When you had your babies (in the UK)

[MargotBamborough]

Did they tell you the baby's weight in kg or in lbs and oz?

He is 6 months and I was told pounds and ounces.

We were told in both(youngest born in 2016).

I bake in oz and lbs as that’s how my mum taught me.

Told in kg back in the 90s and I converted it to imperial.

lbs and oz - 14 years ago.

Both. They weighed in kg and then convert in their book to tell me the lb and oz.

Interesting- I don’t have any children but it is one of the few things I need to know in lb and oz. My parents never taught me imperial stuff - I know some things like a pint but could equally picture a litre.
Adult weight I don’t understand stones and lb well. But I’ve never heard anyone give me the weight of a newborn in kg.

I know that in dd1’s book it’s recorded in grams but they told us in lbs and oz.
DD2’s book has it written in kgs and lbs and oz. I remember the midwife telling me it in lbs though not the kilos.

Baby weighed 7lb 5oz, this was in 1996, wouldn't have understood if I was told what the weight was in kilos

It's the outcome of changing systems.

I was born in the early 70s and taught completely in metric at school. However my parents were taught the imperial system so we were effectively "bilingual" in that we used both systems. It's not about how much easier one is to use it's about what the number/system means to you and if you are able to estimate in that system.

For instance. I understand height in feet and inches. Metres and centimetres don't mean anything to me. I can't really understand exactly how tall that makes someone in reference to everyone else. So for example I immediately know the someone is tall if over 6 foot and short if they are nearing 5 foot. In metres I'd need to convert it to make a judgement. I wouldn't know without a lot of thinking about it.

I do similar with room measurement estimates. I would estimate in feet but if I was measuring a room for carpet. I'd do it in metres as it's easier to work with and lots of shops etc now use metric.

I however do temperature (for weather) in Celsius (or centigrade as I like to call it!). Fahrenheit means nothing to me. I have no idea how hot or cold it will be if you tell me in Fahrenheit. However if we are talking about body temperature I think in Fahrenheit. I know for instance that 100 is something to start worrying about, and 104 is bad, seek help immediately and everything in between. I can't even remember the Celsius equivalent it's a random number like 35.7 or something. Anyhow I have to look it up and even then aren't completely sure if the scale of worry that's needed!

Weight I also do in stones, lbs (and ounces for babies). I understand what that means. What's heavy and what's not. For babies I'd understand 10lbs...That's a big baby and 5lb is on the small side. 3kgs? No idea. Similarly for adult weights. Americans seem to use lbs only for weights...like someone is 145lbs. Again that means nothing to me but I'd understand what 8 stone or 11 stone might look like in terms of weight.

But I tend to cook in metric (again because it's easier to work with)! Although I can use both.

And I think it's going to continue for decades as my DS also understands the above as that's how I talk to him. He seems to understand heights of people in both metres and feet and inches though so it will likely slowly change over time but I think we're a few generations out from imperial being gone for good.

2000 & 2002 giving in Lbs & Oz's

Half the point of even knowing the weight at birth, is to tell relatives when you announce the birth. So you need it in the time- honoured measurement for the older generation to be able to compare to their children's birthweight etc. It gives everyone something to discuss in the lull before they meet the baby. It's harmless.

Kilos and someone converted it.

Doctors and nurses all work in metric, worldwide.

Mine were born in the UK in 1978, 1981 and 1986. To the best of my recollection I was told the weight in Imperial for the first two and metric for the third. I've been in the US since 2002 and have basically reverted to Imperial as that's what they use here, but notice that people in the UK are far more attuned to metric these days.

Kilos (2006) but the midwife was kind enough to convert it for me.

It's weird that I was taught maths in metric, I don't fully understand imperial, but I know what is heavy and what's not in imperial? It's like, I know that it's over 300 miles to Edinburgh from where I live (long way) but if you told me how far it was in kilometres I'd give you a blank stare. Hence why, when I'm traveling in Europe, I don't know what the signs are actually telling me. It's cultural, I think.

“Do you want that in old money” was what the midwife said 15 years ago when my girl was born 😂
(All the paperwork/records are in kgs etc)
We are very bilingual in the UK when it comes to measurements.
Officially we all learn in metric but everyone knows that a 5pound baby is teeny tiny and a 10pound baby makes you think “ouch”. Everyone knows 4ft10 can’t reach the top shelf in Tesco, 6ft 6 can reach it for you. Cakes are baked using the 4 4 4 2 method (4ozs of Flour, 4 of sugar, 4 of butter, 2 eggs).
Journeys are in miles not kilometres. As someone upthread say if you say somewhere is 300 kms away you get a blank stare.
We are a strange lot in the UK. This is one of our quirks. I love it 😂

I'm not sure it is that, tbh.

My mum is now a grandmother twice over and she was told both her own babies' weights in kilos. I shouldn't need to convert to imperial for her benefit but I still did. And in my bumpers group (made up of mothers born in the 80s and 90s) we mainly shared our babies' weights with each other in imperial.

That's why I think it's a cultural thing. For some reason even young British people who never learned imperial measurements at school consistently measure some things in imperial and some things in metric.

2008 , kg. Which I converted in my head so not a problem. My head still works in lb & oz for babies..

Mine asked and I said pounds do that's what they did

Lb and oz, but it's in their red books in both.

This. But the midwife used her phone and converted it wrong, so for the first couple of days I was telling everyone DD was 10oz heavier than she was

Interesting.
I wonder why birth weight is recorded in grams, and not kilograms?
You would not ask for 1000 grams of sugar you would say 1kg.
I always understood petrol being sold as litres to disguise the increase in cost, it used to be sold in gallons but the cost would be mind boggling now. Maybe that’s just a cynical view.
I bake in lbs and ounces cos that’s how my grandmother taught me. I use miles but I can convert that to kilometres and always do this if someone tells me they are running 10k for example.
I buy material by the metre but remember buying it by the yard and the shop assistants all had yard sticks to measure by.
I also know that one inch is 2.54 cm ( not exactly) so can do the conversion. When buying plants the height is given in cm so I immediately think 30cm is the height of a ruler.
When buying milk both dh and I still say pints and not litres. Alcohol is sold in pints and half pints.
Eggs always in 6s and not 10s.
Fruit, I can’t visualise how many bananas I’d get in 500g. Again my grandmother would ask for a pound of bananas etc.
Height I say in imperial but I know exactly how tall I am in cm from doing this at school.
Temperature is interesting. I always use metric now but grew up with imperial. I remember asking my grandmother what 78 degrees meant and she replied ‘hot’. Now I know that 30 degrees is hot.

Kilos. I don't like imperial personally, it's all over the place!

4.76kg for my DS. Had no idea what that was until my dad visited that night and did the conversion for me.

All you need to know is that that is a whopper! Which I expect you had already figured out.

Ds1 2002 kgs
Ds2 2006 kgs

I converted to lb & oz.