Posted on 15. Feb, 2015 by in Infant
We can talk about average babies if you remember clearly that no baby is average. One baby is meant to be a slow gainer, and another is meant to be a fast gainer. When doctors talk about an average baby, they mean only that they have added together the fast gainers and the slow gainers and the medium gainers.
The average baby weighs a little over 7 pounds at birth, and doubles his weight between three and five months. Babies who are small at birth are apt to grow faster, as if trying to catch up, and babies who are born big often grow more slowly at first. The average baby gains close to 2 pounds a month (6 to 8 ounces a week) during the first three months. Of course, some healthy ones gain less, and others more. Then the baby slows down. By six months the average gain is down to a pound a month (4 ounces a week). That’s quite a drop in a three-month period. By 9 months, the average gain is down to 2/3 pound a month (2 or 3 ounces each week) and, during the second year, to about 1/2 pound a month (2 ounces a week).
As babies grow older, you can see that they gain more slowly. They also gain more irregularly. Teething or illness may take their appetite away for several weeks, and they may hardly gain at all. When they feel better, their appetite revives and their weight catches up with a rush.
You can’t decide too much from how babies’ weights change from week to week. What they weigh each time will depend on how recently they have eaten, urinated or moved their bowels. If you find, one morning, that your baby boy has gained only 4 ounces in the past week, whereas before she had always gained 7, don’t jump to the conclusion that she is starving or that something else is wrong. If she seems perfectly happy and satisfied, wait another week to see what happens. She may make an extra large gain to make up for the small one. For the breast-fed baby, wetting the diapers at least six to eight times a day, being alert and happy when awake, and sleeping well are good indications that she’s getting enough to eat. Always remember, though, that the older your baby gets, the slower she will gain.