The first information that is provided to the mother at the birth of a child is his height and weight. These are important indicators characterizing the development of the child. Further monitoring of these parameters is systematically carried out on an ongoing basis. Each visit to the pediatrician will be accompanied by height measurement and weighing.
The weight of the baby for up to a year will go at a uniform pace. Mass gain is more intense in the first few months. The number of kilograms added per month will decrease. You should focus on the average indicators of the norm. A slight deviation from them will not be critical.
You can regulate the weight of the baby with a diet or additional nutrition in the form of a mixture. It all depends on the overall picture of weight gain. With an excess, a diet is prescribed, and a mixture with a deficiency.
The average weight of 4 month old
Boys and girls have different average weight norms. This indicator for boys of 4 months is 14.7 lb. The average weight of four-month-old girls is 13.4 lb.
Don’t take the average weight data too seriously. This is not a mandatory norm that should be constantly monitored. Your baby’s weight may be slightly above or below the CDC guidelines. Weight can often decrease during a period of illness or sleep regression. There are critical points beyond which the weight should not cross. It is on them that the mother should be guided.
Every Baby has Different Weight
It is impossible to predict exactly what your baby’s weight will be. The approximate weight of the fetus is determined by ultrasound during the gestation period. Often it does not match the final result. Babies are different and everyone has their birth weight. It is impossible to standardize everyone. People develop according to an individual plan.
Factors affecting weight
A huge number of factors affect the weight of the baby. These include heredity, ethnicity, and its characteristics, the nutrition of the mother during the gestation period, the presence of diseases, and so on. Do not worry until the weight of the child is below the minimum allowable value.
Weight gain is a very subjective process. It is affected by many different reasons. Weight is regulated quite easily for up to 1 year. The main thing in time is to determine the causes of excess or lack of weight. The hardest thing to deal with is genetics. Efforts to adjust weight need to be made much more if there is a predisposition to obesity.
How Much Boys Weight at 4 month Old
The weight of a boy at four months of age ranges from 12.1 lb to 18 lb. These indicators will determine the excess or lack of weight. The data below the first digit indicates that the baby is not gaining weight. There is a risk of obesity if the weight exceeds the upper limit of the norm.
Average
A 4 month old boy weighs an average of 14.7 lb. This figure may be slightly higher or lower than normal. Small stature and not a large baby will initially weigh less than the established standard. Then the average weight by 4 months will be lower.
Babies gain 0.7 ounces every day at 4 months after birth. At this rate, about 0.9 lb of weight accumulates per month. This indicator will decrease slightly later, and mandatory weight control after the first year of life will become irrelevant.
5th Percentile Weight
The lower limit for the weight of a boy at 4 months is 12.1 lb. Anything less than this mass will be considered underweight. The 5th percentile weight at this age may be slightly higher, but it is unacceptable for it to decrease much. Being underweight can be bad for your baby’s health. Its appearance and internal state will change. Poor nutrition affects the baby’s sleep and nervous system.
95th Percentile Weight
The upper limit of normal weight for a 4 month old boy is 18 lb. There is a threat of obesity if your boy weighs more. The maximum allowable value at this age already speaks of excess weight. In this case, an urgent diagnosis and analysis of the baby’s nutrition system are necessary.
Being overweight negatively affects the child. Health problems may arise. The problem is easily solved with a diet if the cause is malnutrition.
How Much Girls Weight at 4 month Old
Girls at 4 months weigh 11 to 16.3 lbs. These are the limits within which the weight will be considered normal. Abnormal is the weight significantly exceeding the upper limits of the norm or significantly falling short of the lower limit. Girls are born smaller than boys. The size at birth determines the further trend of weight gain.
Average
The average weight of a four-month-old girl is 13.4 lbs. This indicator is calculated based on standard data on the weight of girls at birth. Weight loss in the first few days after birth is taken into account, as well as further weight gain. Babies after 4 months gain about 0.9 lb each month. Girls sometimes look bigger than some boys, and your daughter’s weight may differ from the average.
5th Percentile Weight
The 5th percentile weight for a 4 month old girl is 11 lb. A weight much lower than this may indicate a nutritional problem. A significant lack of mass indicates a lack of milk in the mother, health problems, or a poorly established regime. The lack of body weight at 4 months will be very noticeable. Especially in tall children. Girls should have gained at least 1.1 lbs since last month.
95th Percentile Weight
The upper weight limit for a 4 month old girl is 16.3 lb. , There is a risk of developing obesity if your girl’s weight is significantly higher than the 95th percentile weight. The extreme weight that a girl can reach at 4 months is already a sign of excess body weight. CDC data may conflict with a girl’s weight gain schedule. Critical indicators almost always play an important role in diagnosis.
What is Considered Obesity for 4 month old?
Girl
You can talk about the onset of obesity when the 95th percentile weight is exceeded. A sign of the beginning of this process in girls at 4 months is a weight above 16.7 lb. This mark is much higher than the permissible maximum norm.
It will be visually noticeable that the child requires a diet and a reorganization of the daily routine. The whole diet comes down to reducing the amount of milk at one time if there is no complementary food yet.
Boy
Boys have a higher maximum weight limit than girls. Obesity will be defined as a weight of more than 18.5 lb for 4 months of age. 95th percentile weight is the boundary between being overweight and obese. The extreme permissible point of the maximum weight already indicates that it is time to change the diet and make efforts to reduce weight.
It is very easy to solve the problem of obesity before the age of 1 year. It is easy to regulate the baby’s nutrition while he is breastfeeding or formula. It is necessary to immediately find out the reasons that provoked abnormal weight gain and eliminate them.
Signs That Baby is Not Eating Enough
A four-month-old baby becomes more active. Many factors distract him from eating. There may be a problem with being underweight. It can be identified by a few very simple features:
- Capriciousness –Â The kid is mischievous, often cries, falls asleep badly, and often wakes up. It may be hunger if there are no other reasons for such behavior.
- Dry diaper –Â The baby is most likely malnourished if he pees a little during the day. The diaper should be constantly full at 4 months even at night.
- Rejection of breastfeeding –Â The baby will be nervous if there is not enough milk because he sucks at the breast without result.
Recommendations for Parents and Their Babies
Any parent worries if a child has problems with nutrition and weight gain. Of particular concern is the significant underweight due to age. It is necessary to consult with a pediatrician and take timely measures to adjust nutrition. All advice must be substantiated and have a positive trend in implementation.
Nutrition and Diet
Correcting nutritional problems before 1 year is much easier than later. The main thing is to immediately notify the presence of a problem. Try to establish lactation and use the mixture if you are underweight. It must be tried carefully so that there is no allergic reaction. Give the lowest dose and gradually increase it. Diet is an extreme measure that is introduced for obesity. It can only be prescribed by a doctor.
Exercise
A 4-month-old child actively rolls over, constantly lies on his stomach, and pulls his legs to his face. Such activity is a sign of correct development. Additional exercises with elements of massage and stretching should also be introduced. You can include classes on fitball and gymnastics. The physical activity of a 4-month-old baby will help to balance the baby’s weight harmoniously.
Close Contact
Breastfeeding experts assure that close contact between mother and child can fully restore lactation. This happens even if the milk is gone completely. Don’t deprive your baby of body-to-body communication. This will give him confidence, calm him down and improve his appetite.
There is nothing more valuable than breast milk. It cannot be compared even with the most expensive and high-quality mixture in its composition.
Walks
Introduce constant walks in the fresh air. They will be useful for both mother and child. This normalizes the state of the nervous system and complements the physical activity of the baby. He will expend a lot of mental and physical energy to manage his weight.
Why Your Baby’s Weight is Not Close to Average
The child cannot grow within the guidelines. All children are very individual. The average weight of one child can differ significantly from another. There is no need to panic if the baby’s weight does not match the CDC norms.
Low birth weight
If the baby initially has a small weight, then his set in the future will be below the norm. The average weight indicator at 4 months will take the lowest position possible. This is not considered a deviation.
Twins
The weight of children will be much lower if you have twins or triplets than if you have one child. And they will grow a little slower than their peers. Around the first year, the weight stabilizes. In the meantime, the average indicators may be far from the accepted norms.
Presence of diseases
The weight of the child can be affected by chronic diseases of the mother or the baby itself. Metabolism is disturbed and the child is either overweight or underweight.
Anomalies of development
Rarely there are individual developmental anomalies in children. Height and weight in such cases can be either too large or pathologically small. Comparison with WHO averages is inappropriate in this case.
Feeding on demand
The principle of feeding on demand and not by the hour makes it impossible to control weight gain. Many mothers confuse a child’s need for companionship with the need for nutrition. He is given a breast for every cry because of this. This mistake leads to being overweight.
An abrupt change in the environment
This includes a move, a long journey, a divorce, or a change in a permanent adult who is nearby. Such factors noticeably violate the usual norms of the baby’s life and can cause stress that affects weight.
When Should You Worry?
Monitor your child closely. It is worth paying attention if he becomes lethargic, inactive, has poor contact, and does not show emotions. One of the reasons for such deviations may be a serious nutritional deficiency. It can catastrophically affect the nervous system of the baby or lead to irreversible processes in the body.
Visual signs of malnutrition will be noticeable immediately. This is dry skin with peeling and redness, hair loss, and obvious thinness. The kid will rarely go to the toilet and be naughty.
Of particular concern should be the fact that there is a significant excess of the maximum allowable weight. This is a clear sign of obesity, the causes of which are best identified immediately. This often happens with diabetes. There are many reasons for parents to worry. The main thing is not to panic in vain and to keep a sober mind.
