Nutrition: Foundations for Life

How much milk does an infant need?

Recall that healthy newborn infants need approximately 120 kcal/kg/day  to gain weight at the desired rate of 15-30 gm per day.  Both Infant formula and breastmilk have the same average calories per ounce:  20 kcal/ounce. 
(Note: 30 ml=1 ounce.) 

 Clinical Exercise:

You are counseling a mother of 2 week old infant at a well-child visit.  The infant weighs 3.4 kg.  His mother wants to know how much formula she should offer at each feeding.  How many ounces of formula per day would you recommend ?

If the infant is breastfed,  how can you determine if the baby is receiving sufficient calories?

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