What it is
Almost every newborn loses weight after birth. The baby is born with extra fluid, pees it out, and takes in small amounts of colostrum for the first two or three days. Weight drops, hits a low point, and turns back up when milk comes in.
A loss of up to 7 percent is typical. Up to 10 percent is still within range for many babies. More than that, or a slow turnaround, means the feeding plan needs a look. It does not mean you failed.
The low point is usually day three or four after a vaginal birth and day four or five after a cesarean. Babies born by cesarean often lose a bit more, partly because of IV fluids in labor.
What's typical
Most babies are back to birth weight by 10 to 14 days. Some healthy babies take up to three weeks. After that, gain is about 5 to 7 ounces a week for the first three months, or roughly an ounce a day. The pediatrician plots this on a growth curve. The curve the baby follows matters more than the number on any one day.
Weight checks happen at the first visit, around day three to five, then at two weeks, one month, and two months. The WHO growth charts are the standard for breastfed and formula-fed babies alike in the first two years.
What's known
The AAP and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine agree on this: weight loss over 10 percent, or a baby not back to birth weight by two weeks, calls for a feeding assessment, not an automatic switch to formula. Supplementing, when it is needed, can be the mother's own expressed milk, donor milk, or formula. The ABM's protocol lays out how to supplement and keep breastfeeding going. Scales differ; a few ounces between two offices is normal noise.
What helps
- Ask for the baby to be weighed naked on the same scale each time, and write it down.
- Feed 8 to 12 times a day in the first weeks, and wake the baby if four hours pass.
- If the pediatrician wants a weight check in two days, ask if a lactation consultant can be in the room.
- Diaper counts fill the gap between weigh-ins. Keep the tally.
- Eat and drink yourself. A mother who is fed can feed.
When to call someone
- Nowa baby who is too sleepy to feed, has no wet diaper in 8 hours, or has a sunken soft spot.
- Todayloss over 10 percent, fewer than six wet diapers a day after day five, or a baby who feeds for an hour and still seems hungry every time.
- At your next visitnot back to birth weight by two weeks, or gain under 4 ounces a week after that.
Who helps
Tools: Feeding Prep · Birthworker Directory
Related
- Is my baby getting enough?Feeding Your Baby
- Diaper counts and what newborn poop looks likeBaby Basics
- When your milk comes inFeeding Your Baby
- Low milk supply: real, perceived, and what helpsFeeding Your Baby
- Combo feeding: breast and formulaFeeding Your Baby
- Pediatrician visits in the first weeksBaby Basics
What mothers here say
No one has posted under this topic yet. The first experience here will help the next mother who searches for it at 2 a.m.
Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine — Clinical protocol on supplementary feedings in the healthy term newborn
- American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org — Newborn weight loss and gain: what to expect
- Penn State College of Medicine — Newborn Weight Tool (NEWT) early weight loss nomograms
- World Health Organization — Child growth standards
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
Steward this topic
Birthworkers listed in our directory can claim a topic, verify its sources, and curate what mothers share here. Your name and credential go at the top of the page. Takes about an hour the first time.
Find your directory page