Infant Milk Requirements

The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend giving milk in any form to children under one year old. Cow's milk does not contain enough of the essential nutrients that infants need, and contains too much protein, potassium and sodium. Parents should feed Infants either breast milk or an iron-fortified infant nutrition formula during their first year. They may add certain solid foods at four to six months of age.

First Days

Infants require only small amounts of breast milk during their first days of life. This amount increases over the first few days. On average, an infant will consume about 15 ml of colostrum per feed the first day. Colustrum is a sticky fluid produced by the breasts for a few days after birth, before the mature milk comes in. This increases to roughly 20 ml per feed within the next two days. The amount of colostrum consumed increases to 30 ml per feed by day three. At this point, the mother's breasts start to produce mature milk. By the fourth day, most infants will consume about 45 ml of milk per feed. At five days, this increases to 70 ml per feed or more.

Colostrum

Colostrum is produced during pregnancy and during the early part of breastfeeding. Colostrum is easily digested and extremely nutritious, providing a large amount of carbohydrates and protein. It is much thicker than mature breast milk, and has a yellow or orange color. Colostrum contains a number of antibodies to aid the baby in warding off infection. It also has a laxative effect, which helps the baby in his first bowel movements, which helps to prevent jaundice.

Critical Ingredients

Breast milk contains a number of critical ingredients that make it the ideal food for infants. It is high in protein, fats and carbohydrates. It also contains nitrite and nitrates, which the body converts into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide normalizes blood pressure, helps to stave off infections, and aids the nervous system. Colostrum has much higher concentrations of nitrite than mature milk does. Colostrum also has much lower levels of nitrate than mature milk.

Expressed Milk

An infant's consumption of breast milk increases rapidly over the first few weeks, then levels off from one to six months of age. The baby will likely increase consumption during this time for short growth spurts. After six months, milk consumption will begin to drop off. To determine how much expressed milk an infant will need, count the number of times per the baby feeds per day. Divide 25 ounces by this number and you will have an approximate figure for how much expressed milk you will need for each feeding. For example, if the baby typically feeds 10 times per day, he will need roughly 2.5 ounces of expressed milk per feeding.