After you deliver your baby, one of the first things you’ll learn is their birth weight and height.And throughout the first few weeks of life, their care team will keep a close eye on baby’s weight to ensure they’re on track for healthy growth. You might wonder what is considered “normal” for a newborn’s weight and how fast they should gain weight. We’re breaking it all down.
What Is a “Normal” Weight for Newborns at Birth?
Babies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so there’s a wide range of “normal” birth weight. Leading up to your little one’s birth, most providers will be able to give you a ballpark estimate of how much they expect your baby to weigh. However, there’s no way to truly know until baby is born.
The average baby in the United States weighs around 7.6 pounds at birth, but a normal birth weight can fluctuate from 5.5 pounds up to 8.8 pounds. Babies under 5 pounds 8 ounces are considered to be “low birth weight,” while those under 3 pounds 5 ounces are “very low birthweight.” About 8 percent of babies are born at a low birthweight, according to the March of Dimes. Conversely, babies who are born with a larger than average birth weight (known as fetal macrosomia) weigh 8 pounds 13 ounces or more.
Why Do Newborns Lose Weight After Birth?
Don’t panic if baby’s care team informs you they lost weight in the first few days after their birth. This is normal. Babies have more fluid in their bodies while they’re in the uterus, and this fluid is eliminated through their first wet and dirty diapers. Typically babies lose about five to 10 percent of their birth weight within the first week. Formula-fed newborns may lose up to five percent of their birth weight, while breastfed babies have the potential to lose up to seven to 10 percent.
While it can feel alarming to hear that your baby is losing weight, fear not. Babies typically start to put their weight back on after their first five days in the world, and most are back at, or above, their birth weight by the time they’re two weeks old. If your little one loses more than 10 percent of their birth weight, your baby’s care team is likely to intervene and help figure out a reason for the weight loss, and help you come up with a solution to help your little one start gaining more weight.
How Much Weight Should My Newborn Gain after Birth?
According to the American Pregnancy Association, the majority of newborns gain roughly five to seven ounces a week during their first few months of life. Based on these numbers, many babies will double their birth weight by the time they reach three to four months of age. After this, their rate of growth slows down. However, a good rule of thumb is that babies typically triple their birth weight by their first birthday.
While you’re in the hospital after childbirth, baby’s care team will weigh them several times to record all weight changes. Two to three days after your discharge from the hospital, you will likely return to your baby’s provider for another weigh in. If baby still isn’t gaining as much weight as they prefer, you might need to come back for another weight check or two in the coming days.
While weight checks can feel frustrating, it’s important to remember it’s their provider’s job to ensure they’re on the right track for feeding and growing successfully. Try not to get discouraged if baby isn’t packing on weight quickly. Sometimes it takes baby (and mama) some time to figure out feeding. And weight checks don’t stop after the newborn stage. Your child’s provider will keep careful track of their weight, height, and even head circumference measurements throughout their childhood.
How Can I Help My Baby Gain Weight?
While it may sound obvious, making sure your baby is breastfeeding or bottle feeding often is simply the best way to help them reach (and surpass) their birth weight. But this isn’t always as simple as it sounds. For little ones that are having trouble putting weight on, providers might recommend the following:
- Visit a lactation consultant: Talking with a lactation consultant about baby’s breastfeeding schedule, as well as doing a weighted feed, can be incredibly beneficial. During a weighted feed, baby will be placed in a diaper and weighed before you feed them, then weighed again after to estimate how many ounces of milk were consumed. Based on their weight and observing baby nursing, your lactation consultant may recommend things like: working on baby’s latch, feeding baby longer at each breast, or different breastfeeding holds.
- Keep a feeding schedule: Some newborns are incredibly sleepy and don’t wake up as often as they should to eat. If your baby doesn’t wake up and show visible signals of wanting to eat, it’s important to wake them. Newborns should breast or bottle feed eight to 12 times within 24 hours. This translates to roughly every two hours during the day, and every three to four hours during the nighttime. Keep track of how often baby feeds, how long they eat, and at which breast you started nursing them in order to help you remember when they should eat again.
- Do skin to skin often: In the early weeks of life, spending a lot of time doing skin to skin with your baby can help promote your breastfeeding connection, and help you become more in-tune to baby’s feeding cues, too. Skin to skin has a ton of great benefits, including helping your milk production increase, and therefore helping baby’s weight improve, too.
- Supplement: In the early days of breastfeeding, it can be helpful to supplement your little one’s nursing sessions with formula or your own expressed breastmilk. Talk to your lactation consultant about how to express milk via hand or a pump, and how to give extra milk to baby after feedings using a syringe, cup, spoon, or bottle.
If you have any concerns about your baby’s weight gain, it’s important to contact their provider immediately. For breastfeeding support or schedule time with one of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s lactation consultants, call 717-544-3334.
If your newborn shows signs of dehydration including: fewer dirty or wet diapers, dry lips, a sunken soft spot, or seems unusually tired, it’s important to take baby to the nearest emergency department for medical attention.