A 5-month-old typically drinks 24 to 32 ounces of formula or breast milk per day, spread across five to seven feedings. The exact amount depends on your baby’s size, whether they’re breastfed or formula-fed, and whether they’ve started tasting solid foods. Here’s what to expect at this age.
Daily Totals for Formula-Fed Babies
Most formula-fed 5-month-olds take about 5 to 7 ounces per feeding, with around six feedings spread across 24 hours. That puts daily intake somewhere in the range of 24 to 32 ounces. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies not exceed an average of 32 ounces of formula in a 24-hour period, since going consistently beyond that threshold can contribute to overfeeding and early patterns of excess weight gain.
Feedings at this age are typically spaced about every four to six hours. As babies approach 6 months, many consolidate into four or five larger feedings of 6 to 8 ounces each, rather than six smaller ones. Your baby may already be trending in that direction.
Daily Totals for Breastfed Babies
Breastfed 5-month-olds generally nurse about six to seven times in 24 hours, on demand. Pinning down exact ounces is harder because you can’t measure what’s coming from the breast, but research on breast milk intake at this age suggests most babies take in roughly 24 to 30 ounces per day. One useful benchmark: if you’re pumping and bottle-feeding, most breastfed babies take 3 to 5 ounces per bottle feeding.
Unlike formula intake, which tends to climb steadily as babies grow, breast milk volume stays relatively stable from about one month through six months. Breast milk changes in composition over time to meet a growing baby’s needs, so the total volume doesn’t need to increase the way formula does.
How Baby’s Weight Factors In
A general rule of thumb is that babies need about 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body weight per day, up to that 32-ounce ceiling. A 5-month-old boy at the 50th percentile weighs roughly 16.5 pounds, which works out to about 41 ounces by the formula alone. But because the recommendation caps at 32 ounces, bigger babies don’t just keep drinking more. Instead, they get more calories per feeding as their digestive systems mature, and many begin solids around 6 months.
Smaller babies naturally drink less. A 5-month-old at the 10th percentile might weigh around 14 pounds and do perfectly fine on 24 to 26 ounces a day. There’s a wide range of normal, and your baby’s growth curve over time matters more than any single day’s intake.
What About Solids and Water?
Some parents start offering small tastes of solid food around 5 months, though many pediatricians recommend waiting until closer to 6 months. Either way, solids at this stage are purely exploratory. A teaspoon or two of pureed food doesn’t meaningfully change how much milk your baby needs. Breast milk or formula remains the primary source of nutrition for the entire first year, so you shouldn’t reduce bottle or nursing sessions to make room for solids.
When solids do become a regular part of the diet (closer to 6 months and beyond), the guidance is to offer milk first, then solids after. This ensures your baby gets their most calorie-dense, nutritionally complete food before filling up on purees.
As for water, the CDC advises waiting until 6 months before offering any. At 5 months, all of your baby’s hydration comes from breast milk or formula. Even at 6 months, water is limited to 4 to 8 ounces a day as a supplement, not a replacement.
Hunger and Fullness Cues to Watch For
Rather than aiming for an exact ounce target at every feeding, it helps to follow your baby’s signals. At 5 months, hunger looks like hands going to the mouth, turning toward the breast or bottle, lip smacking, and clenched fists. These cues are your baby’s way of saying they’re ready to eat.
Fullness cues are equally clear: closing the mouth, turning the head away from the bottle or breast, and relaxing their hands. If your baby consistently turns away after 4 ounces, that’s their normal, even if the chart says they “should” be drinking 6. Babies are generally good at self-regulating intake, and pushing past fullness cues can set the stage for overeating habits later.
Night Feedings at 5 Months
Many 5-month-olds still wake once or twice at night to feed, and that’s normal. Breastfed babies tend to wake more frequently because breast milk digests faster than formula. For formula-fed babies, nighttime hunger typically starts tapering off around 6 months, when their stomach capacity and calorie intake during the day are large enough to sustain longer stretches of sleep.
If your baby wakes at night but doesn’t seem especially interested in feeding (takes only an ounce or two before falling back asleep), the waking may be more about comfort or habit than hunger. But at 5 months, it’s still early to push for night weaning. Most experts suggest waiting until at least 6 months for formula-fed babies before actively phasing out nighttime feeds.
Signs Your Baby Is Getting Enough
Ounce counts are helpful guidelines, but the most reliable indicators that your baby is well-fed are steady weight gain along their growth curve, six or more wet diapers per day, and a generally content demeanor between feedings. A baby who is consistently fussy after full feedings, not gaining weight, or producing fewer wet diapers may need a feeding adjustment.
Keep in mind that intake can vary quite a bit from day to day. Your baby might drink 28 ounces one day and 34 the next. That kind of fluctuation is typical, especially during growth spurts, which are common around 4 to 6 months. During a growth spurt, your baby may suddenly want to eat more frequently for a few days before settling back into their usual pattern.