In hospitals, the biomed department keeps an eye on the scales and makes sure they are calibrated because there is so much attention on the weight loss of infants in the hospital.  Electronic scales that are accurate within 2 grams are the standard at least at our hospitals.  These are quite expensive and may not be the ones of choice for pediatrician's offices.  The scales used for hospitals are for limited weights and lose accuracy for babies above 15-25 pounds (depending on brand).  Some pediatrician's offices still use balance beam scales which are much less accurate (like within 1-2 oz).  Typically, hospital scales run from 1000-2000 or more.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Darillyn Starr
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 6:33 PM
Subject: Weights, scales, etc.

I have a comment, and a question.  Back when I was going to pediatricians' offices, it was quite common for there to be discrepancies between different baby scales.  There was a time when I was able to save the severely traumatized FTT baby I had adopted a month before from being hospitalized on IVs, by asking that she  be weighed on the same scale she had been weighed on the day before.  The difference between the two scales in that office was 6 ounces.  Since then, I've heard of many other cases like that, many where the differences prompted supplementation and a blow to a mother's confidence in her ability to breastfeed her baby.  My question is, are most medical facilities now using more accurate scales than they were 10-20 years ago?
 		 	   		  
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