QUANTITY OF FOOD

The quantity of food to be given is always determined by the size of the baby's stomach, which, of course, depends somewhat upon the age of the child; for instance, the stomach of the average baby one week old holds about one ounce, while at the age of three months the stomach holds five ounces; so it would not only be folly to give two ounces at one week and seven ounces at three months, but it would also be very detrimental to the babe, causing severe symptoms due to the overloading of the stomach.

Careful study of the size of the stomach at different ages in infancy, together with the quantity of milk drawn from the breast by a nursing baby, has led to the following conclusions regarding the capacity of the baby's stomach:

AGEQUANTITY
1—4 weeks1—2 ounces
4 weeks—3 months2½—4 ounces
3 months—6 months4—6 ounces
6 months—1 year6—8 ounces