Newborn feeding schedule: how many feeds a day, and how often?

The short answer

A newborn doesn’t have a fixed schedule. According to Québec’s public health institute (INSPQ), a breastfed baby usually feeds 8 or more times in 24 hours, especially in the first months, and a formula-fed baby 6 or more times, because formula takes longer to digest. The number of feeds and the amount at each one change from day to day. The best guide isn’t the clock: it’s your baby’s hunger cues, then their diapers and their weight.

The INSPQ’s guide From Tiny Tot to Toddler, given to new parents in Québec, covers all of this in detail; the links are at the end of this article.

Why follow your baby, not the clock?

In the first weeks, a newborn can’t yet tell hunger apart from the need to suck. They often ask to feed every time they wake up, and they are still learning how to feed, so feeds can be long and close together. The INSPQ recommends offering a feed when your baby shows they are hungry, and not trying to stretch the time between feeds by giving more milk at once.

Several things change the rhythm from one baby to the next, and from one day to the next:

• their age and their appetite that day;
• their temperament and the way they suck;
• how fast the milk flows;
• the time of day: many babies feed more often in the late afternoon and evening.

Over time, feeds usually get shorter and further apart. An “every three hours” rhythm may settle in later, but it comes from the baby, not from the clock.

Hunger cues come before crying

Crying is a late sign of hunger. A hungry baby shows it in other ways first. The INSPQ lists, among others:

• a change in breathing, eyes moving under the eyelids;
• moving arms and legs, stretching;
• hands brought to the mouth or face;
• sucking movements.

Keeping your baby close makes it easier to catch these cues in time. And a crying baby isn’t always hungry: they may be uncomfortable or simply need to be held.

Very frequent feeds: growth spurts and busy evenings

Sometimes a baby seems to want to feed non-stop, at times every hour, for a few days. That is often a growth spurt: their appetite jumps all at once. According to the INSPQ, growth spurts happen most often around 7 to 10 days, 3 to 6 weeks and 3 to 4 months. Feeds then spread out again.

Many parents also notice intense evenings, with feeds bunched together (often called cluster feeding), followed by a longer stretch of sleep. This uneven rhythm is common. The INSPQ’s breastfeeding pages advise watching the baby rather than the clock: timing every feed can cut off some of the milk the baby needs.

How do you know your baby is getting enough?

You can’t see how much a breastfed baby drinks, so you look at what comes out and what changes. The INSPQ suggests these markers:

• Wet diapers. In the first week, roughly one more per day of life: one on day 1, two on day 2, three on day 3, and so on. After the first week, at least 6 wet diapers in 24 hours, with clear urine.
• Stools. The dark, sticky meconium of the first days gives way, around day 5, to liquid or very soft stools. Several stools a day are expected in the first weeks.
• Weight. Losing 5 to 10% of birth weight in the first days is normal. Weight usually starts coming back around day 4, and birth weight is regained by about 10 to 14 days.
• Behaviour. A baby who wakes up on their own to feed, who you can hear or see swallowing, and who seems satisfied after a feed.

Some babies, especially those with jaundice, sleep a lot and don’t wake up enough to feed until they are back to their birth weight. They may need to be woken, even at night. Ask your CLSC nurse, midwife or doctor about this in the first days.

What to write down, and why

Nobody has to log everything. But in the first weeks the nights blur together, and at 3 a.m. you can’t remember whether the last feed was at midnight or at one. A few simple notes answer the real questions:

• The time of the feed, to know how long it has been without doing the math.
• The side (left or right breast) or the bottle amount, to start on the right breast or prepare the next bottle.
• Wet diapers and stools, the best markers in the first days.
• Who fed the baby, when both parents, a grandparent or a sitter take turns.

These notes also help at appointments: the CLSC nurse or the doctor often asks how many feeds and how many diapers in a day. Having them in front of you beats answering “I think…”.

What matters is that it’s quick. A paper notebook on the night table works. So does an app, as long as it doesn’t become one more chore: if logging takes longer than the feed, people stop logging.

In short

• No fixed schedule: about 8 or more feeds in 24 hours at the breast, 6 or more with formula, and no two days alike.
• Follow your baby’s hunger cues, before crying, rather than the clock.
• Very frequent feeds for a few days often come with a growth spurt.
• Diapers, stools, weight and behaviour tell you whether your baby is getting enough.
• When in doubt: Info-Santé 811 in Québec. In an emergency: 911.

To go further, the INSPQ guide and Naître et grandir cover breastfeeding and bottle feeding in depth. And if several people feed your baby, read our article on sharing baby care with grandparents and the sitter.

Frequently asked questions

This article is for information; it does not replace advice from a health professional. In Québec, call Info-Santé 811 when in doubt (elsewhere in Canada, your provincial health line). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources

1. Feeding schedule, INSPQ
2. Hunger signs, INSPQ
3. Growth spurts, INSPQ
4. Is baby drinking enough?, INSPQ
5. Fréquence et durée des tétées (French only), INSPQ
6. Info-Santé 811, Gouvernement du Québec
7. Naître et grandir (further reading), Naître et grandir