Baby Feeding and Sleeping Schedule: Formula-Fed 1 to 4-Month-Old

Your first month with your newborn baby probably seemed like the longest month of your life, but the good news is things definitely get easier from here on out.  And at this point, many pediatricians will tell you that your baby can begin to transition away from on demand feeding and get into a feeding and sleeping schedule, which means more time for mom!

When your baby is 1 to 4 months old — about4 weeks to 16 weeks — she will be eating approximately 3-4 ounces of formula per feeding, increasing that amount by about one ounce per month.

Another way to calculate how much to feed your baby is to multiply her weight by 2.5 and divide that by the number of feedings per day (For example: 8 lb. baby x 2.5/6 feedings = 3.3 ounces of formula per feeding).

Try to start your first feeding around 7 or 8 a.m., and feed her until she has lost interest in the bottle, burped and seems full. Around 1.5 to 2 hours after the feed began, put her down for a nap. And no later than 4 hours after the first feed, wake her for the next feed.

Feeding and Sleeping Schedule:

7 a.m. – 1st Feeding

9 a.m. – Nap (1.5-2 hours)

11 a.m. – 2nd Feeding

1 p.m. – Nap (1.5-2 hours)

3 p.m. –  3rd Feeding

5 p.m. – Nap (1.5-2 hours)

7 p.m. –  4th Feeding

8 p.m. – Bedtime

11 p.m.  – 5th Feeding (directly back to sleep)              

3 a.m. – 6th Feeding (directly back to sleep)

Over time, your baby will drop the 3 a.m. feeding, and eventually, the 11 p.m. one as well. But even when she’s still waking up at night, this schedule allows her to be awake and get a lot of the food she needs during the day, so she sleeps longer stretches overnight. This has really worked for me.

And don’t miss my video and schedule for your formula-fed 4 to 6-month-old.

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