Information Station - Babies who are large for gestational age (LGA) are those whose birth weight is greater than the 90th percentile.
- Babies who weigh >4000 grams (8 pounds 13 ounces) are considered LGA.
- Babies born to diabetic mothers may be LGA.
- Babies who are small for gestational age (SGA) are those whose birth weight is less than the 10th percentile.
- Babies who weigh <2500 grams (5 pounds 8 ounces) are considered SGA.
- Very low birth weight (VLBW) is considered less than 1500 grams (3 pounds 5 ounces).
- Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) is considered less than 1000 grams (2 pounds 3 ounces).
- Babies will lose up to 10% of their body weight in the first week of life.
- After the first week of life, babies will begin gaining weight and should return to their birth weight by 2 weeks of life.
- As a general rule, babies double their birth weight by 4-6 months (gaining 4 to 7 ounces per week), triple their birth weight by 1 year (gaining 3 to 5 ounces per week), and quadruple their birth weight by 2 (gaining ½ a pound to a pound a month).
- Babies typically go through a growth spurt at 2-3 weeks of life and then around 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months of life.
- During these growth spurts, baby may demand more frequent feedings and may wake during the night or during naps to eat.
- Growth spurts typically last for 2-7 days.
