Weight of the infant
Children grow rapidly during the first year of their life, as the weight at birth doubles at a rate of three times at the end of their first year, while the length increases about 50%, and the growth rate of children, in terms of the increase in height and weight, is one of the most important indications of safety Their health, therefore, care must be taken to monitor the rate of increase, and record the child's weight and height on his growth planner regularly, by weighing it every two weeks in the first two months after birth, and then once a month until the end of the first year.
The baby's normal birth weight
The normal weight for children at birth ranges between 2800 g and 4000 g. During the first week of birth, healthy children lose a little weight, i.e. about 7% to 10% of the weight at birth, because the body gets rid of the extra fluids that were stored during the growth phase In the womb, after this period has passed, children begin to regain their weight and gain weight.
The average monthly weight of the infant
The infant's weight increases during the first three months of his life at a rate of 200 to 250 g per week, with continuous breastfeeding, whether natural or artificial, as his weight increases at the end of the third month about three kilograms over his weight on the day of birth, and then increases at a rate of (148 grams) per week, During the next three months, 113 g in the next three months, and in the last three months of its first year, it increases at a rate of 71 g per week, while in its second year, its weight increases at a rate of 42 g per week, while in the third year of its life, the rate of increase is slow, and ranges Between one kilogram to two annually.
Baby weight gain factors
The rate of weight gain of an infant depends on several reasons, the most important of which are:
- Genetic factors, dependent on the weight of the mother and father.
- Arrange the child in the family, where studies have shown that the first child is healthy.
- The gender of the child, where the weight of the male child is much greater than the weight of the female.
- Maternal health and nutrition during pregnancy.
- Child health, and the type of nutrition he receives.
Doctors recommend breastfeeding a child whenever he is hungry, or asking for breastfeeding by crying, to stimulate weight gain, and to abandon the idea of regulating the number of times or dates of breastfeeding in the first month of a child’s life. Beginning of the seventh month of his life, and ensuring that healthy, complete meals are free of sugars and preservatives.
