A Guide to Infant Scales

By Joann Breen

Baby scales are used to measure breast milk and the weight of infants.

When baby comes early or has medical problems, health care providers take to the Medela Baby Weigh Scale for measuring breast milk intake. The baby is weighed before and after nursing, and with a touch of a button, the Baby Weight Scale counts the baby's consumption. For infants, the Baby Weight Scale can evaluate the difference of one-half teaspoon of breast milk.

Deficiency of weight gain in an baby should always be taken severely. Be sure to determine that your baby is being weighed properly. Weighing should incessantly be done on the same scale because of the slight differences between scales. It is advisable to use a infant scale to weigh an infant. You also should weigh your baby once a week, because of the daily weight variation due to nursing, urination, bowel movements, etc. If the weight continues to be correct and you know that your baby is either gaining no weight or losing weight, baby should be seen and evaluated by a doctor straightaway.

If baby's weight gains but does not seem adequate, check if your baby's feeding is proper. Are you offering food five or six times a day? Are you feeding breast milk or baby formula to the infant? If you are using breast milk, does your baby seem full after a nursing is complete? If you are using formula, are you mixing it right? At 6 months old, babies need extra calories from solid foods. Are you providing solid foods several times a day? Is your infant keeping all the food down? If everything seems normal, you still might want to get your baby analysed, just to be sure that baby's weight is adequate. All physicians will use special baby scales to evaluate the baby's weight.

If a baby has a "congenital heart defect", it means the heart or blood vessels near the heart didn't grow normally before birth. Often the term "innate heart disease" is used to mean the same thing.

Healthy infants usually multiply their birth weight between four and five months of age. A baby with a congenital heart defect may grow more tardily during infancy and childhood, although the development often alters according to the type and severity of the condition. An 8 to one-pound gain in a month may be a standard weight gain for a infant with a heart defect. You will require to weigh your baby, and the pediatrician can do so for this or any other condition. The baby is usually weighed every month, and the measurements will show how well your baby is developing. - 30443

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