5 to 7 oz a week for the first four months, after the initial loss is recovered.
| Age | Weekly gain | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 0–4 months | 5–7 oz | 1.5–2 lb |
| 4–6 months | 4–5 oz | 1–1.25 lb |
| 6–12 months | 2–4 oz | 0.5–1 lb |
| 12–24 months | 1–2 oz | 0.25–0.5 lb |
Rough milestones: doubled birth weight by 4–6 months, tripled by 12 months.
The loss comes first
Newborns lose up to 7 to 10% of birth weight in the first days. This is normal and expected — extra fluid from birth is passed, and milk supply takes a few days to establish.
An 8 lb baby dropping to 7 lb 6 oz is following the pattern.
The milestone that matters is back to birth weight by 10 to 14 days. That is what paediatricians actually watch, and it is the first real check on whether feeding is working.
A loss beyond 10%, or not being back to birth weight by two weeks, is the point at which feeding gets looked at properly. It is common, usually fixable, and much easier to address at two weeks than at six.
Why the rate slows so much
A baby triples its weight in a year and then adds a quarter of that in the next. The curve flattens sharply and it is supposed to.
Gain slows for two reasons: the baby becomes far more active from around six months — rolling, sitting, crawling — and solids begin displacing some milk without adding equivalent calories at first.
A ten-month-old gaining 2 oz a week is not slowing down abnormally. That is the schedule.
Percentiles matter less than the line
A baby tracking along the 15th percentile from birth to a year is growing exactly as expected. Which line matters far less than staying near it.
Crossing one line is usually nothing, especially in the first months when babies settle onto their genetic curve after a birth weight that reflected the pregnancy. Crossing two lines downward, sustained across more than one visit, is when the trend is examined.
Breastfed babies commonly appear to drop percentiles after about three months on a CDC chart while tracking perfectly on a WHO one — which is why the chart used matters as much as the reading.
Weighing at home
Same scale, same time of day, undressed, no nappy, weekly at most.
Daily weights vary by several ounces with feeds and nappies, and the variation swamps the trend entirely. Weighing daily produces anxiety and no information.
For the first weeks, most of the useful signal is not on a scale at all: six or more wet nappies a day after the first week, stools transitioning from black to yellow by day four or five, alert periods, and settling after feeds.
When a plateau matters
A week without gain in an otherwise well baby who is feeding and producing nappies is usually nothing.
Worth a call: two consecutive weeks without gain, weight crossing downward through two percentile lines, fewer than four wet nappies a day, difficulty waking for feeds, or any baby under three months with a fever.
Feeding amounts for the same period are on the newborn page, and the full month-by-month tables are here.
Sources: World Health Organization Child Growth Standards; American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on newborn weight.
Reference information, not medical advice. Any concern about your baby's weight belongs with your paediatrician or health visitor.