A 6-month-old typically drinks 24 to 32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day, spread across four or five feedings. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, each feeding at this age is about 6 to 8 ounces. That total will gradually decrease over the coming months as solid foods take on a bigger role, but right now milk is still your baby’s primary source of nutrition.
How Much Per Feeding
At 6 months, most formula-fed babies drink 6 to 8 ounces per bottle, four or five times in a 24-hour period. That works out to roughly one feeding every three to four hours during the day. Some babies lean toward the lower end and eat more frequently, while others take larger bottles with more time between them. Both patterns are normal as long as your baby is gaining weight steadily.
Breastfed babies follow a similar rhythm of about five to six feedings per day, though measuring exact ounces is harder when nursing directly. If you’re pumping and bottle-feeding breast milk, the same 6 to 8 ounce range per feeding applies. Breastfed babies sometimes take slightly smaller, more frequent feeds because breast milk digests faster than formula.
How Solid Foods Change the Picture
Six months is when most babies start trying solid foods, and that naturally raises the question of whether milk intake should drop. At this stage, solids are more about exploration and practice than calories. Think of them as a supplement, not a replacement. Breast milk or formula should still come first at each meal, with a few spoonfuls of pureed food offered afterward.
Over the next few months, as your baby gets more comfortable with solids and starts eating larger portions, milk intake will gradually taper. But at 6 months, you don’t need to cut back on bottles or nursing sessions to “make room” for food. Most babies naturally regulate this on their own. If your baby starts refusing a bottle or nursing less enthusiastically after a solid-food meal, that’s a sign they’re getting enough overall.
Signs Your Baby Is Getting Enough
Ounce targets are useful guidelines, but your baby’s hunger and fullness cues are a more reliable day-to-day measure. A 6-month-old who’s had enough will push the bottle away, turn their head, close their mouth, or use hand motions and sounds to signal they’re done. Forcing a baby to finish a bottle past these cues can override their natural ability to self-regulate intake.
On the flip side, steady weight gain, five or six wet diapers a day, and a baby who seems content between feedings are all signs that milk intake is on track, even if some days fall a little above or below the 24 to 32 ounce range.
Night Feedings at 6 Months
Many 6-month-olds still wake for one night feeding, but it’s not always driven by hunger. Formula-fed babies at this age are unlikely to need a nighttime bottle because formula digests slowly enough to keep them full for longer stretches. Breastfed babies may still wake to nurse, partly for comfort and partly because breast milk moves through their system faster.
If you’re considering phasing out night feeds, a gradual approach works well. For bottles over 2 ounces, you can reduce the volume by about an ounce every couple of nights until the feeding is small enough to drop entirely. Babies taking 2 ounces or less at night can usually be resettled without a feed. Night feeding volume still counts toward the daily total, so if you drop a night bottle, your baby may drink slightly more during the day to compensate.
Water and Other Drinks
At 6 months, you can start offering small sips of water, especially alongside solid foods. The CDC recommends 4 to 8 ounces of water per day for babies between 6 and 12 months. Water at this age is about getting your baby used to a cup, not about hydration. Breast milk or formula already provides all the fluid they need. Keep water as a minor addition and avoid letting it replace milk feedings, since your baby still depends on milk for calories, fat, and nutrients that water doesn’t provide.
Juice, cow’s milk, and plant-based milks are not appropriate at 6 months. Stick with breast milk, formula, and small amounts of plain water.
Breastfed vs. Formula-Fed Intake
The daily volume is similar for both, but the feeding pattern can look different. UC Davis Health guidelines note that formula-fed babies at 6 to 7 months typically take 5 to 7 ounces per feeding, five or six times a day. Breastfed babies at the same age also eat about five to six times in 24 hours, but individual feedings may vary more in size because babies control the flow at the breast differently than with a bottle.
One practical difference: formula-fed babies tend to settle into a more predictable schedule because formula takes longer to digest. Breastfed babies may cluster-feed (several short feeds close together) at certain times of day and go longer stretches at other times. Both patterns can add up to adequate total intake. If you’re combination feeding with both breast milk and formula, the same overall daily range of 24 to 32 ounces applies across both sources combined.