Child weight gain. What is the normal weight of a baby at birth? Underweight - possible causes

Immediately after the baby is born, doctors weigh it on precise electronic scales. Based on this figure, the mother and pediatrician estimate the increase over the next months. We will tell you in this article how much a child should weigh by month.

How much should a newborn weigh?

From 2600 to 4000

Height – 46 – 56 cm.

What affects the weight of a newly born baby?

1. Genetics and mom's body type. Thus, thin mothers most often give birth to small babies, while mothers with a large physique give birth to “heroes”.
2. Mom's lifestyle during pregnancy. If a mother consumes high-calorie foods, then most likely the newborn will be larger in size than a mother who eats little. Also, if the expectant mother smokes and drinks alcohol during pregnancy, then there is a high probability that the baby will be sick at birth and, accordingly, thin.
3. Childbirth. With premature birth, a baby is born with a small weight, and a baby born at term, of course, weighs more.

Weight of a child up to one year old, norm, table by month

Weighing

Children's electronic scales will help you monitor your baby's weight. With their help, you can track not only the increase, but also see how many grams the baby eats in one feeding. To do this, weigh your baby before feeding and immediately after. The difference in numbers between the first weighing and the second is the amount eaten.

To see accurate numbers without errors, turn on the scales, put a diaper on it, set it to 0.00 and place the baby without clothes or a diaper.

If you can’t buy scales, don’t worry, you always have the opportunity to monitor your baby’s growth and development with a pediatrician. Every month, at the doctor's appointment, the baby will be weighed, height and head and chest circumferences will be measured.

Norms of height and weight of children per year

When a child reaches one year, his weight should be approximately 10-11 kg. Height will be about 75 cm.

Is your baby a little underweight? This is not yet a reason to panic! It is much worse when he is obese, because children with extra pounds are much more susceptible to various diseases. If the baby is significantly below normal, has a poor appetite, decreased activity, and often cries, then it is worth consulting with a pediatrician.

Why does my child gain weight poorly?

Let's look at the reasons

1. Lack of breast milk from the mother. In this case, the mother needs to take measures to increase lactation.
2. The baby has not developed a sucking reflex. In this case, the mother needs to teach him to eat.
3. Uncomfortable position during feeding and improper attachment to the breast.
4. Pathologies of the oral cavity in a child or pathologies of the nipple in a mother. Typically, these causes are quickly identified during an examination with a doctor, and they are easy to correct.

A bottle-fed baby may not eat well and gain weight due to the fact that the formula is not suitable for him. In this case, the mixture must be changed to another.

Sometimes children have difficulty gaining weight in the first months, but after the introduction of complementary foods this problem often goes away. If your child does not eat complementary foods well, try to choose foods for him that he will like. For example, some children do not like cauliflower and broccoli puree, but enjoy eating zucchini and pumpkin puree. Try to feed your baby every 3-3.5 hours so that he has time to get hungry.

Overfeeding

Some mothers and grandmothers, seeing that their beloved child is too small in size, may overdo it in feeding. Too frequent and large meals can only harm the child. Feeding your baby can lead to obesity, which will lead to other health problems.

• was the baby originally full-term or premature;
• constitutional, hereditary characteristics of the parents;
• gender of the child;
• type of feeding (breastfeeding, artificial);
• presence of concomitant diseases.

There are weight and height tables (centile tables), which show the average weight and height norms. You can find them on the Internet. But, as a rule, they are intended more for doctors to objectively assess the child’s development. It will be quite difficult to understand them yourself, and even impractical.

The weight with which the baby was born does not always affect its development during the year, if we are talking about a healthy child born between 38 and 40 weeks of pregnancy. Weight at birth depends on how the expectant mother ate during pregnancy and what kind of lifestyle she led (active or sedentary).

A child’s weight of 4,000 grams, for example, at birth does not always mean that he will gain more than a baby weighing 2,700-2,900 grams. It all depends on the factors described below.

On average, the weight of a full-term baby is within the following limits: for boys at birth 3,500 grams, for girls - 3,350 grams. Deviations from the norm are allowed from 2,700 grams to 4,000 grams. Body length ranges from 46 to 56 cm, with an average of 50 cm.

Let's analyze the norms of weight gain by month for newborns.

Norm of weight gain in newborns by month

In the first 6 months of a newborn’s life, the rate of weight gain per month averages 800 grams. In the second half of the year, the normal weight gain for infants is 400 grams.

In total, the child’s weight increases week by week, respectively, by 200 grams before six months and by 100 grams per week after 6 months.

Child growth by months

The growth of a healthy child during the first 12 months of life increases by a total of 25 cm. More accurate indicators are given in the height and weight tables.

Norms for monthly increase in body length:

• 1st quarter – 3 cm monthly;
• 2nd quarter – 2.5 cm monthly;
• 3rd quarter – 2 cm monthly;
• 4th quarter – 1-1.5 cm monthly.

More accurate indicators of the normal height and weight of children under one year are given in centile tables of height and weight.

Features of height and weight gain in premature infants

If the baby is premature, then the increase in body weight and length depends on gestational age (meaning the week in which the baby was born). As a rule, the schedule for gaining weight and body length in such children is individual for each specific case. And indicators of weight and height vary in relation to full-term children.

Let's break down the baby's weight by month in case of prematurity:

• during the first 6 months, the average monthly weight gain for children born with a body weight of up to 1,000 grams is about 600 g, with a weight of 1,000 - 1,500 - about 740 g, and with a weight of 1,500-2,500 grams - about 870 g ;
• in the second half of the year, children born with a body weight of up to 1000 g gain about 800 grams of weight monthly, and for larger babies the gain per month is 600 g.

The growth of premature babies during the first year of life increases by 26.6 - 36 cm. Usually by 2 - 3 years they catch up with their peers.

How do the constitutional characteristics of the body and hereditary factors affect the height and weight of a child under one year old?

Most parents like to compare their child with others. For example: “Here, a friend (neighbor, relative) has a child the same age as mine and weighs much more than mine. Why are we not improving? This means something is wrong."

And it seems that there is something to think about, but there is no need to panic. We are all different in genetic structure, some are thin and tall, others are stocky and short. So, these are the types of constitution described:

• normosthenic;
• asthenic;
• hypersthenic.

The development of a child also depends on factors such as heredity. If mom and dad are short, and there is no one tall in the immediate family tree, then you shouldn’t expect your child to gain 5 cm every month. This principle partly applies to the child’s weight. We cannot change what is inherent in nature.

Gender of the child and rate of weight gain in infants by month

Boys in most cases initially weigh more at birth than girls. Accordingly, the increase in both weight and height will differ. These differences are also included in special centile tables.

The influence of the type of feeding on the weight gain of the newborn

At this point I would like to note such a nuance as overfeeding the child. Previously, it was believed that overfeeding could only be done on artificial nutrition. However, there are cases, quite often, when a mother overfeeds her child.

In both cases, there is an intensive increase not so much in body length as in body weight. That is, if a child gains monthly growth around the average and 1,500 - 2,000 grams in weight, then it’s worth thinking about whether we are feeding the baby too much and too often.

After all, uncontrolled feeding leads to consequences such as delayed motor development and skills. The child later turns over, sits down, stands up, it is difficult for him, the excess weight interferes. The development of the musculoskeletal system is disrupted, obesity and many unpleasant consequences are possible.

Concomitant diseases and physical development

Babies with certain diseases gain less in both height and weight. Or, on the contrary, a situation arises when the presence of a certain disease causes a greater increase in comparison with healthy children. There are many diseases, let’s try to figure it out by highlighting the most common groups of diseases:

1. Diseases of the cardiovascular system. Congenital heart defects, especially complex ones, with circulatory disorders, heart failure. The reason for the weight deficit in this case is the following point. Due to the presence of the defect, the heart does not function fully, blood circulation is insufficient, the exchange of oxygen and nutrients between the organ tissue is reduced, muscles and blood vessels also suffer. This is expressed in delayed development of the child’s body.
2. Diseases of the bronchopulmonary system. BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia), malformations of the trachea, bronchi, lungs, severe intrauterine pneumonia. All these diseases affect circulatory disorders. There is a decrease in the supply of oxygen to tissues and organs, which entails poor growth and weight gain of the child.
3. Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Malformations of the intestines, esophagus, liver, bile ducts (intestinal atresia). Such problems are solved surgically in the early stages after birth. Gastro-esophageal reflux (pathological reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus), viral hepatitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, in which the absorption of nutrients through the intestinal wall is impaired; suffered acute intestinal infections.
4. Diseases of the endocrine system. causes excessive weight gain due to the accumulation of excess fluid in the newborn’s body and the formation of edema of the subcutaneous fat. This disease can be excluded by neonatal screening, which is performed on all newborns up to 1 month.

Usually blood is taken from the heel of a newborn in the maternity hospital. Genetic syndromes such as Praderra-Willi, Shereshevsky-Turner, and Itsenko-Cushing can influence large weight gain. These diagnoses can only be made by your attending physician or a specialist (geneticist, endocrinologist).

And in conclusion, I would like to give advice to parents. In order not to wonder whether my child is developing normally, I just need to visit my pediatrician every month, who will examine the child and monitor weight gain and growth. Then he will tell you how the baby is developing. If necessary, prescribe timely examination and treatment, if required.

How much should a breastfed baby eat, sleep, gain weight, and soil diapers? In books and magazines for parents you can still find standards that have nothing to do with babies who are breastfed. How will your newborn behave? We bring mothers' expectations closer to reality.

How does a newborn baby usually behave? Not all expectant and young mothers have a good idea of ​​this. The generation of today's mothers, as a rule, did not have the opportunity to observe in childhood how numerous brothers and sisters were raised. And what we saw in the movies - children sleeping peacefully in their cribs - does not always correspond to real life.

So it turns out that the expectations of many mothers, sometimes unconscious, are not confirmed when their baby is born. So my first meetings with mothers are mostly devoted to answering questions about what a newborn should and should not do.

Although we, consultants, like to say that the child does not owe anything to anyone, there are still certain standards. They are necessary in order to understand whether everything is going well. So what should a healthy newborn who is (this is important) exclusively breastfed do?

Sleep: when and how much to sleep for a newborn

Usually all mothers really want a child slept. And complaints that the baby doesn’t get enough rest are very common. It’s true that newborn babies tend to sleep a lot. But not the way we imagine it - three or four hours in a separate crib or. No, they really love to sleep next to their mother, sucking at the breast. And being put to bed, as a rule, they wake up after 15 minutes, or even earlier. And if the mother considers only the time that the child sleeps on his own to be a real sleep, then it may indeed seem to her that the baby is not sleeping enough.

Here you need to remember that everything counts - 15 minutes of dozing on the chest and 40 minutes in the cradle are considered sleep. But if a baby in the first weeks of life regularly sleeps during the day for 3-4-5 hours at a time, this may, on the contrary, not be a very favorable sign. If at the same time the baby is not gaining weight well, you should consult a lactation consultant: perhaps the baby, instead of waking up and asking for the breast, falls into deep sleep to save energy. Such a baby may even have to be woken up for feeding.

An exclusively breastfed newborn will likely wake up quite frequently during the night as well. So that the mother can rest, the optimal solution would be to sleep together with the child. If the baby is always nearby at night, at some point mothers become so accustomed to night feedings that the next morning they cannot even remember how many times and for how long they fed the baby.

Feeding the baby

The second “should” that is prescribed to the child is, of course, eat. This means sucking the mother’s breast. Which for babies is not only a source of nutrition, but also an opportunity to communicate with their mother, calm down, survive childbirth, warm up, feel safe, etc. Therefore, the duration and frequency of this process depends on many factors. From the temperament and well-being of the child, from how quickly the milk is separated from the breast, from how the birth and pregnancy proceeded, from the behavior and mood of the mother.

Some babies are full in five minutes and can easily go without breastfeeding for two hours. Others can suck for forty minutes and ask again pretty quickly. There are also those who will be happy to breastfeed every fifteen minutes. And this is also completely normal.

It is only important to monitor whether the baby grasps the breast correctly. Because if sucking is ineffective, the baby can hang on the breast for hours without getting enough nutrition. If you have any doubts about this, it is best to consult a lactation consultant.

Counting wet diapers

Another child should regularly empty the bladder and bowels. Knowing the norms in this area will help you make sure that your baby is getting enough milk from the breast and that he is getting enough calories. For children under two weeks of age, the minimum number of urinations per day is equal to the baby’s age in days. That is, on the 7th day after birth, the child should write 7 times or more. For older boys and girls, this norm will be, respectively, 12-18 and 10-16 times a day. Falling within the normal range practically guarantees that your baby is not at risk of dehydration. If your baby has a bowel movement every day and his stools are yellow, mustard, or tan-colored, your baby is breastfeeding effectively and getting enough nutrition.

Weight gain while breastfeeding

Well, probably the last thing a child really needs is gain weight. If, after counting the wet ones and assessing the bowel movements, you still have doubts that the baby has enough milk, weigh him. It makes sense to do this no more than once a week, because children usually gain weight in spurts, and you can only worry yourself unnecessarily by assessing weight daily. It is even more useless to find out how much milk a baby sucks out at one feeding by weighing him before and after eating. These numbers can be very different at different times of the day and for different durations of feedings.

The minimum below which it is dangerous to fall in weekly weight gain up to 6 months is 125 g. It is good if in the first three months the child gains at least 700 g per month. More is possible, because you cannot overfeed, it is digested very quickly and easily absorbed.

This is where the child’s responsibilities, the boundaries of which, as you see, are very wide, end. The mother’s task is to notice in time if the child’s behavior and condition is very different from that described above, and to provide help or contact specialists. And also - monitor your condition, because it is no less important than the condition of the child.

Regularly satisfy your basic physical needs - rest and nutrition. Try to sleep when your baby sleeps, and learn to do most of the things together. If you forget to eat in the whirlwind of caring for your baby (I hear this from moms very often), set reminders for yourself and be sure to eat! And find at least a few minutes a day to do something nice for yourself.

Why is this so important? Because in the first months you are also a newborn - a newborn mother. And together with your baby you find yourself in an atmosphere of micro-catastrophe, when the old life no longer exists, and you have not yet adapted to the new one. And in a disaster situation, an adult, as we hear every time he goes on a flight, must first take care of himself. In order to then be able to provide maximum help and support to the child.

Discussion

The child should sleep separately from the mother, 2-3 hours during the day, 3-4 at night. The child should also fall asleep separately from the mother, that is, not sleep, hanging on the tit for about 20 minutes, and then in the crib, and as soon as the baby falls asleep, he should be put to bed separately. Co-sleeping with a child is not always good, children get used to it very quickly, then you will cry that you taught him to do this

Interesting and educational information. But all this is told in the maternity hospital. Or in booklets

If he sleeps more than 20 hours a day, how to wake him up correctly?

What if he sleeps all the time? And how to properly wake her up for breastfeeding. Otherwise you will lose weight. We're a week old.

“Breast milk cannot be overfed; it is digested very quickly and easily absorbed”
I don't agree. Breast milk takes three hours to digest. Frequent feeding is the cause of stomach problems in babies in their first year of life. And children spit up mainly because they were overfed.

The child’s nutrition must be monitored and controlled from birth.

So my baby sleeps only with a boob in his mouth, as written in the article. I don’t have the strength anymore (What should I do with him?? I don’t know... and he doesn’t want to sleep in the crib at all.

Comment on the article "Newborn: eats, sleeps, gains weight... How much?"

More on the topic “Weight gain of a newborn while breastfed”:

Girls, please tell me, we are only three days old and we are only breastfeeding. Yesterday there was a weigh-in at the maternity hospital and the baby lost 200 grams (?), although I admit that the scales are wrong, because the neighbor also lost 200 grams. I don’t have any milk yet, it’s just a pitiful drop, the baby is calm, doesn’t scream or cry. The question is whether this weight loss is normal or whether you need to take supplemental food. And another question about poop, when does it turn from green-black to yellow?

Help me to understand. At birth, the baby weighed 4,000 g. Height 51. At a month, weight was 4,150 g, height 53.5 cm. Now we are 1.5 months old. Over the last week, the weight gain is only 50 g. Fully on breastfeeding on demand (8 - 11 times a day), there is enough milk, 1 feeding - 1 breast, sucking actively, everything is fine with stool. We visited the pediatrician and he said that we need to supplement him with formula.

The boy was born 3740 g/52 cm, at 4 months - 7370 g/64 cm. There were no problems with stool or growth. His wife said that he sucked lazily from the very beginning - for 7-10 minutes. average. My wife started standard complementary feeding at 4.5 months. - vegetable puree, then porridge, then fruit puree... The daily diet looks like this: 6 am - breast 10 min., 10 o'clock - buckwheat porridge 160 g + applesauce 50 g + breast (5 min.), 14 o'clock - vegetable puree 150 g (in turn - zucchini, cauliflower, pumpkin) + breast, 18 o'clock - breast, 22 o'clock - breast. One breastfeeding at night. As a result, in the 4th month. gained 500 g, in the 5th + 1st week - only 250 g. Visually lost weight.

I don’t know if I ended up there, I’m worried, or rather, not worried, but our doctors are, about the large weight gain during breastfeeding. Let me explain the situation, my child is 3 months old, weight 7,500 kg, height 68 cm, born 3,500 kg, 51 cm. First month increase 1,300. the second is 1.100, the third is 1.600. We only breastfeed, we are calm on our own, nothing bothers us.

At 8 months we went to weigh ourselves, we didn’t gain any weight, and even lost 300g!!! I think maybe my mistake is that I give 30g of prunes every day for better digestion, but it weakens me and doesn’t give me weight gain??? Our stools are hard, but three times a day....is this normal at our age?

Good morning! We are fighting for milk. It’s barely enough, and to be honest, it’s not enough at all))) I weigh my son, the best result for feeding from both breasts is 40 grams. We're on day 9. Weight gain per day ranges from 20-40 grams. Is this catastrophically low or is it still possible?

Virgos, I can’t understand what’s going on. In the 1st month we gained 750g, in the 2nd month - 850g, in 10 days on the 3rd only 150g. On breastfeeding on demand, we eat 8-9 times a day, sleep at night until 7-8 hours, suck for 10 minutes, I did a control weighing the other day - we ate about 130-140 ml. Recently, nothing fundamentally has changed in feeding, with the exception of regurgitation, which has become more frequent and abundant.

We went to the doctor the other day, I left the office in tears, my weight gain in the first month was only 400 grams, my height was only 0.5 cm. How is this even possible? , they also gained weight very poorly, 500 grams per month, while they were ahead of their peers in physical development, did not get sick, and felt great.

Over the past weeks, three have not gained at all... (((We were born on 2850, in the first month we added 1 kg, in 2 and 3 - another kilo in total... and now... (((we are growing - we are growing! we are moving now a lot (he began to roll over onto his stomach, we actively bathe, we do massage and gymnastics), but not as much! What should we do? We are on full breastfeeding, I feed as much as he wants - it seems to be enough for him, otherwise he would cry?

I really don’t know what to do with it, but our weight has stopped... in the first two months the child gained 1.5 kg, grew by 11 cm, in the third month he gained only 400 grams, and now we’ve been marking time for two weeks already, no increase at all. Completely on breastfeeding, eats as usual, every two to three hours, I also eat as usual... however, we have LN, we have been drinking lactase since a month, stool once a day or every two days, very, very liquid..

My friend is having problems again. the baby is now 10 days old - we went and weighed ourselves today - it turned out that he had lost 500 grams of weight since birth. The doctors scolded the mother, said that she was starving the child, that she didn’t have enough milk for him, and they told him to feed him formula until lactation improves . and she also has ongoing problems with her breasts - she has had congestion twice already, and two more times there have been red, painful spots on her breasts.

The baby is on breastfeeding, but for the first two weeks everything went wrong with our nutrition, so we only pee and poop normally from the middle of the third. I did control weighings - the milk eats a maximum of 40 g per feeding, at night - 80. In general, about 500 are added per day, with the norm for his weight being 800. Tomorrow I’m going to the clinic for the first time, I’m very afraid, plus I’m sure the doctors are still They'll scare you more.

The situation is this: the baby was born at 33 weeks, weight 2450. The whole family is disheveled, everyone is terribly worried, the mother is quite young, the child is the first, both grandmothers have their first granddaughter, in short, everyone is in excitement. Now the girl is 9 days old, weight 2640. There seems to be not enough milk yet.

Girls, please tell me or console me. We are 1 month and 1 week old. In a month we gained 500g, but not from the lowest weight, but from birth weight. Completely breastfed. We eat often, but only for 25-30 minutes at most. There seems to be enough milk. Our colic is very severe. the baby screams for 3-4 hours every day, and there were days from 5 am to 9 pm with breaks of an hour.

What should we do anyway??? We switched hectares of GW from mixed. In the first week we added 180 grams, and in the second only 100. At the same time, there was clearly more milk, since previously we were able to express 100-130 grams from one to three in the morning, but now 180 grams come out freely..... During the day we eat almost every hour 3 hours from one, then from the other....

Who else remembers or now knows how much breast milk a baby should eat per feeding from birth to 1 month?

Girls, how much weight should a baby gain in a week and a month? My daughter is 3 weeks old and she wants to eat all the time, if she doesn’t sleep or walk, then she screams, if you pick her up, she calms down and starts looking for her boobs, it seems like they fed half an hour ago and for a long time. Yesterday it bit into my hand - I thought it was a boob.

How much weight should a child gain in 4 months? Born 2850. Now at 4 months she weighs 6 kg, I’m worried that this is not enough. I feed with all my might. Maybe I'm worried in vain?

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How much weight does a newborn gain: table of normal indicators

For helpless babies, weight and height are vital indicators, especially under the age of 12 months. It is then that the foundations for the development of the body and health for many years to come are laid, and any deviation +/- is a cause for concern. To independently monitor the situation, monitor how much the newborn is gaining (the table with body weight gain is given below), precise medical scales will help - profile ones, which take into account all the nuances of the physiology of a child from several weeks and above.

Normal baby weight at birth

Regardless of how much weight a newborn gains, there is a standard for the body weight of children at birth. The optimal figure is considered to be from 2 kg 500 g to 3 kg 700 g. More or less, as reflected in the table of newborn weights, is considered a pathologically dangerous risk. Therefore, the baby comes into the close attention of neonatologists. Our store offers you to determine all this.

Table of newborn weight gain by month

The data of children under one year of age are monitored monthly with precise consideration of the specified interval. In children from one to two years old, weight gain is monitored once every 8 weeks, which is considered the standard indicator. How much weight a newborn should gain can be seen below.

Normal weight of a newborn

A table of newborn weight gain will allow you to compare the results obtained and draw rational conclusions. It reflects indicators such as the minimum and maximum increases for each month in accordance with the gender of the child (boy/girl). Taking these data into account, you can get the baby’s final body weight in 4 weeks, which should be taken as a key guideline.

The minimum and maximum weight indicators are also given, reflecting the correct pace of physical development of infants. The data is divided into 2 basic groups, since the table of newborn weight gain by month is slightly different for boys and girls. Having high-quality scales, you don’t have to worry about your child – everything will be shown and taken into account!

But in addition to body weight, the baby’s height also plays a role, so we further suggest studying the corresponding indicators (statistical averages). The norms of weight and height of children are given in relation to each other. This makes it easier to keep track of a child’s development, having only one necessary tool - scales of excellent quality and increased accuracy.

Any deviation from the indicators towards plus or minus is a reason to consult a pediatrician for advice. This is how you can help your baby:

• avoid problems in the future;
• normalize the balance between height and weight;
• prevent the occurrence of diseases;
• promptly detect hidden forms of potentially dangerous illnesses.

WHO tables: height, weight of children under one year old

In addition, you can be guided by development standards based on the parameters of the WHO (World Health Organization), the table of which is given below.

The monthly increase among girls is lower. This is a natural factor that does not cause alarm, because men are somewhat larger, so a slight difference is always present. Here are the growth data for female infants.

Below is a similar table of height and weight of children under 1 year with development indicators for boys in accordance with WHO standards. They, as a rule, lead in the increase, which corresponds to the physiological norm, and therefore does not cause concern.

What to do if the baby’s development data does not meet the standard?

If the actual readings do not correspond to the parameters given in the newborn weight table, you should consult your pediatrician. A qualified specialist will determine exactly what it is: lack of milk, lack of complementary feeding, excessive nervousness of the mother, or more serious problems. For example, a lag or advance in age-related development may indicate the onset of certain deviations.

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The weight of a newborn is an important indicator of its development. This figure is important both at the birth of the baby and at each stage of its growth. Moms should remember that all children are different, standards are established by calculating average figures. How much a baby should weigh can only be determined by a qualified pediatrician.

Weighing immediately after birth is necessary to assess the general condition and give an Apgar score. If the newborn weighs less than 2.8 kg, nutritional deficiencies may be suspected during fetal development. Another reason for the shortage is fetal hypoxia. Oxygen deficiency can cause serious disorders and delayed psycho-physical development.

Sometimes children are small due to genetic predisposition. In this case, children fully respond to the world around them and are harmoniously built. Immediately after birth, the readings on the scales drop by 200-500 g.

This happens for several reasons:

1. Loss of fluid.
2. The release of miconium (feces).
3. Switching to breast milk. A full volume of milk comes to a woman only 2-3 days after birth.
4. Postpartum stress.

Body weight indicators at discharge and on the day of birth may differ significantly. The weight of a newborn is considered normal if it falls within the range of values ​​from 2.8 kg to 4.00 kg with a height of 45 to 55 centimeters. Today, there are frequent cases of the birth of heroes weighing 5-6 kg. But this is the exception rather than the norm.

If there are no significant pathologies, bringing the child’s colograms back to normal is the mother’s task. The main allies in this: on demand. In some cases, vitamins and complementary feeding mixtures as recommended by a doctor.

Weight gain rates by month

Active weight gain in newborns occurs during the first 3 months. In subsequent trimesters, the increase in grams decreases. It is considered normal if by three months the child gains at least 50% of the indicators at birth, and by 6 months this figure should double.

There is a generally accepted norm for weight gain in newborns. Careful monitoring of body weight is recommended for children under one year of age. But mothers should know that each baby develops in its own way and only a pediatrician can properly assess his condition.

Weight gain in newborns by month, table 1

The figures given in the table are averages. Much depends on the constitution and physique. Large babies with high birth weights gain pounds and centimeters differently than babies with modest birth weights.

During a monthly examination, the pediatrician not only measures kilograms and height, but also calculates the volume of the head, chest, ankle, and wrist. This is done in order to correctly assess the development of the baby. The doctor keeps a chart of each baby's weight gain and, based on individual observation of the rate of development, draws conclusions about the general condition of the child's body.

The following table shows approximate figures for infant weight gain.

Calculating the normal weight of a child

All norms of weight gain for newborns are considered conditional. They are used as recommended values. Together with other indicators, the gram gain table gives a general understanding of how the baby develops. Deviations of 6-8% from the table indicators are the absolute norm.

Note! The development of boys and girls is assessed differently.

How to correctly calculate a child’s normal body weight without the help of a doctor? The table will help young breastfeeding mothers navigate. All values ​​are listed by month. First of all, you need to pay attention to the body composition and skeletal system of the child. If the baby was born small, you can subtract up to 10% from the given indicators. If large, the figure may be slightly higher than standard values.

You need to focus on the child’s growth. If this figure differs from the table, then the grams may vary. Deviation from the standard weight by 15% is a sign of overweight or underweight. If this figure is higher or lower by 20%, we can talk about the need to correct the child’s nutrition. The rate of weight gain in newborns by month during breastfeeding may differ slightly from that of bottle-fed children.

If the norm is exceeded, the doctor:

• prescribes a less calorie diet for a nursing mother;
• with artificial nutrition, select a different mixture;
• may recommend introducing water, juices (from 5 months), removing complementary foods.

All dietary changes should be agreed with your doctor. Children deprived of breast milk require especially careful monitoring.

In case of shortage:

• it is recommended to undergo examination by other specialists;
• biochemical blood tests are prescribed;
• administered in the form of mixtures, porridges, purees.

Mothers of premature babies who have trouble gaining weight should buy home baby scales. Weighing yourself daily will help you choose the right nutrition tactics.

For any significant deviations, you should consult a doctor for advice. Only an experienced pediatrician can adequately assess the general developmental state.

What to do if you are overweight or underweight

Additional Information! The composition of breast milk changes every 3 months. Hypolactia (decreased milk supply) may occur. A lactation crisis can last up to two weeks. During this period, the child's weight decreases. It is important to put the baby to the breast more often and to establish night feedings.

If the baby's weight figure differs from standard norms, do not panic. Recently, pediatricians have noted more and more cases of individual manifestations of children growing up. Children of modest size can be significantly ahead of their peers in intellectual development. Just like the “heroes” - to lag behind.

If there is a shortage you need:

1. put the baby to the breast more often;
2. alternate feeding from both mammary glands;
3. improve nighttime sleep with your baby so you can feed him on demand;
4. drink more fluids;
5. introduce lactation teas;
6. rest and sleep more.

While breastfeeding, you need to latch on to the breast as often as possible. Do not restrict milk at night. It is at night that the mother’s body produces the hormone prolactin. Therefore, to maintain full lactation, night feedings are most important.

When searching:

1. Consult your pediatrician for advice.
2. review your diet for fatty foods.
3. change formula or complementary foods.

Sometimes extra pounds are a temporary or hereditary factor. After 7-9 months, when the baby begins to move more, body weight will decrease.

We can definitely say that the weight of a newborn is just one indicator that does not always describe the full picture of the development of the body. All accepted WHO standards for weight gain in children are statistical averages. They are used by pediatricians for general diagnostics of the developmental level of infants.