How to Calculate an Infant's Caloric Needs

Meeting your new baby's nutritional needs can be confusing and stressful for a new mom. Usually, babies know what they need and when, but that doesn't always keep moms from worrying about their child's health. Knowing if a baby is getting enough breast milk or formula is a common concern. Infants up to the age of one year do have a relatively high calorie need. Their needs will vary throughout the year depending on how active they are and if they are going through a growth spurt. Most infants need 90 to 120 calories per kilogram of body weight each day. There is a formula that you can use to calculate your infant's caloric needs.

Things You'll Need

• Weight of infant
• Calculator

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Convert the infant's body weight from pounds to kilograms. The formula for this is pounds divided by 2.2 equals the infant's weight in kilograms.

• 2

  Multiply their weight in kg by their range of energy needs. The formula is weight in kg times 90 or 120 to equal their daily caloric needs (kg x 90 or 120 = calories per day).

• 3

  Use this example as a template for the formula. If a three-month-old weighs 10 pounds, he will need about 409 to 545 calories a day to stay healthy. The formula is (10/2.2) x 90 = 409 and (10/2.2) x 120 = 545.