I've played around with it, but I stopped using it, because I regularly
check our infants' weight loss in percent. And our EPIC charting system
calculates the percentage with each weight entry. It is much faster to just
do the math myself, as I have the infant's birthweight and today's weight
on my census sheet printout. Also it is only used for 72 hrs, and I see the
infants in follow up clinic usually day 4 or 5. I have preterm twins coming
back tomorrow due to weight loss, and they will be 8 days old.

I think it can be helpful to see the percentage weight loss graphically,
and especially to see how the curve should go up.

I do not think this would be helpful to parents in general, especially in
the first 72 hours, when the parents are just getting their feet on the
ground. I see this useful for practitioners. However, again, to show a
representation graphically might be helpful.

I've never seen a baby lose 14% that quickly, although I'm sure it could
happen with a metabolic problem, for example. It could be a way to catch
math errors or transcription errors, which do occur. I have seen infants
lose 14% by day 4 or 5.
In hospital I find 5-7% to be usual for Breastfed babies, 2-3% if mother is
predominantly formula feeding (even a small gain sometimes), and 8% seems
to be a marker on day of discharge for a closer look. Had one today, but
the mother had a noticeable increase in her production, and I helped to get
better positioning and latch, with a great feed, and I wasn't worried after
that.

Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC
MISSISSIPPI USA

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome