weighing the baby?

[BanditaMamacita]

Did any of you weigh your babies after birth? I want to, because we've had serious nursing problems (TT issues) with both of my LOs, so i want to make sure we have an accurate idea of weight gained and lost in the first few weeks. But it seems a lil crazy to spend $100+ on a digital one to use for such a short time. Any creative ideas?

[alegna]

I got a baby scale for around $50 at bru. Saw one recently on clearance at target cheaper than that...

-Angela

[BanditaMamacita]

Out of curiosity, where in target? the baby section? i'll have to go look, cuz Target does have great clearance prices. Thanks for the tip!

Anyone else? I feel like i've seen homebirth midwives weighing babies with scales that look like the produce scales at the grocery store. Sounds cheaper, but i wouldnt have a clue where to get one.

[thefreckledmama]

We don't do well baby checkups, so I check their weight using a digital fishing scale. I don't see why that couldn't work for a NB.

[alegna]

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

Out of curiosity, where in target? the baby section? i'll have to go look, cuz Target does have great clearance prices. Thanks for the tip!

Anyone else? I feel like i've seen homebirth midwives weighing babies with scales that look like the produce scales at the grocery store. Sounds cheaper, but i wouldnt have a clue where to get one.

They were on an endcap in the baby section. Like where you'd usually find the baby first aid kits (with the nail clippers, nasal aspirator, etc)

-Angela

[Marlet]

I took DD2 over to my MIL's work and had the WIC portion of the office do it (she works at the district health department...ended up working in our favor actually when we had birth certificate issues later on ). They were hoping I'd come down anyway....wanted to oogle the nut. Anyhow, we'll likely do that again since it was quick and easy and in case something happens like last time they can vouch for us.

[poiyt]

I bought a digital fish scale from Canadian Tire (uhh...like Costco..without food and more tools/automotive that kind of stuff...) Im sure a fishing store would carry them. Then I weigh a sling, put baby in sling and get weight.

I am also curious about my babes weight - not because Im paranoid or anything but because I like to know. Its handy to have!

[Sailor]

Does a digital post office scale work for this? I ask because we have one for my dp's business ... but, is it accurate for babies too?

If yes, they sell them at Office Depot or Office Max. And it will come in handy for mail - you can just weigh, print post office stuff, and then have them pick up free. You never have to go to the post office again.

[love4acr]

I weighed my UC baby with a fish scale and sling also. I just got mine at a sporting goods store in the fishing section, I think it was around $20?

[Serenyd]

I got a scale off Ebay. Non-digital. $35 with shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[akind1]

i've been told they have the fish scales at Wal-mart. don't know as we got the one at Target on clearance! pretty good price too.

[dollyanna]

I was able to rent one from a local breastfeeding center, though if I'd known you can buy for $35 I would have done that! Maybe you could get one lent to you if you hook up with your local LLL chapter? My Dr let me come in as often as I wanted to weigh, well, in fact, I had to come every day for a while there, but it is waaaay easier to just have a scale at home.

[noirbettie]

I'm planning to put a new battery in my kitchen scale and use that. (I should probably check to make sure it goes up to a high enough weight! It's needed that battery for a while.)

[pumpkin]

DD had weight gain issues so we bought a digital baby scale. It was $50 at the baby store. For the first couple of weeks we were going to the ped for weight checks and so he could check her out. We quickly realized that our scale was accurate and she was doing pretty well so he agreed that we should just weigh her at home and come in if needed. At $15 a visit, the scale paid for itself pretty much immediately.

[HisBeautifulWife]

I plan on using the digital bathroom scale.

Hubby will get on, jot down his weight, then hold the baby and we'll subtract. One less item I'll have to worry about buying.

[BanditaMamacita]

Originally Posted by HisBeautifulWife

I plan on using the digital bathroom scale.

Hubby will get on, jot down his weight, then hold the baby and we'll subtract. One less item I'll have to worry about buying.

That's what I typically do for my kids, just to make sure they're gaining appropriately and esp if they've been sick or anything, to monitor. But it's not super accurate (or at least my scale isn't.) Within a quarter of a pound or so, definitely, but i wouldn't trust it more than that. That's pretty much exactly what I would do for the new baby, EXCEPT for the BF issues i've had in the past... I want to make sure we know EXACTLY what she weighed at birth, because dd lost a solid 15% of her body weight before she started gaining, and that was scary... And a few ounces makes a BIG difference. I'm sure we'll be at the ped for a checkup within a day or two, but dd lost that 15% by 3 days old, so i want a good starting weight to work from.

Thanks for the tips, everybody! I'm going to have to check out those fishing scales, i think!

[lzbthcox]

I think we are going to go to the post office. They have a scale that the customers can use to self service their packages. It is pretty darn accurate.

[Kidzaplenty]

I bought a digital "sling" scale. It is like a fishing scale but made for babies and comes with a sling to hang the baby in.

[gabeyho]

I have seen them at Target recently, also. I want to say they are around $40 or so, and they are with the baby stuff. I plan on purchasing mine there.

The visiting home nurse with my first had a sling scale. Those are pretty neat-o! I haven't seen one since, where did you get yours?

[ChristSavesAll]

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

That's what I typically do for my kids, just to make sure they're gaining appropriately and esp if they've been sick or anything, to monitor. But it's not super accurate (or at least my scale isn't.) Within a quarter of a pound or so, definitely, but i wouldn't trust it more than that. That's pretty much exactly what I would do for the new baby, EXCEPT for the BF issues i've had in the past... I want to make sure we know EXACTLY what she weighed at birth, because dd lost a solid 15% of her body weight before she started gaining, and that was scary... And a few ounces makes a BIG difference. I'm sure we'll be at the ped for a checkup within a day or two, but dd lost that 15% by 3 days old, so i want a good starting weight to work from.

Thanks for the tips, everybody! I'm going to have to check out those fishing scales, i think!

What bf issues did you have previously? Perhaps you could look into ways to try to resolve it before it becomes a problem.... Like pumping to get your milk in before baby comes or something like that....