General Chat

my daughters baby was born at the end of aug 2010 weighing 8lbs 4oz,my daughter took her to the clinic today to be weighed and she was told that her daughter was under weight she weighs 16lbs?when i had my children the norm was for the baby to double the birth weight in 6months,my granddaughter is only 5months old,is this right?x

MIA WEIGHT AT 10MTS IS GOOD,27LBS NOW ,AND SHES TALKING,(MA,MA DA,DA.NA NA,AND DOG)shes been crawlingfor the last two months,and will pull her self up onto the furniture,she waves bye,bye,plays beek a boo and feeds herself finger foods,if you throw a ball to her,she will throw it back and she sits and looks at books,turning the pages as she goes along,she eats a good healthy diet of fresh homemade foods,mummy cooks savory and nanny cooks puddings(stewed fresh fruit)mia loves snacking on bananas,raspberrys,and her favorite of all if munching on a big wedge of cucumber,she remains petite,but the way shes eating she wont stay petite for long.xx
:-D :-D

I think baby is doing fine, when I had my boys we were told that they should double their birth weight by the time they were 6 months....don't fret

Is the baby well, eating and sleeping as expected?

They are all individuals and I can remember a concern about one of my daughters, who gained weight really slowly. As she was very contented and reached all the development milestones as expected, the heath visitor decided that the weight record card didn't give the full picture.

When said daughter had her son, we had the opposite problem, he was a real 'pudding' and gained weight rapidly even before she started him on solids. Never mind keeping to the lines of the weight-gain graph in his baby record book, he was in danger of going right off the top of the page, at one point.

I hope all is well with your grandchild.

Gwyn

i really think 16lbs is good for a 5month old,shes been on solids for about 5wks now and eats well,she health and very happy,i dont think is right to worry a new mother like that.x

I can understand why a baby's weight gain is a useful guide but it should, in my opinion, be just that - a guide. When my son was born (36 years ago now!!) he weighed just over 7lbs. but was extremely long - 22". He was hungry all the time and had doubled his birth weight by 3 months (hand on heart,he was only taking milk). The people at the baby clinic didn't believe me that he was only having milk as some weeks he would put on as much as 1lb. However, by the time he was 6 months old (and taking solids, his weight gain eased off and by the time he was 1 year it was triple his birth weight which was absolutely the ideal.

I think it is wise to keep a check but there are so many other factors that should be taken into account as some babies are longer,some more active,etc.etc. Not all babies are (nor should they be) replicas of one another and as long as they are otherwise healthy (with no gastric problems such as diarrhoea for example), the weight checks are just that, checks.

Hope this helps.

No wonder we have all these overweight children if they have increased the expected weight gain for babies. Baby sounds fine as long as she is contented and healthy, tell your daughter not to worry.

yes ive told my daughter not to worry,my granddaughter is a lovely happy contented baby that has slept through the night since she was 6days old,she eats well,and looks very healthy,my granddaughter was 55cms long at birth and still has very long legs,i just think its silly to worry a mother like that.x

i really hate charts,babys are all different and thank god they are,what has annoyed me more than anything is that they have really worried my daughter,shes a first time mum and she really had a horrible time bringing her daughter into the world,she got by without suffering even the baby blues and got down to the jobof looking after her daughter as if she had been doing it for yrs,everything running smoothly then they go and say her baby is underweight,16lbs for a 5month old isnt underweight,dont they like to see a first time mum coping without help?do they just like throwing a spanner in the works to upset the contentment>x

my 13 yr old was an 8lb baby and dident put on that much weight
he was and still is under weight for his age pluss his now only about 4ft 2
his 14 in june

when he was 3 and at nursary he was still in baby cloths age 1 and a half
he has always been fit and halthey in every way so i wouldent take any notest of what the heath visier says.
unless you feel any consern

my helth vister did say he would be lucky to reach 5ft2 by the time his fully grown and the tape mesher will be comeing out on his 21st birthday just to see if she was right.
and i think some how she will be LOL

16 lbs is a perfect weight. I'll bet the clinic was using the guidelines for boys, a common mistake.

http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=304

Rose

OMG ..................Had to read this twice .....
My son was 8lb 4oz born and wasnt 16lb till he was a year and I know that coz he walked at 9 months and was so tiny

Dont worry if the baby is eating sleeping and doing what 5 month olds do DONT WORRY

Hi Suzanne

My daughter had her baby the same day as your daughter do you remember?..we both became grandmas at the same time

My grand daughter was born 4 weeks early and only weighed 5lb 10oz...at 5 months now she is 15lb and has been told that is her perfect weight.!!

I think whats happend with your daughter is that the baby has not stayed on the "same graph line" of steady weight gain...she would have been a line or 2 above my grandaughter having been born a bit heavier in the first place, and so according to the "graph" should probably be slightly heavier. They are saying my granddaughter is the correct weight because she "follows the graph line" all be it at a lower weight than your grandaughter.........i think these charts are daft.

As others have said if she is happy, content and sleeping well then I wouldn`t worry...but these people should really think how they word things before putting these new mums through such anguish.

Are you enjoying your granddaughter as much as I enjoy mine??

I hope so....they bring such joy don`t they?


Nicky

As a mum of 4 ,all adults now all I can say is forget the charts, Your daughter and yourself will know if your child/ grandchild is "normal" whatever that may be,
My eldest child weighed in at 7lbs but went down to a little over 5 pounds because he was somewhat early and delivered as an emergency because I had severe pre eclampsia,
I was told he would never be normal!! well by the time he was 9 yrs old he had won a place at one of the UKs most prestigious Catholic boarding schoosl, gained a first at Uniby the age of 19, yes went to UNI early, and at the age of 40 is fine and fit and enjoys life,
His sister born 4 years later is as tall as her brother and "well built, and she was 8lbs when born and was very slim until she went into her teens, she is also healthy,
Then I had identical twins who weighed in at about 3 and a half pounds, we were told they would be backward and because they had to be feed every hour they never reached the so called correct weight. One won a place to Sandhurst and the other has an excellent job in Wales. Both gained 1sts at uni

Forget the comments mum and grandma will know if their precious bundle is OK , ;let nature tell you.

Sorry I have gone on about this but as a nurse I feel that there is just too much of this nonsense, OOPs forgot as of January I Was a nurse as I retired at the age of 60 something!!!!!

update on baby mia.she now weights 17lbs 3oz and will be 6months old on the 27th of this month.shes sitting up,rolling over,reaching for things,holding her arms up to be picked up,and kissing u,has her favorite toys and a special smile for her favorite people,she now has 4 teeth(two top, 2 bottom)and eats three meals a day plus pudding at lunch time,oh and sleeps through the night,anything wrong with this baby?of course not,shes a normal healthy baby,why do the experts always worry these new mothers?

I hope her parents can feel that they are doing a good job now then and just enjoy her.
1st time Mum's especially might already be anxious without anyone adding to their worries.

Gwyn

kate is coping very well with her new daughter and adores her,she had a horrible time bringing her into the world but has coped brilliantly for a first time mum.no baby blues,not post natal depression nothing,just getting on with it,until that silly dr said her baby was underweight,of couse she then thought that she wasnt doing something right if her baby was under weight,shes got nothing to worry about,she has a lovely baby.x

Baby sounds a real sweetie.

Daughter I mentioned previously was 13lbs 8 ozs at 6 months, ...6lbs 12ozs at birth, but grew up fine and healthy.
They're all individuals.

What fun your little one will be as we move into the sunnier months.

Gwyn

O.h.'s granddaughter is 17 weeks old and weighs a stone, 14 lb, she was around 7 and a half pounds when born. I think they are feeding her a lot as she cries often and feeding is the only thing that keeps her quiet, apparently her dad was always hungry and had to be fed a lot when small. Even now he is greedy tho and puts his food away so fast if you blink it's there and then gone lol

Lizx

Suzanne - as far as I am concerned Health Visitors are an unnecessary blot on the planet. Wait for screams of outrage. My gdau is now 24 and was the first baby. Dau would ring me ring her MIL and then utter the famous words 'will have to ask Heather'. One day she complained to her father Mum did not seem interested anymore - he reminded her that MIL and Mum had had 4 children between them, Mum was only 4 miles away and always running over to reassure - Heather came once a fortnight and had had no children.

Son was born 1 month early weighing 6lbs 15 oz and very long - looked for all the world like a skinned rabbit. By the time he should have been born he weighed 11 lbs and I could only get on my knees and thank that he had been born early!

We are all different, some big some small, some fat, some thin, if baby is healthy. happy, sleeps and eats be thankful and ignore others.

hi everyone.baby mia now weights 17lbs 4oz,has four teeth,smiles,laughs,reaches out for things,blows raspberries,rolls over and sits on her own,shes also very long(oh what lovely long legs shes going to have)shes beautiful and so happy,she brings so much happiness to our close little family.mia is a normal baby and thank god my daughter hes learnt not to take everything the dr says to heart.x