How much should I feed my newborn? I’m breastfeeding and also feeding her formula.”
The more breastmilk a baby gets during the first year of life, the healthier he or she will be. So it’s best for the baby if you breastfeed exclusively around the clock. Once you start adding formula feedings, the decreased demand will make your milk supply go down. If you need to go back to work, though, you will need to add formula feedings while you’re at work unless you’re one of the few moms who is able to pump enough milk to store some before you go back to work and keep pumping at work to keep a caregiver supplied.
How much formula your baby will need depends on his or her weight and how long you’ll be away. A baby needs 2 ½ ounces for formula per pound of body weight every 24 hours. So if your baby weighs 15 pounds, say, and you will be away for eight hours, then you will need to supply enough formula to make at least 12.5 ounces. For breastmilk, your average newborn will consume about 1 – 1.5 ounces an hour. (The same is actually true for an older baby- the amount of calories in breastmilk increases as the baby grows, but the amount in ounces that they consume actually stays the same.) If you’re combining breastmilk and formula, it’s a good idea to feed your newborn from a special syringe for the first month or so, instead of a baby bottle, so that you can get breastfeeding well established and prevent what’s called “nipple confusion,” where the baby basically doesn’t learn to breastfeed because feeding from the nipple on a bottle is a different mouth motion.
Good luck!
