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Postnatal weight loss in term infants: what is normal and do growth charts allow for it?

C M Wright1, K N Parkinson

  • 1Department of Child Health, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. charlotte.wright@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
|April 23, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Neonatal weight loss is typically brief, with most infants regaining birth weight within two weeks. Current growth charts do not accurately reflect typical infant weight changes in the early postnatal period.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal physiology and growth monitoring
  • Pediatric health and development

Background:

  • Limited normative data exists for neonatal weight loss and regain.
  • Difficulty in assessing infants with prolonged weight loss.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Establish norms for postnatal weight loss and regain using a large cohort.
  • Evaluate the impact of neonatal weight changes on current growth charts.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective population-based cohort study of 961 term infants.
  • Data collected via parental questionnaires and community nursing returns.
  • Routine weights recorded at 5 days, 12 days, and 6 weeks.

Main Results:

  • Observed less weight loss than previously reported (3-6%).
  • 1 in 5 infants had not regained birth weight by 12 days.
  • Growth charts underestimate infant weight in the first two weeks.

Conclusions:

  • Neonatal weight loss is transient, with few infants significantly below birth weight after 5 days.
  • Existing growth charts are misleading for the first two weeks of life.
  • Recommendations for revised growth chart interpretation in neonates.
Abstract

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