Lactation care professionals and pediatricians talk a lot about feeding the baby every 2-3h, 8-12 times a day. We've talked about this here about one thousand times. Why again? Well, I want to emphasize that this is true to bottle-fed infants as well.
As a nutritionist and lactation care professional, my goal is to help you feed your baby in the best possible way - for you and the baby. Of course, I am part of the group that believes human milk, fed at the breast/chest, is the best option. But this is generally speaking. Each family has its circumstances, and sometimes, exclusively feeding at the breast/chest is not an option.
When you bottle feed, what do you do?
The rule is still the same: feed the baby every 2-3h, 8-12 times a day. The confusion here is how much to give to a baby. The thing I hear the most from parents who are bottle-feeding is that "the baby is still hungry" and often can take much more than what I'm recommending them to give the baby. Think about you. You will often drink whatever amount of juice/soda/coffee, most drinks you put on a cup or glass. Even if you didn't necessarily want that much, you would drink. Older children and adults, however, can self-regulate better and adjust accordingly in the next meal. You can eat a little less, or maybe push that meal a couple of hours. Newborns don't quite have that self-regulatory capacity, so they will likely drink everything you offer them. That doesn't happen at the breast/chest. They have to suck the milk actively - the liquid isn't just there leaking inside their mouths (for the most part).
Overfeeding is a thing
You can overfeed your baby if you are giving a bottle, so you need to observe your baby while they are feeding. Are they trying to push the bottle away? Do they seem to be struggling at some point during the feed? Each baby is going to behave differently and is going to accept a different amount. Start with general guidelines and observe how your baby acts. Drinking the entire bottle is not necessarily a sign of hunger.
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