A six month old, fully breastfed infant will receive approximately 250 mg of
calcium per day from breastmilk.  In order to take in 500 mg of calcium from
breastmilk, a child would have to consume ~ 1,500 ml or ~ 50 oz of human
milk per day.

A little background and a few refs:
The concentration of calcium in human milk is reported by Lawrence
(Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 5th edition, p 739) as
approximately 23 mg per 100 ml in colostrum and 28 mg per 100 ml in mature
milk. Other reports estimate concentrations in the range of 320 mg/liter of
human milk (National Research Council, Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th
edition).  The mean daily volume of milk produced in full lactation is ~
750.
Calcium absorption is greater from human milk than from formula, but it is
still less than 100% of the calcium content.  Some calcium is inevitably
lost in the stool.
For the first 6 months of life, infants thrive on the calcium they receive
from human milk alone.  Recommended intakes thereafter are somewhat
arbitrary, but clearly increased.  Yet, the intake of human milk - even
among infants who do not receive formula in the second half of infancy -
does not increase sufficiently to cover the current consensus recommendation
regarding calcium requirements for this age group.

Judy Hopkinson

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