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A healthy infant will gain proportionally more weight in the first year of her life than at any other time. At every doctor visit your baby will be weighed, and there will be no end to the people saying, "Wow, your baby is getting so big!" or "She's small for her age, isn't she?" The amount of weight gain, not what your baby actually weighs, is what helps to determine whether or not your baby is getting enough to eat. Here's an idea of what to expect in terms of healthy weight gain for the first few months.
During the hospital stay, your baby will lose up to ten percent of her body weight. This is due to excess water from being in utero. Your pediatrician will want to measure her weight again at two weeks to ensure that she is back up to her birth weight. By one month of age, your baby will be gaining weight at the rate of approximately one and one-half to two pounds every month. By four months, she will most likely have doubled her birth weight, and by one year, she may have even tripled it.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention issues a chart that your pediatrician will use to determine what percentile your child's weight and length is as compared to the national average. The important thing in regard to weight gain is that the growth curve for your child remains on the same upward curve. For example, if she was at the 45 percentile at birth, the 48 percentile at one month, and then goes down to the 20 percentile at two months, your pediatrician will be concerned. Weight gain should remain steady over a period of time. However, remember that babies grow in spurts, so jumps in weight gain over a week or a few days are to be expected.
If your child is gaining weight slowly, chances are very good that by working together with your pediatrician you can solve the problem, whether breast- or bottle- feeding. So take heart and remember that slow and steady wins the race toward a healthy childhood!
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