I have found the "(2.5 oz) x (wt in pounds) = 24 hr volume requirement" to be an extremely useful ESTIMATE for YOUNG babies in my practice. I have used this guideline for many years and have had excellent results. Basically, it's a good place to start. By the way, I generally use the birthweight to make the calculation, not the current (low) weight. If I have a client with a 4 lb baby premature and not feeding effectively, I can use it to help the mother know how much milk the baby will need. In this particular case, the baby would need 2.5 x 4 = 10 oz per 24 hr day, and I give this AS A MINIUMUM. I usually calculate that this would be APPROXIMATELY 1 oz every 2 hrs so they have an idea. Often these babies leave the hospital taking 15 - 20cc every 3 hrs, they have lost a little weight, but being only 1 or 2 days old, nobody is too worried. Of course, mother could use this info if she were test weighing at home too. As an aside, I would counsel the mother to overshoot this amount in her production, as 300cc per day would be low for her total production. Of course, these babies have to followed with weight checks. I do not necessarily think this guideline would work for a 5 month old, 15 lb baby, but then again, most 5 mo olds weighing 15 lbs are likely ok. This calculation guideline might be a good place to start though, for a 5 month old weighing 10 lbs, in which case he would need approximately 25 oz per 24 hrs as a place to start. I would also like to say that I use this GUIDELINE whether the baby is being fed or topped off with ebm or formula. I do not distinguish between the two, even though I know that standard formula has a constant calorie count, but breastmilk does not. I also recognize that more frequent feeding increases calorie count, and that this may account for an explanation of "growth spurts" or "frequency days" or what I call "feeding frenzies" in which baby is taking in more calories (but not necessarily more volume) during a growing period. Hope this makes sense. Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN New Albany Mississippi, s.e. USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html