Is It Normal To Have 7.1kg Of Weight At 6 Months Of Age?

Posted on Wed, 17 Jun 2015

Question: hello doctor, this is regarding my 6 mnth old babyboys weight. last sunday ( a week ago) his weight was 7.1 kg...we had some doubt that he is not gaining weight properly as he looks so lean so today we again measured his weight, its 7 kg today....means he has lost 100 gm in one week. he is breastfeeded and taking solid food thrice a day which includes rice daal cereal, fruits, veggies. wat should we give him for weight gain kindly guide us abt the same. one more query, his doctor has given iron n calcium supplements for daily intake. till what age we should continue giving it?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
The weight loss may be due to dehydration

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thanks for the query

First of all I would like to tell you that the weight of 7.1 kg at 6 months of age is normal(about 50th centile according to XXXXXXX academy of pediatrics growth chart).So I won't get worried regarding his weight and nutritional intake.

Then I would like to know the method of weighing,I mean
1)did you remove all the cloths before taking the weight
2)did you use the same weighing machine both the times

If answer of both these question is yes, then I would like to rule out dehydration as this is the most common cause of such rapid weight loss in this age(due to decreased intake of fluids or increased loss).You have mentioned that baby is accepting feeds well.As the temperature is rising the amount of fluid intake should also be increased to combat the insensible loss of fluid.I would like to know if there is any recent decrease in urinary frequency.
Baby is active,playful and there are no associated symptoms.So I won't get overly worried but suggest you to increase the amount of fluid intake(in the form of increased frequency of breast feed or water/juice intake) and to be watchful for urinary frequency,

Iron supplementation is needed around four months of age in a full term baby in case of anemia/iron deficiency and it should be continued for 3-4 months to replenish the iron store.
Similarly the calcium and vitamin D supplementation is recommended till one year of age.
Apart from this continue the feeds like rice,dal,cereal,fruits and vegetable as you are giving.Add ghee/butter generously to make the feed calorie dense(as the total fat requirement is more in babies in compare to adults).

I hope this helps

I shall be glad to answer if you have any more query.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E