Baby loses weight after birth and you're worried? Is he drinking enough? Is he sick? The weight of infants is often the subject of many questions answered by Karine Bergeron.
When baby is in his intrauterine home, he is like an aquatic organism! At birth, baby will become an aerial organism, and it will lose a certain amount of water. Your baby will lose water in many ways: through breathing, perspiration, evaporation, perspiration, and urine.
Babies who are under stress, for example: separation, deprivation of sensory cues, inappropriate hygiene routines (requiring nudity), feeding schedules requiring waiting, etc. are babies who lose water faster and more. When a baby loses water, he also loses heat, energy and weight. So babies who experience great stress are babies who also lose more energy and their weight is reduced too much or too quickly.
What is birth weight?
Normally, the birth weight represents: the baby + its meconium + a surplus of water that it will eliminate. It is thereforeimportant to understand that your baby's weight may drop during the first few days without your baby necessarily being in danger. You must consider your whole file.
How to limit stress, water loss and weight loss?
- Skin to skin
- Portage
- Proximity
- Appropriate hygiene care
- Wearing the hat
- Avoid dry air
- Avoid drafts
- Awake Breastfeeding
To help you find your way
A full-term baby born between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy usually weighs between 2500 and 4300 g (5.5 and 9.5 pounds).
During the first few days after birth, your baby may lose up to 10% of her weight, which is normal. In addition to eliminating his meconium, moving from a humid environment to an air environment (loss of water), he also drinks a small amount of milk at a time. If he is born full term and he althy, he will return to his birth weight around two to three weeks of age.
Each baby has its own growth rate and evolves by pushing. The premature baby will have a slower growth rate. On the other hand, around the age of 5, he will have joined the others. Remember that a breastfed baby and a baby taking formula do not grow in the same way.
Here is a chart that can help you check if your baby is gaining weight:
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) per month from birth to age 3month
- 500 g (1 lb) per month from 4 months to 6 months of age
- 250 g (1/2 lb) per month from 7 months to 1 year of age
Thereafter, it will gain about 1.8 kg to 2.3 kg (4 to 5 lb) during its 1st and 2nd year of life. In general, a baby doubles its birth weight around 4 or 5 months and triples it around 12 months. The preemie has a different growth.
You can find these weight scales in the "Mieux vivre", a small manual given by the hospital or your doctor during one of your visits. You should also know that newborn scales are available to weigh your child in several pharmacies.
Weight is an important tool to make sure baby is doing well, but there are also other signs, such as urine, stool, arousal, etc. If you are anxious about your child's weight, consult a nurse at your CLSC, but be careful not to have nightmares at night, it's not just the weight that is important!
