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Feeding schedule for a 5-month-old baby
✓ Last verified against the official sources on September 1, 2026.
Still milk only — solids start at around 6 months
The AAP advises waiting until around 6 months before starting solid foods. At this age milk is still the whole story: breast milk or iron-fortified formula, and nothing else is needed.
Most babies don't need more than about 7 oz per bottle or roughly 32 oz a day.
What changes this month
Still milk only, but a good month to start watching for the readiness signs: sitting with support, steady head control, showing interest in what you are eating, and swallowing food rather than pushing it back out with the tongue.
An example day
This is what a day could look like. It is an example, not a prescription: your baby tells you when they are hungry, and that shifts from day to day.
Feeds tend to get a little further apart and a little bigger around now, and some babies start sleeping longer stretches. That is a change in rhythm, not a sign that they need food — a baby who wakes more is usually going through a growth spurt.
| Around | What |
|---|---|
| 7am | Milk feed (5–7 oz (160–200 ml)) |
| 11am | Milk feed (5–7 oz (160–200 ml)) |
| 2.30pm | Milk feed (5–7 oz (160–200 ml)) |
| 5.30pm | Milk feed (5–7 oz (160–200 ml)) |
| 7.30pm | Milk feed (5–7 oz (160–200 ml)) and bed |
| overnight | Many babies now sleep through; some still wake for one feed |
One exception: babies with severe eczema or an existing food allergy are often advised to start peanut earlier, at 4–6 months, after talking it through with the pediatrician — testing may be recommended first (NIAID).
What about breastfeeding?
With breastfeeding you don’t count ounces — feeding on demand is the guidance, and your baby regulates the amount. The volumes above are for formula; the number of feeds a day is still a useful reference point either way.
Working it out for your baby
The rule of thumb is 2.5 oz per pound of body weight a day (150 ml per kilo), spread across the feeds — capped at about 7 oz per bottle. Work it out with your baby’s weight →
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