My son just saw the doctor on his 15th day, and he is 11 ounces bigger than his birth weight. He gained 16 ounces in the nine days since he saw the doctor last. Is that normal?

The doctor said there was nothing wrong with gaining a lot, but normal is to be just regaining birth weight at 2 weeks or gaining 2/3 of an ounce to an ounce a day, and his pattern seems almost double that.

He is breastfed on demand, which is correlated with higher weight gain, and an extremely calm baby, which is also correlated with higher weight gain -- but this much higher?

Could something be wrong?

Hi
This was my story with weight gain. Baby was born at 7 lbs, 15 oz. When we left the hospital, she was down to 7lb 4oz (because my milk didn't come in until day 5). Anyway, we saw the doctor at the end of that week (1 week) and she was still at 7lb 4oz (because my milk had only come in the day before), then in one more week (by her 2 week visit) she was up to 8lb, 2oz, so almost 1 lb in 1 week. My baby is breastfed on demand, too, and by her 2 month check-up she was 12 lb 2oz, which the doctor said was 75% so in perfectly normal range. She is now 3 months and 1 week and has only gained one more lb since her 2 month check-up so she is slowing down in weight gain (even though I feel like she is eating more!). So, I would try not to worry about it, it seems similar to my baby and she is doing just great!

First of all, all babies do loose some weight after they are born. My dd was 7 pounds 8 ounces when she was born and when we left the hospital she was 6 pounds 14 ounces. Your milk doesnt come in right away. You will have colostrum (sp?) which is like liquid gold for your baby. I had the colostrum and then about 48 hours my milk actually came in. My dd is now 12 pounds 13 ounces and she is 3 months old. She gained 11 ounces in a week last week. I get her weighed every week. We go to breastfeeding support group every Friday and get her weighed and measured. She is gaining just like she should. She is and always has been breastfed on demand.

DS was born at 9lbs 6.7 oz, left the hospital at 9 lbs and at his first docs appt. a week later was around 11 lbs. He's 4 months now and 22 lbs. We have breastfed exclusively the entire time

It doesnt sound like anything is wrong with your DS. When I noticed my DS gaining so much I was asking the doc if it was normal and they said not to worry about it. They said they dont worry about weight gain in breastfed babies until they are at least a year old.

When ds was born in June I was told by my midwife that the gain they like to see is 1/2 to 1 once per day...nothing less. My little guy had to be supplemented with EBM after nursing as he was gaining less than that for the first 10 days...then he started gaining about 1.5 ounces a day. Now he's almost 18 pounds and as chunky as can be. All babes do gain different and I would only be concerned if he gained an extreme amount (over 4 ounces per day) or didn't gain enough.

when ds was younger he used to gain anything up to a pound a week most often about 12 ounces or so. it sounds like you baby is thriving

Hi

Up until my son was about two months he gained 2-3 ounces per day! He was also exclusively breastfed and i fed on demand. I worried too that he was gaining too much but by 4 months he slowed WAY down. Now our doc is telling us that he's not gaining/growing enough so my advice is to relax and enjoy your little one. I'm sure he is doing just what he needs too.

Maybe if you're really worried you can check with your doctor that s/he used the same scales as previously used. Sometimes using a different scale can alter the weight, also if they have been recalibrated it can change the reading.

Sounds like your bubba likes his bmilk and you're producing lots of cream :D well done mumma!

:wave:

Could something be wrong?

Nope, rejoice mama's milk!!!

But, if it would ease your mind, you could have him re-weighed. It could have been an error with the scale.

A little story -- when DD was a week old we took her to the first pediatrician. They weighed her and she was a whopping 11 pounds 4 ounces!! She was born at 9 pounds 2 ounces. The nurse didn't seem to care and the doctor said it was normal. That was a gain of 2 POUNDS in one week!! I couldn't get over this, and all the way home I kept saying to my husband "that has to be wrong". Finally we made an appointment with another pediatrician and they weighed her again. She was only 9 pounds 3 ounces. Needless to say we never went back to the other pediatrician (and good thing too, he was telling me to give my exclusively breastfed baby formula and water!!).

The moral of the story.. if it is bothering you that much, get a second weigh in!

North --

I don't think it's a scale issue. He was born 7 lbs 1 oz, and left the hospital at 6 lbs, 11 ozs. We saw a pediatrician at 5 days, and he was 6lbs 12 ozs, so he was starting to gain again already then. And I can see that his clothing fits much better -- there isn't a hands-breadth hanging down at the bottom of his onesies!