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Sat, 18 Aug 2001 12:40:04 EDT |
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I have practiced pediatrics for 22 years. I have seen MANY babies under
birth weight at 2 weeks of age and 3 weeks and even a few under birth weight
at 6 weeks of age. Those 6 weekers were VERY scary babies.
I have done:
UAs
CBCs
EKGs
thyroid panels (mother and baby)
daily office follow-up
multiple LC housecalls
SNS supplementation 2-3 times/year
and many other tests and follow-up patterns.
I have diagnosed maternal hypothyroidism about once/decade.
Other than that, I cannot recall ONE SINGLE BABY whose slow weight gain was
the ONLY sign of a serious disease or problem. In other words, with good
follow-up and lactation consultation and reassurance from a few simple tests,
slow gaining babies can be watched and helped. They rarely need
supplementation via SNS but this can help a few babies.
This may not be a representative sample and will undoubtedly trigger a spate
of responses about babies who were gaining slowly as a sign of some large
problem. I know this happens but it is extraordinarily rare. Zebras.
There are multiple sources which talk about the ideal or minimal
daily/weekly/monthly weight gain for a baby. There are BF growth charts and
requests for more growth charts. In my opinion, this is not valuable data.
Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
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