Baby weighing scales - anyone bought these?

[katyt1]

Hi, our local bf support group has just had the funding cut for the hv to come & weigh the babies

Anyway, I was wondering if we clubbed together we could afford to buy a set of scales ourselves. I mean we can all weigh ingredients at home, how hard can it be to press zero, put baby on, and write down weight?
I wouldn't want to take the place of people's hv or stop them going to hv with any weight concerns, so would have to issue 'common sense guidelines over use' but otherwise can't see a problem.

Has anyone bought these scales? are they accurate enough? reliable? etc. any comments welcome?

um

why do you want to weigh them? imo there is too much emphasis on the charts

once discharged from the mw at 12 days or whatever (ie birthweight regained sufficently and bf established), surely your guide should be happy / alert / wet / pooey nappies rtaher than weight, no?

Oh yes i agree, too much emphasis on charts, which are prob a load of tosh, but lots of new bf mums like the reassurance of weight gain, or non-weight-loss.

Our theory is that it's better for these mums to get weight whilst with the supporters so that they can get immediate help/advice/reassurance/etc. rather than weigh baby at cinic with hv, get told loads of worrying nonsense about topping up, spend days worrying, maybe even giving up before having chance to come back to group and discuss with supporters.

I, on the other hand, am just anal about having dots in the book

these look like the hv ones and not much more expensive so maybe better?
Don't get the milk intake thingie tho?

ah I see your point, good plan.

the milk intake thing will just be a function of the digital bit - press once for 'before feed' then put same child back on and press 'after feed' and it will say 'this child has just wolfed 3oz milk' or whatever. This is not a good guide to how much milk they're getting at each feed though cause it varies so widely.

the latter ones look sturdier IMO

Whatever scales you do get in remember to factor in the cost of having them calibrated regularly...but tbh I would be very wary of using scales without the proper training to interpret what the results mean.

Have a look in TK Maxx as they sometimes sell the scales.

Honestly don't bother you will be able to tell if your baby is fatter or skinnier. Mine was last weighed at 3 weeks he's now 16 weeks old and a little chunk.

thanks MrsBadger, think i would ignore the milk intake bit tbh, sounds like a gimmick.

terramum - what is involved in calbrating do you know?
I did say in OP that common sense rules would have to be applied...

thanks for the tip Bexie

Ledodgy - i know, luckily i have good feeders who grow out of their clothes quickly and get heavy to carry around so i don't worry about weight gain
But if you have little ones and feeding isn't going well (in your mind at least) and they are maybe only putting on an oz or two it's reassuring to know that they are gaining something.

any more opinions??
I haven't talked to the supporters in detail about this yet, just a brief mention last week. will talk to them properly next week to gauge their opinions.

bump

No idea I'm afraid....I would ask the HV to see what she does...although tbh NHS ones are rarely calibrated often enough

I did read your OP....but IMO there is a big difference in having common sense & having the proper training. Lets face it HVs should have both & all too often they muck it up . Routine weighing of babies doesn't improve outcomes for mums & babies afaiaa. It is far too easy for a nervous Mum to loose confidence. Please leave the weighing to the medical professionals & support your mums by helping them see their baby as a whole to see how they are doing.

true what you say about hv's getting it wrong

i will chat to the supporters next week and see what they think...

Well, thought i best come on to say that the supporters were very pro buying a set of scales - the hst ones that are the same as the hvs use - so we are thinking of having a fundraising day during bf week to buy them.
we agreed that we would make up a little card to put next to the scales that covered the small print/common sense issue.

Plus it turns out that one of the other clinics where you can get babies weighed actually puts out the scales and lets mums get on with it themselves - there are hvs there to chat to if you want - so i feel there is a precedent.

We have also had the funding cut for our supporters children to go to holiday club whilst the bf group is on this means that it prob won't happen during school holidays which i feel is terrible for lots of reasons. hoping we can get some support to petition the pct to change their plans...

oops, ps have namechanged, was katyt1!

NO don't do it!
What a waste of money.

Just stand on your home scales with your baby once every couple of weeks or so. Weigh you + baby, then put baby down and weigh just you.

First figure minus second = baby's weight. Ok it's not super accurate but will give you enough of an idea and you don't want to be stressing about each ounce unless your baby has a problem.

If your baby did have a serious weight gain issue, you should really be having it monitored by medics anyway in which case you won't need home scales.

(I've just written a book on baby products and home baby weighing scales were on my list of wastes of money.)