I had this question in mind when my daughter was born. She kept crying all the time and I was not sure if she was hungry. I wanted to know how frequently to feed her in order to keep her calm and hunger-free. Most of the web sites said feeding an infant once every two hours is more than enough. But out of my experience and my pediatricians advice I strongly feel that, feeding-on-demand really makes sense. During the first month of birth, an infant always likes to suck and it gives her a lot of comfort, reassurance and a secure feeling. So when ever she cries it is a mother's duty to nurse her. It creates a strong bonding between mom and child and the baby starts realizing that her mom is there to take care of her needs. As she grows up, she would stop crying very often and she would know how much to drink in a day. So even if you compel her to have more, she would not.
This might not be suitable for babies who are formula-fed. Frequently bottle feeding your baby might result in obesity.
If you are a working mom and would like to give your baby pumped milk then here is a very useful website that calculates the amount of milk your baby needs for each feeding approximately.
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