A 10-month-old typically needs 3 to 4 bottles of formula per day, with each bottle containing about 6 to 7 ounces. Breastfed babies at this age usually nurse around 4 times in 24 hours. The total daily milk intake lands somewhere between 18 and 28 ounces, with solid foods now making up a growing share of your baby’s diet.
Daily Bottle Count and Volume
For formula-fed babies between 10 and 12 months, the standard recommendation is 6 to 7 ounces every 4 to 6 hours, which works out to 3 or 4 bottles spread across the day. That puts total daily formula intake at roughly 18 to 28 ounces. Breastfed babies follow a similar pattern of about 4 nursing sessions, though the exact volume per session is harder to measure.
These numbers are averages. Some days your baby will drink more, other days less, especially as their interest in solid food grows. What matters is the overall pattern across a week, not any single day. If your baby is gaining weight steadily and producing plenty of wet diapers, they’re getting enough.
How Bottles Fit Into a Daily Schedule
At 10 months, your baby should be eating or drinking something about 5 to 6 times a day. That typically breaks down into 3 meals of solid food, 2 to 3 snacks, and 3 to 4 bottles or nursing sessions woven throughout. A sample day from HealthyChildren.org (the AAP’s parent-facing site) shows what this looks like in practice:
- Breakfast: Cereal or scrambled egg with fruit, plus 4 to 6 ounces of formula or breast milk
- Mid-morning snack: 4 to 6 ounces of formula or breast milk with diced cheese or cooked vegetables
- Lunch: Yogurt, beans, or meat with vegetables, plus 4 to 6 ounces of formula or breast milk
- Afternoon snack: A cracker or soft fruit with water
- Dinner: Protein, vegetables, and a soft starch with 4 to 6 ounces of formula or breast milk
- Before bed: 6 to 8 ounces of formula or breast milk
Notice that not every eating occasion includes a bottle. The afternoon snack, for instance, pairs food with water instead. This is a natural shift. Breast milk or formula is still the primary source of nutrition before a baby’s first birthday, but solids are gradually taking up more space on the plate.
Night Feeds at 10 Months
Most formula-fed babies no longer need a nighttime bottle by 6 months, because formula digests slowly enough to keep them satisfied through the night. If your formula-fed 10-month-old is still waking for a bottle, the wake-up is more likely habit than hunger.
The picture is a bit different for breastfed babies. Night weaning before 12 months can reduce your milk supply, so many breastfeeding parents continue one nighttime feed until around the first birthday. Either way, the goal by 10 months is for most calories to come during daytime hours.
Starting the Shift From Bottles to Cups
Ten months is a good time to begin offering some milk in a cup rather than a bottle. The AAP recommends introducing a cup as early as 6 months and gradually reducing bottle use between 12 and 18 months. You don’t need to eliminate bottles overnight. A practical approach is to start replacing one bottle feeding at a time, beginning with the midday or snack bottle, since babies tend to be most attached to their morning and bedtime bottles.
Put formula or breast milk in the cup so it tastes familiar. Offer cups mainly at mealtimes, and try giving plain water in a cup between meals to help your baby get comfortable with the new format. Eliminating the bedtime bottle is usually the last step, and there’s no rush to get there before 12 months.
Reading Your Baby’s Hunger Cues
Rigid ounce targets only get you so far. Your baby communicates hunger and fullness in ways that are worth paying attention to, especially at this age when appetite can swing from meal to meal as solid food becomes more interesting.
Signs your baby is still hungry include reaching or pointing at food, opening their mouth eagerly when a spoon comes near, and getting visibly excited at the sight of food. Signs they’re done: pushing food or the bottle away, turning their head, closing their mouth when food is offered, or using hand gestures to signal they’ve had enough. Trusting these cues helps your baby develop a healthy relationship with eating and prevents overfeeding through bottles.
Water and Other Drinks
Between 6 and 12 months, babies can have 4 to 8 ounces of plain water per day. Water isn’t a replacement for breast milk or formula at this age. It’s a supplement, mostly useful for helping your baby practice drinking from a cup and for rinsing the mouth after milk before bed. Juice, cow’s milk, and plant-based milks are not recommended before 12 months.