Any mother babe is waiting for the appearance of pink cheeks, which usually indicates that the baby is well developed and growing. But sometimes it seems to my mother that the child is gaining little weight and is too far behind his peers.
The weight of the child at the time of birth affects a number of factors, including heredity, the state of health of the mother and the features of her diet during pregnancy. In the first days of life, the baby usually loses up to 10% of its weight, which is associated with the release of the original feces (meconium) and the restructuring of the body.
How should a child gain weight?
Up to two months of age it is advisable to weigh the baby every week, during the entire first year - once a month.
Approximate rates of weight gain:
- in the first quarter - 200 g per week;
- in the second quarter - 130 g per week;
- in the third quarter - 85 grams per week;
- in the fourth quarter - 75 g per week.
The body weight should be doubled to the four-month age and tripled by the year. It is also important that all tables give only approximate values, and each baby develops according to its own individual laws. If the baby is not gaining weight badly, but still remains active and mobile, his skin is not pale, then you should not worry. If the baby's skin is pale and wrinkled, this may indicate malnutrition. Behavior can not accurately determine if the baby's milk is enough - a hungry baby can cry all day or on the contrary a lot to sleep.
Why does the child gain weight badly?
The reason that a child does not gain weight, there may be some diseases, for example, infection with helminths or problems of a neurological nature. But most often the fault of insufficient weight gain is the unsteady feeding regimen. Check how much the baby has enough milk, you can by the number of wet diapers. For one day you need to give up diapers and see how many times the baby pisses. Breasts up to a year normally urinate 12-14 times a day, while urine should be odorless pale yellow.
If, after the test, you find that the child is not gaining or stopped gaining weight because of a lack of milk, then do not immediately rush to the store for lure.
The following recommendations are aimed at how to help your child gain weight:
- If mom and baby are on free-feeding (on demand), then a newborn baby may not gain weight due to decreased lactation. Lactation may decrease due to malnutrition of the mother or the transferred stress. There are also lactation crises, in which the baby needs more milk, and he does not have enough. In this case, the mother needs to increase the amount of liquid she drinks - to drink tea with milk, herbal tea or tea to increase lactation after each feeding. Walnuts and vitamins for nursing and pregnant women are also useful. In the pharmacy you can buy a modern apilac drug based on the mother's milk of bees.
- The breastfed that is not gaining weight, should eat not only during the day, but at night.
If the child sleeps all night, then it should be applied to the chest every three hours at night, while you need to ensure that the baby does not just hold his chest in his mouth, but actively sucked. To do this, you may need to wake the child. - A child who is lazy to suck a breast or because of his weakness can not suck the necessary amount of milk, should be at the breast as much time as he needs (sometimes more than an hour). During this time, he will suck back fatty milk, which promotes effective growth and weight gain.
- The reason for why a child is not gaining weight is bad, and the introduction of complementary foods may be incorrect. Sometimes mothers introduce lure in large quantities, and it is poorly digested. Therefore, even with the introduction of complementary foods, you should not stop feeding your baby to improve the assimilation of new food.