Babies Weight
As health professionals we use weighing babies only as a quick guide (a screening tool) to confirm growth
Lets see some facts about weighing babies
The average birthweight of a term baby (37-40 weeks) is between 2,500-4,000g. Birth weight is a marker of intrauterine environment. These markers include
length of pregnacy
size of parents
birth order (first borns are usually lighter than subsequent siblings)
Mum’s health in pregnancy
Baby’s health in pregnancy
Fact 1. Birth weight does not relate to projected growth
We do not plot birth weight on growth charts until baby is 2 weeks old, partly for this reason
Fact 2. Baby’s usually loss 7-8% of their weight in the first 3-5 days
Because once they are born they are no longer floating in fluid, so they will loss some fluid. They feed on colostrum for the first 3 days- their first immunisation, they get small concentrated quantities until the milk comes in
Fact 3. Most regain (80%) by 2 weeks of age
If they don’t it is an indication for us to work together to ensure your milk supply is adequate and your baby is able to feed well
Fact 4. Average weight gain from
0-3 months 150-200g/week
3-6 months 100-150g/week
6-12 months 70-90g/week
Fact 5. People are never all going to be the same height thats why we have % charts.
50% will be average (not a pass!), 3% of us will be small, 3% will be bigger etc
Growth charts show us if serial measurements indicate smooth growth ( follow a certain percentile line). Many babies cross percentile lines in the first 6 months because their birth weight is no indication of their future growth
If you want to discuss this further please contact me
