>Dear friends:
>
>I am interested in knowing what parameters you all are using for normal
>weight gain in the breastfed infant after the first two weeks.  I have
>checked the archives but there didn't seem to be a firm consensus.  What do
>you all think?


In the UK, the consensus is in the Parent Held Child Health Record which
all parents have, in order to record routine clinic visits. It has text in
it which says that after 6-12 weeks babies usually follow the same centile
line but if the baby drops it's okay - one or two centile lines is normal.
There is no advice given for before 6 weeks. There is no distinction made
between breastfed and bottle fed babies.

In practice,  there is a wide variation among doctors and health visitors
(the usual HPs concerned with monitoring growth).  Some will worry if the
birthweight is not reached by 3 weeks, others are more relaxed about it.
Average weight gain is said to be between 100g and  250g a week, but
weights below this are not necessarily regarded as cause for concern.

The PHCHR recommends weighing babies no more often than once a fortnight
and no less often than once a month between birth and three months, and for
babies over this age, no more often an once a month and no less often than
once every three months.

In practice, most babies are probably weighed slightly more often than this
implies.

My own observations are that far too few HPs here look at the baby and the
breastfeeding - weight on its own gives an incomplete picture.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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