On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 04:47:58, Laurie Wheeler wrote:

 

I would not be at all reassured by this baby's wt gain. Going from 6#11oz to

7#14 in 5 wks is a little less than 4 oz per week. In my experience, healthy
babies gain about a pound every 2 wks. The most common scenario I see for
the baby who has lost a great deal of weight (like this one did about 10%)
is a very large catch-up wt gain in a day or two.

 

Laurie, when I go through the numbers for this baby's weight gain, this is
what I come up with:

 

6 lbs 11 ozs = 96 + 11 = 107 ozs; 10% of 107 = 10.7 ozs; rounded off to 11
ozs.

 

A 10% loss in the first 5 days is common for a baby born in a hospital where
breastfeeding management is poor and/or the mom had a high IV load that
caused severe edema in the baby.  So toward the end of the first week of
life, this baby weighed about 6 lbs.

In the next 4 weeks 2 days (30 days), this baby gained 1 lb 14 ozs or 30
ozs.  That is an average of 1 oz per day.  That is great weight gain!

We on LACTNET often talk about calculating weight gain from the lowest point
(often on day 5), yet we sometimes forget and do what some peds do.calculate
from the birth weight and/or calculate from the date of birth (in this case,
the gain was calculated for 5 weeks, instead of 4 weeks 2 days).  That often
throws everything off and we start worrying, the way some peds do.

This list serve helps many who are new at breastfeeding counseling and we
need to pass on correct information to help them and the moms they are
working with.  Sometimes, I have to make a conscious effort to calculate
weight gain the correct way.

If I have made any errors in my calculations, please correct them.  If they
are correct, I hope this helps reassure everyone, especially the mom of the
baby involved.  

 

Lee Galasso, MS, IBCLC, RLC

Lactation Specialist

Westchester County, NY State, USA

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