Baby Feeding Chart
It’s so hard being a parent. You’re constantly worrying about how to do things the right way. The aim of today’s post is to make your life a little easier by providing you with a baby feeding chart.
This is going to allow you to make sure that your little one gets exactly the feed they need when they need it. This will be the end of your worries about feeding times.
What Is an Infant Feeding Chart?
As you may have guessed, an infant feeding chart is designed to tell you exactly when to feed your little one, what to feed them and it also provides information on appropriate quantities and food types for certain age ranges. This usually spans a period of up to one year (12 months) because, after this point, things get a little easier to predict.
Feeding Chart in The First Year of Life
Use this newborn feeding chart to provide effective nutrition for your child:
- 0-4 months old
At this stage, no solid food should be given. Instead, your infant needs to have liquid meals only —spaced 1½ to 3 hours apart. They’ll need around eight to sixteen meals per day in total at and eat roughly 5 ounces per meal.
- 4-6 months old
At four to six months meals will need to be spaced around 2½ to 3 hours apart on average. There should be between nine to ten meals per day and solid food should still be left out of the equation. Serving sizes should still be about 5 ounces.
- 6-8 months old
At six to eight months old your infant will be having a meal every 3 hours on average. They’ll need to take in between 6-8 ounces of food with every sitting. Solid food is possible at this age but it should only come in the form of soft fruit. Citrus fruit is still not safe at this stage.
- 8-10 months old
At eight to ten months old your child will need an even combination of liquid and solid meals. They should have roughly 3 of each and the meals should be spaced out roughly every 3 hours. Serving sizes should be 8-10 ounces. It’s possible to add in grains, harder fruit types, red meat, dairy, and root vegetables into their diet of hard food.
- 10-12 months old
At ten to twelve months of age, your child will require 1-2 liquid meals and 3-4 solid meals throughout the day spaced out at around 3-hour intervals. Serving sizes should be 8-10 ounces and it’s now possible to add in citrus fruit along with green and leafy vegetables.
Conclusion
It’s difficult to provide information that’s going to be exactly right for every baby, but the guidelines in our chart are accurate for the different stages of development during the first year. Try not to overthink the process. If your baby is crying and it has been a couple of hours since their last meal, it’s probably time for another meal.