Failure to Thrive
Some babies that are born prematurely or that suffer from medical conditions (like congenital heart disease, for instance) may fail to thrive. These babies and their lack of ability to gain weight like a normal baby must be monitored with a close eye, especially during the first few months of life and continuing throughout baby's first year. A good baby scale will allow you to track baby's weight easily and has a high accuracy that will measure fractions of an ounce. Although this doesn't seem like a significant amount of weight, in a five pound infant, every little bit "counts".
Monitoring Baby …show more content…
Baby should be offered food often, especially if you are trying to put weight on the infant. Whether you are feeding breast milk or baby formula, baby should be offered food at least six times a day or as ordered by your pediatrician. If baby seems to be "full" even though he hasn't taken in the recommended number of ounces - check to make sure that the infant formula you are feeding him is mixed appropriately. If you add too little water and too much formula, the formula will be thicker and richer, and baby may nurse less. If you add too much water and not enough formula, baby will be taking in fewer calories than