Problem: If a mother's breast milk delivery is insufficient to meet the needs of the growing neonate, the infant will become dehydrated with weight loss and hypernatremia.
relative weight change in percent =
= ((current body weight in g) - (birthweight in g)) / (birthweight in g) * 100%
line describing -2.5 SDS over the period of 3 to 11 days after birth =
= (0.3272 * (day)) - 12.80
Monitoring of the neonate should include:
(1) number of wet diapers
(2) frequency and quality of stools
(3) pattern of breastfeeding
Reasons that an infant should be referred for evaluation:
(1) relative weight change < 2.5 standard deviations below the mean (-2.5 SDS) AND age 3 to 7 days
(2) weight loss > 10% AND age >= 7 days
(3) The infant shows clinical symptoms of severe dehydration.
Failure to regain birthweight by age 21 days was considered abnormal by MacDonald et al
