diff --git a/.chloggen/fix_container_limits.yaml b/.chloggen/fix_container_limits.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec728bbbd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/fix_container_limits.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+#
+# If your change doesn't affect end users you should instead start
+# your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: breaking
+
+# The name of the area of concern in the attributes-registry, (e.g. http, cloud, db)
+component: k8s
+
+# A brief description of the change. Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Change instrument type for .limit/.request container metrics from gauge to updowncounter
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+# The values here must be integers.
+issues: [2354]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
diff --git a/docs/non-normative/k8s-migration.md b/docs/non-normative/k8s-migration.md
index 1c34e6374d..c5783116a0 100644
--- a/docs/non-normative/k8s-migration.md
+++ b/docs/non-normative/k8s-migration.md
@@ -298,17 +298,17 @@ The changes in their metrics are the following:
 
 <!-- prettier-ignore-start -->
 
-| Old (Collector) ![changed](https://img.shields.io/badge/changed-orange?style=flat) | New                                       |
-|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
-| `k8s.container.cpu_limit`                                                          | `k8s.container.cpu.limit`                 |
-| `k8s.container.cpu_request`                                                        | `k8s.container.cpu.request`               |
-| `k8s.container.memory_limit`                                                       | `k8s.container.memory.limit`              |
-| `k8s.container.memory_request`                                                     | `k8s.container.memory.request`            |
-| `k8s.container.storage_limit`                                                      | `k8s.container.storage.limit`             |
-| `k8s.container.storage_request`                                                    | `k8s.container.storage.request`           |
-| `k8s.container.ephemeralstorage_limit`                                                       | `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.limit`   |
-| `k8s.container.ephemeralstorage_request`                                                     | `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.request` |
-| `k8s.container.restarts`                  (type: `gauge`)                          | `k8s.container.restart.count` (type: `updowncounter`) |
-| `k8s.container.ready`                  (type: `gauge`)                             | `k8s.container.ready` (type: `updowncounter`) |
+| Old (Collector) ![changed](https://img.shields.io/badge/changed-orange?style=flat) | New                                                              |
+|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `k8s.container.cpu_limit`              (type: `gauge`)                                             | `k8s.container.cpu.limit`       (type: `updowncounter`)          |
+| `k8s.container.cpu_request`             (type: `gauge`)                                            | `k8s.container.cpu.request`     (type: `updowncounter`)          |
+| `k8s.container.memory_limit`            (type: `gauge`)                                            | `k8s.container.memory.limit`     (type: `updowncounter`)         |
+| `k8s.container.memory_request`           (type: `gauge`)                                           | `k8s.container.memory.request`    (type: `updowncounter`)        |
+| `k8s.container.storage_limit`             (type: `gauge`)                                          | `k8s.container.storage.limit`     (type: `updowncounter`)        |
+| `k8s.container.storage_request`           (type: `gauge`)                                          | `k8s.container.storage.request`    (type: `updowncounter`)       |
+| `k8s.container.ephemeralstorage_limit`      (type: `gauge`)                                        | `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.limit`  (type: `updowncounter`) |
+| `k8s.container.ephemeralstorage_request`     (type: `gauge`)                                       | `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.request` (type: `updowncounter`) |
+| `k8s.container.restarts`                  (type: `gauge`)                          | `k8s.container.restart.count` (type: `updowncounter`)            |
+| `k8s.container.ready`                  (type: `gauge`)                             | `k8s.container.ready` (type: `updowncounter`)                    |
 
 <!-- prettier-ignore-end -->
diff --git a/docs/system/k8s-metrics.md b/docs/system/k8s-metrics.md
index fcc4639aa2..feb1884910 100644
--- a/docs/system/k8s-metrics.md
+++ b/docs/system/k8s-metrics.md
@@ -1204,7 +1204,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.cpu.limit` | Gauge | `{cpu}` | Maximum CPU resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.cpu.limit` | UpDownCounter | `{cpu}` | Maximum CPU resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1226,7 +1226,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.cpu.request` | Gauge | `{cpu}` | CPU resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.cpu.request` | UpDownCounter | `{cpu}` | CPU resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.memory.limit` | Gauge | `By` | Maximum memory resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.memory.limit` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Maximum memory resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1270,7 +1270,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.memory.request` | Gauge | `By` | Memory resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.memory.request` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Memory resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1292,7 +1292,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.storage.limit` | Gauge | `By` | Maximum storage resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.storage.limit` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Maximum storage resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1314,7 +1314,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.storage.request` | Gauge | `By` | Storage resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.storage.request` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Storage resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1336,7 +1336,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.limit` | Gauge | `By` | Maximum ephemeral storage resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.limit` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Maximum ephemeral storage resource limit set for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
@@ -1358,7 +1358,7 @@ This metric is [recommended][MetricRecommended].
 
 | Name     | Instrument Type | Unit (UCUM) | Description    | Stability | Entity Associations |
 | -------- | --------------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ |
-| `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.request` | Gauge | `By` | Ephemeral storage resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
+| `k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.request` | UpDownCounter | `By` | Ephemeral storage resource requested for the container [1] | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `k8s.container` |
 
 **[1]:** See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
 
diff --git a/model/k8s/metrics.yaml b/model/k8s/metrics.yaml
index 3d126abc7e..5e411b9af4 100644
--- a/model/k8s/metrics.yaml
+++ b/model/k8s/metrics.yaml
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "{cpu}"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.cpu.request
     type: metric
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "{cpu}"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.memory.limit
     type: metric
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.memory.request
     type: metric
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.storage.limit
     type: metric
@@ -552,7 +552,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.storage.request
     type: metric
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.limit
     type: metric
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.ephemeral_storage.request
     type: metric
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ groups:
       - k8s.container
     note: |
       See https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.30/#resourcerequirements-v1-core for details.
-    instrument: gauge
+    instrument: updowncounter
     unit: "By"
   - id: metric.k8s.container.restart.count
     type: metric