A 7-month-old typically needs about 24 ounces (720 mL) of breast milk or formula per day, split across four to six feeding sessions. That number will shift slightly depending on how much solid food your baby is eating, but milk remains the primary source of nutrition at this age.
Total Daily Milk Intake
Between 6 and 12 months, roughly 400 to 500 of your baby’s daily calories should come from breast milk or formula. That works out to around 24 ounces per day. Some babies drink a little more, some a little less, and both are normal as long as your baby is growing steadily along their curve.
At seven months, each bottle or nursing session typically falls in the range of 4 to 8 ounces, depending on timing and whether solids were offered alongside or shortly before. A common pattern looks something like this: four to five milk feeds during the day, with individual bottles averaging 6 to 8 ounces for formula-fed babies. Breastfed babies regulate their own intake at the breast, so tracking exact ounces is less practical, but the overall daily volume tends to land in that same 24-ounce ballpark.
How Solid Foods Change the Picture
Seven months is right in the middle of the transition to solids, and most babies at this age are eating two to three small meals of solid food per day. The CDC recommends offering something to eat or drink every two to three hours, which generally adds up to about three meals and two to three snacks (including milk feeds) across the day.
Milk should still come first at this stage. Solids are complementary, meaning they add variety and nutrients but don’t replace breast milk or formula as the main calorie source. A practical approach is to nurse or offer a bottle before solid meals, then let your baby explore food afterward. As your baby gets closer to 9 or 10 months and eats larger portions of solids, milk intake will naturally dip a bit. At seven months, though, you don’t need to deliberately cut back on milk to make room for food.
Feeding Schedule at 7 Months
There’s no single correct schedule, but a realistic day for a 7-month-old often looks something like this:
- Morning wake-up: breast milk or 6 to 8 ounces of formula
- Mid-morning: small solid meal (a few tablespoons of puree or soft finger food), plus breast milk or 4 to 6 ounces of formula
- Afternoon: breast milk or 4 to 6 ounces of formula
- Late afternoon/dinner: small solid meal, plus breast milk or 4 to 6 ounces of formula
- Bedtime: breast milk or 6 to 8 ounces of formula
Some parents add a third solid meal in here, and some babies still want a mid-afternoon milk feed on top of everything. Follow your baby’s hunger cues. Turning away from the bottle or unlatching and losing interest are reliable signs they’ve had enough.
Night Feedings at This Age
Most 7-month-olds no longer need to eat during the night for nutritional reasons. According to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, babies at six months and beyond who wake to feed overnight are typically doing so out of habit rather than hunger. They don’t need those nighttime calories to grow properly. If your baby is still waking to feed and you’d like to change that, gradually reducing the volume or duration of nighttime feeds is a common approach. That said, if night feeds are working fine for your family, there’s no urgent reason to stop.
Water and Other Drinks
Between 6 and 12 months, babies can have small amounts of plain water: 4 to 8 ounces per day. You can offer sips from an open cup or straw cup during solid meals. Water at this age is really just for practice and to help with digestion of solids. It shouldn’t replace any breast milk or formula. Juice, cow’s milk, and plant-based milks are not recommended before 12 months.
Signs Your Baby Is Getting Enough
The best indicators that your baby is drinking enough milk are consistent weight gain, five or more wet diapers a day, and a generally content demeanor between feeds. If your baby seems satisfied after feedings, is meeting developmental milestones, and is tracking along their growth curve at well-child visits, their milk intake is almost certainly fine. Babies go through occasional growth spurts where they want more milk for a few days, then settle back to their usual pattern. A temporary jump in demand doesn’t mean your supply is low or that formula isn’t satisfying them.
If your baby consistently refuses milk, takes less than 16 ounces of formula per day, or seems to be losing weight, that’s worth raising with your pediatrician at the next visit or sooner.