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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Are first borns lighter at birth than their younger siblings?

32 replies

Posey · 27/02/2004 18:56

In my extensive research (well asking around friends ) it seems that most first babies are lighter than the next ones. My first was 9oz lighter than my 2nd, and dh and I, both 2nd born, were substantially heavier than our older siblings.
Is this your experience? How did your babies weights differ?
Does anyone know if this is a recognised fact or is it just the case with the people I know? Is there a reason for this?

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Bekki · 27/02/2004 19:10

My first was 2 lbs heavier than his brother!

JJ · 27/02/2004 19:10

Thank goodness, no. My eldest was 9lbs 4oz, youngest (and next) was 8lbs exactly. Both born on their due dates, btw.

suzywong · 27/02/2004 19:09

Spacemonkey (yes I am stalking you through the threads) mine were the same weights as yours exactly but the other way round, second born slightly lighter

3GirlsMum · 27/02/2004 19:08

My firstborn was actually the lightest of my three at 6'8, the others were 7'3 and 7'7 respectively..lol!

coppertop · 27/02/2004 19:06

Ds1 weighed 9lb 8oz, while ds2 weighed only 9lb. However, ds1 was induced at 41 weeks while ds2 was induced at 38 weeks so I suppose my second baby WOULD have been bigger than my first if nature had been allowed to take its course.

Hope that makes sense!

spacemonkey · 27/02/2004 19:05

I've always thought this was the general rule, but that's only based on hearsay so it'd be interesting to know if it's a scientific fact! My first was just under 9lb and second was just over.

Freckle · 27/02/2004 19:04

My first born was the heaviest of my three, but that might have been that he was 5 days overdue, whereas the others were 10 and 9 days early respectively. DS1 was 7lbs 6oz, DS2 6lbs 12.5oz and DS3 7lbs 5oz. I don't do particularly big babies, not by today's standards anyway. DS3 is looking to be the tallest/biggest build of the 3.