she was eating the very same amount. That is also about the time that I started her on rice cereal. She seemed to be hungry all the time. She is now 8 months old, and eating some table food, only because she has 6 teeth. She weighs 17 pounds and is very healthy. You are not feeding him too much at all. If he is hungry feed him. He will let you know when he is ready for things. But please don't add cereal to his baby bottle. When you decide to give him cereal and jar food... spoon feed it to him. There is a lot of info on when to feed what to a baby on the gerber web site. It doesn't go by age. It goes by the ability of the child. Such as gerber suggests giving your baby cereal after they have doubled their birth weight, can sit up, and can hold up their own head, these abilities reduce the risk of choking. Good Luck!

Answer 6

Feed him what he wants. My baby is 5 months old and still eats 7 times a day. I am breastfeeding. But the lactation consultant I talked to said to just keep feeding them when they want it. I was thinking it should be getting less as well. She said babies take what they want to eat when they want to eat it (kind of like adults). So if they are thirsty they need to drink. I wouldn't like being told I could only have a drink 4 times a day. I'm much more thirsty than that. So put in that perspective, No don't drop a feeding. 5 times sounds great to me. Don't force him to finish a bottle. Maybe he'd prefer to eat less more often rather than getting stuffed. After all it is healthier to eat more frequently rather than huge meals.

Answer 7

The "rule" is 2.5 - 3 oz of formula for each pound of body weight per day.

However the real answer is if you son is gaining weight appropriately for his height and age he is fine for him. You should have doctor appointment around 4 months ask him/her about your babies weight if you are concerned.

But honestly I wouldn't worry about a baby eating too much unless you have specific concerns about his weight. If his weight is fine he can eat as much as he wants!

Jar food AND cereal shouldn't be started until 6-9 months.

Answer 8

Milk? I understood that babies were to have formula until they were a year old.

As far as the amounts go, it sounds about right. Baby knows when he's had enough. If he loses interest in his bottle, don't force it on him. But, let him have that 6 ounces or so if he seems to want it.

Talk to the baby's doctor about when to start jar foods. I started mine on baby cereals first.

Answer 9

from birth to 12 months old, babies only feed on formula milk or breastmilk. My son primarily lived off my breastmilk until 12 months old. If I do not produce much milk, we would complement it with Good Start Formula by Nestle.
We gave our son fruit to suck on starting @ 5 months old just to taste, but not to eat. Most of the nutrients would come off the breastmilk and formulas
You can't really feed babies real food since they do not have teeth or very little teeth in the beginning.
We started giving our son baby food jar food starting at 12 months and up.

Do not worry if your child is eating too much, he'll "eat" until he's done eating.

Hope this helps! If you have any questions feel free to email me by clicking on my nickname

Answer 10

you need to talk to your doc, but my daughter is 7 months now and she was taking 6 oz every meal, about 4 hours apart. she has a thyroid problem though, so i don't know how much help that is for you. you shouldn't start feeding solids (jar food) til he looses his reflex to push food out of his mouth. usually that's around 5-6 months. and it's easier for them if they first suck it from the spoon, then learn to open their mouths and actually swallow. my daughter had no problems converting to solids because i didn't force the spoon down her throat at first. hope this helps!