"From: coutts coutts <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Baby Not Gaining Dear Esther, Regarding the 3 wk old who has "only" gained 4 of the 5 oz lost since birth - I'm not so sure that there's definitely a problem here...could you please give more information about - baby's birth weight and discharge weight as well as was baby full term, healthy and growing in head circ. and length? Mary = LLLL and aspiring IBCLC" And let's not forget - did mom have lots of IV fluid and pitocin during labor? Recent posts have indicated/questioned whether babies born after such labors have higher initial "weights" because they have extra fluid on board. "Birth weight" isn't necessarily the actual weight (mass) of the baby if you consider extra fluid and meconium as not part of baby's actual weight. Here's a radical thought. Why not wait to weigh babies until they are 24 hours old? Would there be any harm? (Other than the parents being hounded by friends and relatives about how much baby weighs-if this became a norm, people would learn to wait.) This might be a more accurate weight to compare than the birth weight which includes the load of meconium as well as any extra fluid baby has on board. Of course, if baby needs meds based on weight, that would be different. While this approach may be too radical, perhaps the standard against which future wieghts are compared should be the 24 hour weight rather than the immediately-after-the-cord-is-cut weight. Any thoughts? Winnie Mading, RNC, IBCLC *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html