An 8-month-old needs roughly 24 ounces of breast milk or formula per day. That works out to about 6 to 7 ounces per bottle, spread across 4 to 6 feedings. The rest of your baby’s calories at this age come from solid foods, but milk still provides the majority of their nutrition.
Daily Totals for Formula-Fed Babies
For formula-fed 8-month-olds, the target is 6 to 7 ounces per feeding, offered every 3 to 4 hours during the day. Most babies this age take 4 to 6 bottles in a 24-hour period, which puts the daily total between 24 and 32 ounces. The sweet spot for most babies lands right around 24 ounces, since solid foods are now contributing a meaningful share of calories.
Your baby’s total calorie needs at this age fall between 750 and 900 calories per day. About 400 to 500 of those calories should still come from formula, which is why that 24-ounce mark matters. The remaining calories come from the solid foods you’re introducing.
Daily Totals for Breastfed Babies
Breastfed babies are trickier to measure in ounces because you can’t see how much they’re taking at the breast. The general guidance is to continue nursing on demand, following your baby’s hunger cues. Most breastfed 8-month-olds nurse 4 to 6 times in 24 hours, and some sessions will be shorter than they were a few months ago as solids become a bigger part of the diet.
If you’re pumping and offering breast milk in bottles, the same 24-ounce daily target applies. Breast milk and formula are nearly identical in calorie density, so the volume guidelines are interchangeable.
How Milk and Solids Fit Together
At 8 months, milk is still the nutritional foundation, not a supplement to solid food. Think of it as roughly a 60/40 split: about 55 to 65 percent of your baby’s calories come from milk, and the rest from solids. That ratio gradually shifts over the next several months until solids take the lead closer to the first birthday.
A common approach is to offer milk first thing in the morning, then alternate between solid meals and milk feedings throughout the day. Some parents offer a small amount of milk before a solid meal so the baby isn’t too hungry to sit and practice eating, while others do the reverse. Either approach works. The key is that your baby is still getting those 4 to 6 milk feedings alongside 2 to 3 meals of solid food.
You can also start offering small sips of water with meals. The CDC recommends 4 to 8 ounces of water per day for babies between 6 and 12 months. Water shouldn’t replace milk feedings. It’s just for practice and to help with digestion as fiber from solid foods increases.
Signs Your Baby Is Getting Enough
Wet diapers are the simplest indicator. A well-hydrated baby produces at least 6 wet diapers per day, with no more than 8 hours between wet diapers. Steady weight gain along your baby’s growth curve is the other reliable signal. Your pediatrician tracks this at well-child visits, but if you’re concerned between appointments, a quick weight check can provide reassurance.
Bowel movement patterns vary widely at this age, especially for breastfed babies. Some go several times a day, others go 3 to 4 days between bowel movements. Both are normal. The introduction of solid foods often changes stool consistency and frequency, so don’t use bowel movements alone as a gauge of whether your baby is eating enough.
When Babies Drink Too Much or Too Little
Some babies love their bottle and would happily drink 35 or 40 ounces a day if allowed. Consistently exceeding 32 ounces of formula can crowd out solid foods and lead to excess calorie intake or iron deficiency, since formula alone doesn’t provide enough iron for this age. If your baby seems to want milk constantly but shows little interest in solids, try offering solids when they’re alert and mildly hungry rather than waiting until they’re very hungry and only want the bottle.
On the flip side, some 8-month-olds get so excited about solid foods that milk intake drops. If your baby is consistently taking fewer than 20 ounces of milk per day, they may not be getting enough fat and key nutrients for brain development. Offering milk before solids for a few days can help re-establish the balance.
Appetite naturally fluctuates day to day. A baby who drinks 20 ounces one day and 28 the next is perfectly normal. What matters is the pattern over a week, not any single day.
A Typical Day at 8 Months
Every baby’s schedule looks a little different, but here’s a realistic framework for how milk and solids fit into a day:
- Early morning: 6 to 7 ounces of milk (breast or formula)
- Mid-morning: Solid food meal, followed or preceded by 4 to 6 ounces of milk
- Early afternoon: 6 to 7 ounces of milk
- Late afternoon: Solid food meal with a few sips of water
- Evening: 6 to 7 ounces of milk before bed
Some babies still take a middle-of-the-night feeding at this age, which counts toward the daily total. Others sleep through the night and consolidate their milk intake into daytime hours. Both patterns are developmentally appropriate at 8 months.