A 10-month-old typically drinks about 24 to 28 ounces of formula per day, split across three to four bottles of 6 to 7 ounces each. That’s noticeably less than what your baby was drinking a few months ago, and that’s exactly how it should work. As solid foods take up more of the diet, formula intake naturally tapers down.
Daily Formula Amounts at 10 Months
At this age, most babies settle into a pattern of 3 to 4 formula feedings spaced about 4 to 6 hours apart, with each feeding around 6 to 7 ounces. That puts the daily total somewhere between 18 and 28 ounces, depending on how enthusiastically your baby has taken to solid foods.
Formula is still the main source of nutrition for babies under 12 months, even when they’re eating three meals of solids a day. Solid foods at this stage are building eating skills, introducing new flavors, and supplementing key nutrients like iron, but they aren’t yet replacing formula’s role as the nutritional backbone. If your baby is eating a wide variety of solids and drinking closer to 18 or 20 ounces, that can be perfectly fine. If they’re a pickier eater with solids, they may still need closer to 28 ounces.
How Solids Change the Equation
The relationship between formula and food is a seesaw. As one goes up, the other comes down. A 10-month-old who devours scrambled eggs, soft fruit, and small pieces of chicken at meals will naturally drink less formula. A baby who’s still warming up to solids and mostly plays with food on the tray will rely more heavily on bottles. Both scenarios are normal at this age.
The CDC notes that babies between 6 and 12 months need formula or solid foods about 5 to 6 times across a 24-hour period. At 10 months, a typical day might look like three meals of solid food plus three to four bottles. You can offer formula before or after meals, though many parents find that giving solids first (when the baby is hungriest) encourages more adventurous eating, with a bottle offered afterward to top off.
When Formula Intake Is Too High or Too Low
If your baby is consistently drinking more than 32 ounces of formula a day at 10 months, that’s worth paying attention to. High formula intake at this age can crowd out solid foods, which provide nutrients that formula alone doesn’t deliver in adequate amounts, particularly iron from meat, beans, and fortified cereals. Babies who fill up on formula may have less appetite for the foods that are becoming increasingly important as they approach their first birthday.
On the other end, a sudden drop in formula intake (below about 16 ounces) without a corresponding increase in solid food could signal teething discomfort, illness, or simply a phase. A few off days are rarely a concern. A sustained pattern of very low intake, combined with fewer wet diapers or low energy, is worth discussing with your pediatrician.
Reading Your Baby’s Hunger Cues
Rigid ounce targets matter less than your baby’s own signals. At 10 months, these cues are becoming more expressive and easier to read. A hungry baby will reach for food, point at it, open their mouth eagerly when a spoon approaches, and use sounds or hand motions to ask for more.
A full baby does the opposite: pushing food or the bottle away, turning their head, closing their mouth, or fussing when you try another bite. Trusting these signals is more reliable than insisting your baby finish a set number of ounces. Babies are generally good at self-regulating their intake when given the chance.
Night Feeds at 10 Months
Most formula-fed 10-month-olds do not need to eat overnight. Formula digests more slowly than breast milk, and by this age, babies can take in enough calories during the day to sustain them through the night. If your baby is still waking for a bottle, hunger is unlikely to be the primary reason.
If you’d like to phase out night feeds, a gradual approach works well. Reduce the amount in the nighttime bottle by about an ounce every couple of nights. So if your baby typically drinks 6 ounces at 2 a.m., offer 5 ounces for two nights, then 4, and so on. Once you’re down to about 2 ounces or less, you can drop the feed entirely and resettle your baby with your preferred sleep techniques.
Water Alongside Formula
At 10 months, your baby can have small amounts of water throughout the day, about 4 to 8 ounces total. This is especially helpful at mealtimes when they’re eating solid foods. Offer water in an open cup or straw cup rather than a bottle. It builds drinking skills and helps with the transition away from bottles that’s coming in a couple of months. Water at this age is a complement to formula, not a replacement for it.
Preparing for the Switch to Cow’s Milk
Your baby is about two months away from the standard transition to whole cow’s milk, which happens at 12 months. There’s no need to rush, but there are small steps you can take now to make the switch smoother. Formula should remain the primary milk source until your baby’s first birthday.
Starting around 11 months, you can try offering about an ounce of whole cow’s milk in a sippy or straw cup once a day. This lets you gauge whether your baby tolerates cow’s milk well and gives them practice with a cup. If your baby doesn’t love the taste, mixing equal parts cow’s milk and formula can ease the transition. Gradually shift the ratio over a week or two until you’ve fully switched.
Once your baby turns one, the goal for whole milk is roughly 8 to 10 ounces per day as a minimum (assuming they’re also eating other dairy like yogurt and cheese), with a maximum of 24 ounces. More than that can interfere with iron absorption and appetite for solid foods, the same concern that applies when formula intake is too high now. The goal at that point is also to move away from bottles entirely, transitioning to sippy or straw cups as the standard way your toddler drinks.
A Sample 10-Month Feeding Day
- Wake-up: 6 to 7 oz bottle of formula
- Breakfast: Solid foods (soft fruit, cereal, scrambled egg)
- Mid-morning: 6 to 7 oz bottle
- Lunch: Solid foods (soft vegetables, protein, grain)
- Afternoon: 6 to 7 oz bottle
- Dinner: Solid foods
- Bedtime: 6 to 7 oz bottle (optional, depending on your baby’s appetite)
Some babies drop to three bottles by this age, others hold onto four. The total for the day lands in that 18 to 28 ounce range, with three solid meals filling in the rest. Adjust based on what your baby tells you they need.