I can't read growth charts.

[Youngfrankenstein]

I don't consider myself dumb but I keep looking at growth charts trying to see where my babe is and I can't do it.

Her birth weight was 10#, 4 oz. At 8 weeks she hit 13# (according to my Wii Fit)

Is this normal?

[JMJ]

Sounds like a big, healthy baby to me. The growth charts tend to show both lbs and kg, so make sure you're looking at that right. Her birth weight was a bit above the chart, but 13 lbs at 2 months looks like it's just above the 95th %ile curve. It sounds like she's perfectly healthy.

[Megan73]

That's 5.5 ounces of weight gain a week, well within the average of 5-7 ounces a week for a BF baby even without normal weight loss after birth.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Thank you so much for your replies! She saw the ped 1 week after birth and their scale said 7# 7 oz and I knew that was wrong. My midwife thought maybe they forgot to tare the scale after the last baby was weighed. I just laughed about it. My mw also said sometimes bigger babies don't lose much after birth.

She goes to the ped this week but I just wanted to know if we're doing well.

[notjustmamie]

You can also download the CDC growth chart data tables (they'll open up in Excel or any spreadsheet program). Then you can see the actual numbers that make up the curves.

Here's the link: http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/perc...data_files.htm

[PatioGardener]

I would avoid the CDC charts (although they are easy to use) and use the WHO charts - which are based on optimal growth conditions and are not just a reflection of how (white, mid western) American babies are growing (which the CDC charts are).

Here is the WHO chart for baby girls http://www.who.int/childgrowth/stand...irls_p_0_6.pdf

You have to translate pounds into kg for the WHO charts...

birth weight was 10 lbs 4 oz = 164 oz 164 oz x 28.5 g/oz = 4674 g, or 4.674 kg. That puts baby well above the 97the percentile (top red line). Did you have IV fluids in labour? Could birthweight have been inflated at all? I ask because you would expect a baby expose to lots of fluids in labour to have a heavier birthweight than expected, and you would then expect that baby to grow on a lower growth curve. Or maybe a mama just grows big babies in utero and then they find their natural growth curve after they are born.

At 8 weeks she was 13 lbs, 13 lbs x 16 oz/lb = 208 oz 208ozx 28.5 g/oz = 5928 g, or 5.928 kg, which is about 1/2 way between the 97th and 85th percentile. This is probably where I'd expect baby to stay on the growth curve - seems like she's found her place.

Weight gain in the first few months really needs to be calculated from the lowest weight of baby. Did you get a weight at 3 or 4 days after birth? That's usually when they have lost most weight and will start to gain.

If your baby gained back to birth weight at 2 weeks, then she gained 44 oz in the next 6 weeks. That's over 7 oz a week! That's very very typical growth

Hope that helps.

[Bokonon]

If you're weighing her by holding her while you stand on the Wii Fit and then subtracting the difference, it's not likely to be a very accurate weight, FYI. I've done that method a few times and got 22 pounds a couple months ago, and 19 pounds last week. And Peepers has not lost any weight, I can guarantee it. It's just not a very trustworthy way to weigh a baby.

[Youngfrankenstein]

She was a homebirth so no IV fluids. She also lost a ton of mec at birth so mw offered to add an oz to her birthweight.