Weight of the baby - a very important and sensitive indicator of its development. The younger the child, the faster any health problems will affect its weight. Learn how to properly evaluate the physical development of the crumbs
The kid is born, and in the first hours of life, doctors measure weight and body length, head circumference and chest. During the first week of a healthy newborn can lose up to 10% of the original mass after it begins actively to evaporate moisture from the skin and lungs, to give it the urine and feces.
losses are usually compensated quickly with the arrival of milk from a young mom. Normally up to 10 days of age, healthy baby recovers birth weight, and adds up to 3-4 months at least 150 g per week. That is, at the end of the first month the baby is "eat" a minimum of 400 grams compared to birth weight.
The child does not get the weight of what to do mom / istockphoto.com
The physical development of the baby
Body weight - not the only indicator of physical development, and to properly evaluate it using special tables developed by the World Health Organization. These tables can be easily found in the Order of Ministry of Health of Ukraine №149 "On the supervision of a healthy child of up to three years."
Also in the standard of modern medical child map these tables, and ideally, attending pediatrician or a family physician in a planned way, indices of physical development of the baby should be recorded right there. Over time, the point in the cells becoming graphics, which is very easy to compare with the recommended values, as well as in tablets in the form of graphs displayed "norm corridor."
The child does not get the weight of what to do mom / istockphoto.com
What are the indicators are evaluated?
1. body weight with age. That is, as the baby is gaining weight each month. On average for the first month of a newborn add 400-500 grams compared to birth weight, the age of six months - of 600-800g per month, and in the second half of the year - at 300-400g.
2. Length of the body with age. That is, the growth of the baby in length. This indicator is very sensitive in terms of recognition of serious illness. If crumb poorly gaining weight, it is likely to occur error in the diet, but growth retardation should attract the attention of physicians and requires careful further examination!
3. Weight body length indicates whether a child develops harmoniously. After long processes of weight gain and growth must go hand in hand, and the deviation in one direction or another doctor gives some food for thought. For example, normal growth and reduced body weight is likely to indicate a lack of the nutrients in the diet of baby.
4. BMI with age. With this figure, we can estimate in the first year, there is a newborn overweight and obesity.
The child does not get the weight of what to do mom / istockphoto.com
Why is he so thin?
If such a question is asked by your relatives or grandmother on the bench at home, it's not a reason to panic. Well, if it bothers your doctor to postpone examination "for later" not worth it. The most common cause of delay of body weight growth of the baby the following factors:
- Insufficient and / or poor nutrition. This reason causes most cases of low weight. If a child is bottle-fed, it is sufficient only to recalculate the power or change the mix, the children after 4-5 months - to consider the introduction of complementary foods and the like.
- For the baby exclusively breastfed or mixed-fed to estimate the volume of milk that he gets a day, it is quite difficult. It will take at least a few days for observation. It is necessary to evaluate the weight gain on a weekly or at least monthly since the birth of the graphs in the child's medical card, and also give the task to trace the mother during the day on urination crumbs. Normally, a child pees at least 10 times a day almost transparent colorless or pale yellow urine. For this we need to spend hours in conventional diapers or pants instead of diapers. Of course, if half a day you have already counted 10 or more wet diapers, the test can be stopped and considered successful. But long-term "dry" periods and concentrated urine with a pungent smell evidence of dehydration, and, consequently, a lack of milk.
when weighing
It is not necessary to weigh the baby before and after breastfeeding! After all, the amount of milk produced by him during the suckling, can vary from feeding to feeding, even electronic scales may give an error, and the active movement of the baby disturb measurement!
, It is necessary to find out before you finish feeding the baby with a mixture of:
- whether it is correctly applied to the chest
- how long it lasts feeding
- whether used pacifiers, bottle Nipple etc.
In most cases, problems with the "lack of milk" are due to poor attachment and failure to comply with the basic principles of breastfeeding.
Unfortunately, not all pediatricians have the time, desire, and the corresponding knowledge to help nursing moms, so sometimes you should use the services of consultants on breastfeeding. The effectiveness of the application of correction and feeding style can be estimated not earlier than 1-2 weeks, so be patient!
The child does not get the weight of what to do mom / istockphoto.com
Congenital and acquired disease
Almost all of the more or less serious problems with the baby's health is a slowdown or even a set of weight loss. Therefore, if the baby food correction is ineffective, it is necessary to pass an additional examination.
The most common low mass - is not the only symptom, and on closer examination and questioning pediatrician detects and other symptoms of the disease: jaundice, heart murmur, neurological manifestations and the like. Depending on this, the doctor is an individual diagnosis and treatment plan.
Also you will be interested to read this:Children's height meter with their own hands
