Question
A 5-week-old baby is fed 130ml of formula each time, but often doesn’t finish it, sometimes consuming only 80-90ml, and occasionally eating a bit more before falling asleep or spitting out the bottle. Two hours later, the baby starts crying for hunger. Should one follow the book’s advice to feed every three to four hours, or feed the baby whenever they seem hungry?
Answer
For artificially fed newborns, one-third water or thin rice porridge should be added to the milk before one month, gradually changing to one-third to one-fourth rice porridge. As the baby grows older and their digestive ability strengthens, the rice porridge can be reduced or gradually thickened. Generally speaking, a one-month-old baby can use whole milk. Since the sugar content in milk is lower than in breast milk, 5-8g of sugar should be added to every 100ml of milk. The daily total amount of milk required by an infant is about one-sixth of their body weight. For example, a 2-month-old weighing 6kg needs to consume about 800-900ml of milk per day, fed every three to four hours, with each feeding around 130-150ml. In between feedings, 20-30ml of plain water should be given to the baby.