During the first year of life, the child is examined monthly by a pediatrician. Weighing is one of the mandatory procedures. Based on its results, the doctor concludes how the baby is gaining body weight and whether he needs additional nutrition. You can estimate your child's weight gain yourself.
It is necessary
scales
Instructions
Step 1
Weigh your baby regularly on a baby scale. If they are absent, use the floor scales: get on the scales without the child, remember your weight, then take the baby in your arms and weigh together. Subtract your body weight from the result, and you will find out the weight of the child. Do not try to track the increase every day: to get an objective picture, it is enough to do it once a week.
Step 2
In the medical literature, you can find different methods for calculating the optimal body weight of a child under one year old. According to one of them, on average, a healthy full-term baby should add 800 grams per month, that is, the formula for an approximate calculation will look like this:
M (r) = m + 800n, where
m is the child's body weight at birth;
n - age in months.
Step 3
Another technique involves a gradual decrease in the monthly increase by 50 g, starting at 4 months. For convenience, focus on the following indicators:
1 month - 600 g;
2 months - 800 g;
3 months - 800 g;
4 months - 750 g;
5 months - 700 g;
6 months - 650 g;
7 months - 600 g;
8 months - 550 g;
9 months - 500 g;
10 months - 450 g;
11 months - 400 g;
12 months - 350 g.
Step 4
Children gain weight in different ways: someone is more than normal, someone is less. If your child is gaining weight more slowly than it should be, then there is a possibility that he is not eating enough or is sick, so be sure to consult a doctor. The pediatrician will prescribe a feeding scheme for you, in which the needs of the baby will be fully met, because insufficient nutrition can lead to a delay in motor development.
Step 5
You can calculate the approximate amount of food (V) that a child should receive daily, focusing on the formulas:
- for children under 2 months old: V = 800 - 50 (8-n), where n is the child's age in weeks;
- for children over 2 months old: V = 800 + 50 (n-2), where n is the child's age in months.
Step 6
If your baby is gaining more weight than it should be, don't worry about overfeeding him. The kid himself knows how much milk or mixture he needs, and if he eats too much, he will spit up. In addition, not all children gain weight evenly: during the first months, the child can gain a lot, and in the next few months, and this is not a deviation from the norm.
