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When can you start giving your baby cow's milk? When can you give your baby cow's milk? What is the best way to start introducing cow's milk?

Very often, for a number of reasons, young mothers cannot breastfeed, so they choose milk. However, many experts advise not to overdo it, since milk may contain a large number of powdered milk, harmful to the child’s digestive system. So, at what age do pediatricians recommend giving babies milk?

For children under three years of age, nutritionists recommend specialized baby food. It is recommended to introduce store-bought milk into a child’s diet no earlier than three years of age.

It is also not recommended to give homemade milk, since it contains pathogenic microflora that is harmful to the child’s body.

Why shouldn't you rush?

There are the following reasons for this. Cow's milk has a strong effect on the baby's digestive system. Therefore, it should be introduced into the diet only after three years. Today, even children's products bought in a store cannot “show off” good quality. Therefore, mothers should not rush to introduce store-bought milk into their baby’s diet, as there is a high risk of various allergic reactions, which can have Negative influence and on internal organs child.

This also applies to the digestive system.

Timing of introduction of dairy products

Nutritionists advise introducing milk and dairy products into the diet depending on the initial feeding. And, in order not to harm the digestive system of a growing organism, it is recommended according to the following scheme. An infant should be given special food from the age of 1 year. Store-bought milk - after three years. You can try giving milk to artificial babies earlier: at about 9-11 months.

Milk should be introduced gradually. After introducing it into the diet, it is necessary to carefully monitor the child’s body’s reaction to the new product. If the body reacts with an allergic reaction, then pediatricians advise stopping the use of milk for about another six months. However, to clarify the timing, it is recommended to contact a specialist.

If the child’s body has accepted the new product, then everything went well and the time for introducing the new product was chosen correctly.

Nature provides for the young of all mammals to be fed. Moreover, the differences in the composition of mother's milk of each animal species correspond to the needs of the body of their children.

This means that tasty and fatty goat or cow's milk have an excellent effect on the growth and development of a kid and a calf, but are not suitable as food for infants. It was installed scientific research back in the middle of the 18th century.

Properly tuned breast-feeding from the moment the baby is born - optimal nutrition for the baby. At least in the first half of the year, mother's milk is enough to satisfy all the needs of the growing baby's body.

But in some situations, mothers have to decide on feeding their infants:

the mother feels that her milk is not nutritious enough or that there is not enough of it;
really ;
inability to provide breastfeeding due to maternal illness;
baby's refusal to breastfeed;
6 month old baby and...

Questions about the quality and sufficiency of breast milk, as well as the introduction of complementary foods, should be resolved with a pediatrician. Every effort must be made to maintain breastfeeding, since no formula can replace breast milk.

After reaching 6 months, each child begins to get used to adult food. Then the mother may have a question about the possibility of introducing cow's milk into the baby's diet.

The following can be used as the first complementary food for infants:

vegetable and fruit juices;
cow's milk (or goat's milk);

Sometimes mothers think that vegetables, fruits, and cereals are too different from the mother’s milk or formula they received previously, and they wonder whether it would be better to choose cow’s milk for the first complementary feeding.

Often grandmothers or neighbors push people to use cow's milk for complementary feeding. Their main argument is the statement: “Before, babies were fed cow’s milk, so they were healthier.”

This would be the wrong decision, because listed varieties For complementary feeding products, cow's milk is the worst option.

Why cow's milk is not suitable

Cow's milk in an infant's diet can lead to kidney problems, anemia and allergies and other diseases.

While for adults milk is a fairly valuable food product, for infants its consumption is associated with a certain risk.

The adverse effects of cow's milk on the baby's body are associated with multiple risk factors:

Cow's milk contains more salts (phosphates, chlorides) and minerals (sodium, potassium, etc.) than women's milk. The baby’s not quite mature urinary system is not able to remove excess amounts of salts; they can be deposited in the body.
There is less iron in cow's milk and it is less absorbed, which creates a risk of development in infants, and this negatively affects the growth and development of the body, the state of the immune system.
The higher content of casein protein in cow's milk not only complicates the process of digestion, but also quite often provokes the occurrence of. Excess protein puts a high burden on the kidneys.
Cows' milk contains less of some minerals (copper) and vitamin E necessary for the development of a child.
Cow's milk contains significantly less carbohydrates (lactose) than mother's milk (3-4% instead of 7%).
The content of the amino acids taurine and cystine is 3-4 times less in cow's milk than in women's milk, and they are important for brain development.
Early introduction of cow's milk into children's diet increases the likelihood of their developing.

Which is better: milk or formula?

If it is not possible to breastfeed the baby, preference should be given to those selected by the pediatrician (and not by the mother herself) for each child individually.

Even formulas prepared on the basis of cow's milk have advantages over feeding the baby simply with cow's milk:

the mixture has a constant composition;
manufacturers add to the mixture essential microelements and vitamins;
cow's milk casein protein is specially processed to reduce its allergenic properties;
The mixture can be bought for future use; it is convenient for use, including making porridge.

In addition, it is not known what kind of feed the cow received, where it was grazed, or how the milk container was washed. Large farms often use antibiotics and other medications for the prevention and treatment of animals.

Antibiotics and hormones, which are administered to cows during preventive and therapeutic measures, enter the milk and are not destroyed even during heat treatment.

It is healthier and safer for a child to drink fresh milk from a healthy cow from a private farm, pasteurized at home. For pasteurization, milk is heated to 90 °C. From it you can make cottage cheese for your baby, kefir or other healthy fermented milk products using starter cultures purchased at the pharmacy. This will help diversify baby food.
Giving a child unpasteurized fresh milk is dangerous, as its consumption can cause infection with pathogenic microbes.

The following diseases can be transmitted through milk:

intestinal infections (gastroenterocolitis, food toxic infections);
leukemia caused by a lymphotropic virus;
tuberculosis, including its extrapulmonary forms;
tick-borne encephalitis;
foot and mouth disease;
anthrax;
brucellosis;
Q fever.

If you purchase pasteurized milk in stores, there is no risk of developing intestinal infections if storage conditions are met. But one should take into account the likelihood of manufacturers using preservatives to increase the shelf life of the product.

How and when to introduce milk into the diet

Whole cow's milk can be introduced into a child's diet no earlier than 3 years.

According to experts, whole cow's milk can be given to a baby after 3 years of age. At this age, the child’s digestive system is already mature for digesting “adult” food.

For the first test, milk should be diluted with boiled water by half or three times, and it is enough to give only a teaspoon of the resulting drink. Back in the 18th century, the famous scientist Michael Underwood recommended diluting cow's milk with water or oatmeal when feeding a small child to reduce the level of protein in the milk.
It is necessary to carefully observe the reaction of the baby’s body after giving milk. Manifestations of allergies can include itching, rashes, abnormal bowel movements, and fever.
If these symptoms occur, milk should be excluded from the diet. In case of severe manifestations of allergies, you should consult a pediatrician or children's allergist.
If well tolerated, the proportion of milk when diluted and the amount of the resulting drink can be gradually increased. So, after a week you can dilute the milk in a 1:1 ratio.
If milk is used as complementary food, it can be given only once a day. Other feedings should be breast milk or formula.
When preparing porridge with cow's milk, it is necessary to dilute it with boiled water to reduce its fat content (up to 2%).

If a mother wants to introduce natural milk into the diet of an infant, then it is better to use goat milk: the risk factors remain the same, but compared to the use of cow milk, they are less pronounced.

Strict ban on milk

There are conditions and diseases of children in which drinking cow's milk is contraindicated:

The baby is prone to allergic reactions; casein from cow's milk, insufficiently digested in the child's immature digestive system, can penetrate into the blood and cause severe allergies.
, i.e., deficiency of the enzyme for digesting milk sugar. Depending on the severity of this deficiency, the child may develop complete intolerance to dairy products. In such cases, if there is no effect from the use of the enzymatic drug lactase, lactose-free or low-lactose mixtures are prescribed.
Metabolic disorders in a child, problems with the digestive system. Milk can be introduced to such children only after consulting a gastroenterologist or pediatrician.
Of particular danger is the disrupted process of galactose absorption. It is formed as a result of the breakdown of milk sugar.
Hereditary fermentopathy () is detected by screening in the maternity hospital. If it is detected, the child needs a dairy-free diet from the moment of birth.

Summary for parents

Cow's milk should not be consumed by children under 3 years of age. The large amount of casein protein and minerals makes it difficult to digest this product and increases the load on the kidneys. It is not uncommon to experience an allergic reaction after drinking milk.

If the mother nevertheless introduces cow's milk into the baby's diet, then she should definitely dilute it with boiled water and start giving it with a minimum portion. You can gradually increase the portion only if there is no negative reaction from the baby’s body.

Pediatrician E. O. Komarovsky speaks about cow’s milk in the diet of children:

Cow's milk is considered a valuable product rich in protein. Milk protein is more complete for a balanced diet and is easier to digest than fish or meat protein. And yet, cow's milk is not recommended for children under one year of age for a number of reasons.

Differences between cow's milk and breast milk

The composition and quality of cow's milk are not similar to mother's milk due to the lack of immunological factors that are present in mother's milk. When the content of minerals and protein is increased, and the amount of carbohydrates, vitamins and fatty acids is reduced, this leads to serious disorders in the child’s body. Cow's milk should not be given early due to possible allergies in the infant. The product is a valuable source of nutrients for a growing child, but it is not advisable to introduce it into the diet during the first year of life.

A comparative table will help you understand the similarities and differences in the composition of cow's and breast milk:

Factors	Cow	Chest
immunological	No	There is
protein	5%	1%
taurine, cystine	deficit for brain development	34 times more
carnitine	residual content	40 times more
orotic acid	No	There is
fats	4%	4%
fatty acid	excess	norm
linoleic acid	deficit for brain development	norm
lipase	No	There is
lactose	3%	7%
sodium	30	6,5
potassium	49	14
chlorides	41	12
calcium	1750	350
phosphates	1050	150
iron	not digestible	completely absorbed
vitamins	not enough	norm
water	must be given additionally	you can only get by with mother's milk

Harm of cow's milk

Despite the “official” age at which milk feeding is allowed, pediatricians do not recommend giving this product to children under 3 years of age. It is then that the functioning of the child’s gastrointestinal tract is completely stabilized, and milk will be beneficial. Some mothers can boast that from the age of six months they fed their infants cow's milk, but this is due to the individual characteristics of the body. Only a doctor can tell you when to introduce cow’s milk into your baby’s diet instead of breast milk. Changing your child’s diet on your own is fraught with complications and danger.

Compared to maternal milk, cow milk is too “heavy” due to an excess of minerals and protein. Up to a year, a child’s body does not work selectively and cannot distinguish between necessary minerals and unnecessary ones, so it eliminates everything through the kidneys. Along with harmful phosphorus, valuable calcium is also released. This leads to additional stress on the kidneys and the development of rickets.
If you introduce complementary foods in the form of cow's milk at an early age or completely replace breast milk with it, the baby's gastric mucosa may not be able to cope with the new product. As a result, internal bleeding occurs, which is dangerous for the child.
You can provoke allergies, intolerance to lactose and milk protein.
Before giving a “healthy” product to newborns, you should think about possible anemia. Iron deficiency in cow's milk reduces hemoglobin levels, and if you stop breastfeeding and immediately replace it with cow's milk, anemia will lead to serious illnesses.
There is a risk of complete displacement of natural feeding, so cow's milk should not be given instead of breast milk.
When a mother decides to replace her milk with cow's milk, she should prepare for the child's likely developmental delays and frequent illnesses. Cow milk does not contain important immunoglobulins, which breast milk is rich in, so the protective reaction of the child’s body will be at a low level.
Mother's milk is always fresh and safe for consumption, but cow's milk can cause poisoning if stored in improper conditions.

When and what kind of milk is good for you?

When considering the question of at what age milk can be introduced into the diet, you should listen to the advice of your pediatrician. Leading experts recommend introducing your child to this product starting at 8-9.5 months. Ideally, it should be cottage cheese, since the fermented milk version is most suitable for digestion.

You can purchase specialized products intended for babies in the store. During the production process, such cocktails undergo careful control and are completely balanced. Some types are enriched with dietary fiber and vitamins that help improve digestion. And don’t forget to include baby cottage cheese in your diet to normalize the intestinal microflora.

However, you cannot buy milk from various additives and the content of preservatives, flavors and dangerous dyes. When choosing "adult" milk, it is important to become familiar with the way it was processed. Options include:

ultrapasteurization
pasteurization
sterilization

In the latter option, milk is processed at a temperature of 100 C, so it is clear why it is no longer healthy. Pasteurization implies a minimally gentle processing regime, but the shelf life is short, you need to pay attention to the date of manufacture when purchasing.

When choosing the optimal fat content, you can choose a product of 2.5-3.2%, since vitamins and calcium are almost not absorbed from completely skim milk, and fatter milk will cause intolerance and problems with digestion.

What is the best way to start introducing cow's milk?

When the baby is formula-fed, from 9 months you can give complementary foods from milk, adding it to cereals. It is important to maintain consistency and accuracy when introducing a child to a new product:

Milk must be boiled and diluted in a ratio of 1:3.
You should start complementary feeding with 1 teaspoon, observing the baby’s reaction.
If no allergy or intolerance has occurred, the dose can be increased slightly.
After 3 weeks, the volume of milk consumed is 100 g.
The amount of water needs to be gradually reduced, and then removed altogether.

It is prohibited to include the raw product in complementary foods! Cattle are considered carriers of brucellosis: when entering the body, the virus attacks the spinal cord. Even timely treatment does not protect against disability.

The best memory from childhood is natural fresh milk, so many parents are sure that a homemade product can and should be given, and are in a hurry to introduce it into complementary foods. It should be remembered that the market option does not always pass certification, so no one is immune from the content of “surprises”.

Some private owners do not consider the animal’s illness to be an obstacle to milking and subsequent sale of the product.

Before making a final decision at what age to give your baby pure milk or introduce it into complementary foods, you should consult with your pediatrician. Sometimes, behind a mother’s intention to transfer the baby from breastfeeding to artificial feeding, there is a reluctance to follow a nursing diet. It is difficult to limit yourself on the menu if the rest of the household eats a more varied diet. Cow's milk in the first months of a baby's life will cause irreparable harm to the body, which the mother will later regret.

When it is not possible to establish lactation, a decision is made to transfer the baby to cow's milk feeding due to lack of finances to purchase an adapted formula. And mothers often succumb to persuasion from relatives to save money. Grandmothers are sincerely perplexed why their daughter or daughter-in-law is opposed to this method of feeding, because in the past everyone did it this way. Several decades ago, the question did not arise at all at what age to introduce milk into a child’s diet - cow’s milk was considered healthy. And research has not yet revealed the full danger of the product. Therefore, if the priority is the health and normal development of the baby, you can appeal to the older generation with this fact. Cow's milk is a valuable food product, an essential source of calcium, minerals

, vitamins. However, it is not absorbed in the same way by all people. Drinking milk sometimes causes indigestion and allergies even in adults. Cow's milk is very different in composition from women's milk, and the child's digestive organs and kidneys are not so developed to cope with the full processing of all its components (proteins, fats, minerals). It is necessary to accustom a child to a new product carefully, taking into account the peculiarities of physiological development.
The proteins contained in the drink are less digestible than the proteins in mother's milk. They accumulate in the body, irritating the intestinal mucosa. The child develops abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea. An allergic reaction occurs.
When consuming cow's milk, young children may develop anemia (anemia, lack of hemoglobin in the blood). This also applies to older children (up to 2 years old). Anemia is caused by poor absorption of cow's milk by the child's body. Gastrointestinal bleeding often occurs due to damage to small vessels by undigested food. At the same time, the level of hemoglobin and the concentration of red blood cells in the blood decrease. To eliminate bleeding, you must stop taking the product completely. The child requires treatment with iron supplements.
In the body of some children, there is insufficient production of lactase (a special enzyme that breaks down milk sugar - lactose). When consuming cow's milk, due to the inability to fully assimilate it, the child may have poor digestion of food, which leads to the appearance of various types of dermatoses, as well as unpleasant odor from mouth.

The whole product should not be given to children under 1 year of age, even in diluted form. If breastfeeding is not carried out, then you can use special infant formulas, the composition of which is close to the composition of human milk (the content of phosphorus and calcium is normal, the content of iron, zinc, iodine and other microelements is increased).

Video: Dairy nutrition. Benefits and harms for children, says Dr. Komarovsky

Types of milk

Based on fat content, the product is divided into the following types:

full-fat milk (contains from 3.2 to 4% fat);
low fat (2%);
removed.

You can give cow's milk to your baby when he turns 1 year old. Until 2 years of age, it must be fatty, since it contains quite a lot of amino acids that affect the development of nervous tissue and the brain. After 2 years, you can use a low-fat product, yogurt, kefir.

What is the child's body need for milk?

After 1 year, it is one of the main suppliers of calcium to the child’s body. The kidneys and digestive system are already developed enough to cope with the processing of cow's milk. At the age of 1-1.5 years, a child should drink 400-450 ml of the drink per day, and from 1.5 to 3 years, up to 600 ml can be given (taking into account adding it to porridge and consuming fermented milk products).

What kind of milk can be given to children?

Children should not be given raw or fresh milk. It contains microorganisms that cause serious diseases such as tuberculosis and brucellosis. In its raw form, it can cause dysentery and other intestinal infections. At the same time, when boiling, the value of the product is significantly reduced, as many vitamins are destroyed. Therefore, pasteurized cow's milk is the healthiest and safest for children.

For children with a lack of lactase in the body, a special drink is produced to which this enzyme is added. You can make this product yourself. To do this, lactase is added in the form of tablets or drops. If there are allergies, it is recommended that children be given substitutes (soy, rice milk) containing sufficient amounts of vitamins and proteins. However, their calorie content is low.

Disadvantages and advantages of goat milk

In terms of its nutritional properties, goat's milk is not inferior to cow's milk. The percentage of essential fatty acids that humans need but are not found in the body is higher. The fats contained here are easier to digest. It does not cause allergic reactions. Therefore, the product is recommended for children suffering from cow's milk allergies.

The disadvantage of goat's milk is that it contains too little folic acid, necessary for the absorption of vitamins, as well as for the formation of red blood cells. This is fraught with the appearance of anemia. Products sold in stores are usually labeled "with added folic acid" on packaging. If there is no label, then when drinking this drink the child should be given folic acid separately.

Video: Goat milk for allergies in children

In the time of our grandmothers, cow's milk helped feed many babies when breastfeeding was impossible, but nowadays formula milk copes with this task perfectly. This causes controversy between young mothers and the older generation.

Should you give milk from a cow to a small child instead of formula or is it dangerous for his health? How to switch a baby from breast milk to cow's milk? What are the benefits and harms of this product for a child’s body? At what age is it best to introduce children to it? Is it necessary to boil it or can it be given straight from the cow?

These and many other questions concern almost every young mother. Let's try to understand them, and also find out why it should not be given to young children, as modern pediatricians say.

How is it useful?

It is a source of healthy proteins, from which children receive all essential amino acids.
Provides the human body with calcium and phosphorus - elements without which the formation of teeth and a strong skeleton is impossible.
Includes a large number of vitamin compounds, including vitamin D, which is important for children.
Helps strengthen the immune system.

It should be noted that all these beneficial features can be obtained only with the correct and timely introduction of such a product into the diet of children.

At what age should it be given?

Cow's milk appears in the diet of breastfed children at the age of 9 months, as an ingredient in milk porridge. For an infant If you are fed formula, you can start preparing this porridge a little earlier - from 7-8 months. In this case, the daily dose of cow's milk is no more than 100-150 ml.

If we are talking about replacing breast milk or an adapted formula with cow's milk, then it is not recommended to do this until 1 year of age. If it is impossible to breastfeed the baby, the best substitute for children in the first year of life is formula milk. Although it is made from cow’s milk, during the processing process it undergoes purification, and the composition is as close as possible to women’s milk.

Children over one year of age can be given cow's milk as a drink. small quantity(up to 200 ml).

You can regularly give this product in larger quantities to your child every day after 3 years.

Separately, we note that the child is offered a product with a fat content of 2.5-3.2%. If a mother is wondering when to start giving her baby skim milk, she should know that a low-fat product is not recommended until the age of 2.

Calculate your complementary feeding table

Why is it harmful?

The harm of cow's milk for infants is associated with significant differences in its composition from that of mother's milk.

Exactly breast milk is an ideal food to be given to newborns and to be fed to all babies until at least 6 months of age. But cow milk is inferior to it in a number of parameters:

It will contain too many proteins. The intolerance that occurs in some children when consuming this product is often associated with an allergy to protein.
A large amount of casein in the composition causes difficulties with digestion. This may cause your child to become constipated.
Contains much more calcium and phosphorus than human milk. And if excess calcium is not absorbed in the children’s intestines, since this process has a rather complex regulation in the human body, then excess phosphorus freely enters the blood. This increases the load on the baby’s kidneys, which try to remove unnecessary phosphorus. At the same time, the child’s body also loses calcium. Due to such processes, intake provokes the development of rickets in young children.
It also contains too much magnesium, potassium, chlorine and sodium. To remove these elements from the baby’s body, the baby’s excretory system works with increased load. One of the consequences of this situation can be dehydration.
Although there is almost the same amount of fat in mother's milk as in cow's milk, the quality of these fats is different. The fatty acids that the baby receives while suckling are better absorbed and have a positive effect on the nervous and digestive systems. The fats in cow's milk are saturated, making them harder to digest. For this reason, milk with a fat content higher than 4% is not recommended for children in the first years of life.
The iron content in cow's milk is much lower than in breast milk, and its absorption is worse, since cow’s milk, unlike mother’s milk, does not contain lactoferrin. Also, this product contains little iodine, copper, zinc, ascorbic acid and vitamin E, and there is no folic acid and taurine in cow's milk at all.
If introduced too early into the children's menu, the mucous membrane of the digestive tract may be damaged, which can sometimes even lead to internal bleeding.
If cow's milk is given at the same time as breastfeeding, this product may adversely affect lactation.
The child will satisfy his needs with cow's milk, refusing his mother's, because getting food from the breast is harder than drinking from a bottle. Does not include immunoglobulin crumbs that are important for supporting immunity.

When replacing breastfeeding with such a product, the defenses of the toddler’s body may decrease.

Contraindications

Cow's milk should not be drunk in the following cases:
If the child already has symptoms of rickets.
For problems with mineral metabolism.
In case of individual intolerance.

If the child's close relatives have diabetes.

A popular pediatrician is confident that children under one year old should not be given whole cow's milk. He emphasizes that the early introduction of such a product into the baby’s diet instead of an adapted formula provokes the development of rickets and negatively affects the child’s intestines.

If a mother does not have the opportunity to breastfeed her baby after 3 months or she wants to stop breastfeeding at the age of 5-6 months, Komarovsky advises buying and giving the baby an adapted formula.

Komarovsky calls the inclusion of milk in a child's diet after one year acceptable, but at the age of 1 to 3 years, a well-known doctor advises limiting the amount drunk per day to two glasses. He emphasizes that if it is possible to purchase special milk for a child, recommended for this age category, such a product will be much more preferable than regular milk from a cow.

As for cow's milk in the diet of three-year-olds and older children, Komarovsky believes that after 3 years of age, children can consume this product without restrictions if they like it and do not cause allergies.

Should I boil it?

Safety is very important for baby food, so in most cases, cow's milk offered to babies must be heat-treated. Boiling helps to avoid such a serious disease as brucellosis (carried by cows), which poses a great danger to the child’s body.

If mom is not sure about the quality, it must be boiled. Boiled milk retains all proteins, carbohydrates, fats and many other substances. The content of vitamins in it may only slightly decrease, but this is not as dangerous as contracting dangerous infections. It is permissible to give it unboiled to children only if it comes from a cow that is kept by your family or close friends (you are confident in its health).

How to introduce it into the diet of babies?

Due to the risk of allergies, introduction should be careful and gradual, and every mother should know how to dilute this product, since at first milk is given to divorced children. When the baby is 1 year old, you can take 1 part of cow's milk and combine with 3 parts of boiled water.

The first portion that is given to the child in the morning feeding is 1 teaspoon. If there is no reaction to it, the dose can be increased to 200 ml.

Next, start reducing the amount of water until you have eliminated it completely and are giving your baby whole milk. Usually the undiluted product begins to be given from the age of 3. The recommended volume for a child over 3 years old is 500-700 ml per day.

How to choose for a child If you want to buy milk for a child aged 1-3 years, the best option

there will be a product marked “for children”. It is produced in environmentally friendly areas and undergoes more careful control, and is also sold in more secure packaging.

When buying regular milk for a child over 3 years old, you should opt for an ultra-pasteurized or sterilized product. It undergoes careful processing so that no dangerous bacteria remain in it. When purchasing it, carefully read the information on the packaging, checking the fat content and expiration date.

Find out if your baby's weight is normal by using the following calculator.