Weight checking

[johan john]

friends,

How often do u check weight for your extreme preemies?Our unit practises Q12h weight checks for all babies including ex.preemies for the first 5days.we place our ex.preemies in Giraffe.It does'nt have a weighing scale.while I take them out of the incubator I am really concerned about hypothermia,accidental dislodgement of ett and umbilical lines.while they write for minimal handling they strictly stick on to q12h weight also.what is the practice in your units/Is there any other options for checking weight for babies inside Giraffe inc/Also what is the Humidity guide lines i9n your unit?Is there specific charts for that according to gestational age and weight? how do u transition humidity?

[Sweeper933]

All of our babies get weight upon admission, then once a night. All of our micro preemies are in Giraffe beds - that have the in-bed scales in them, so weighing them isn't very difficult. We also have a large supply of isolettes with built in scales for vented / little babies as well. A lot of our Radiant Warmers also have built in scales, but once in a while a sick kid will end up on one that doesn't have a scale built in. If the kid is very unstable, our docs will usually OK not weighting them every night.

[texas2007, BSN, RN]

All of our babies get weight upon admission, then once a night. All of our micro preemies are in Giraffe beds - that have the in-bed scales in them, so weighing them isn't very difficult. We also have a large supply of isolettes with built in scales for vented / little babies as well. A lot of our Radiant Warmers also have built in scales, but once in a while a sick kid will end up on one that doesn't have a scale built in. If the kid is very unstable, our docs will usually OK not weighting them every night.

Ditto here

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

Q12?? That's excessive, especially since you have to take them out of an isolette to weigh them. What is the rationale behind all those weights? We do weights q day.

Our Giraffes have a scale. Back in the day we would have bed scales we would put in the isolette or on the warmer bed.

We start under 1k kids out on 75% humidity. Weaning is q week by 10% until 1 month or 32 weeks. (Don't quote me, we just changed guidlines)

[bubbly]

My hospital's incubators have built in scales, like sweeper said. Many of our warmers even have bed scales. We weigh our babies once a shift at night. We are allowed to defer weights if they are critically ill, just had surgery, etc. We use humidity when pts are 26 weeks or less. We start out on 75% humidity and start weaning on the 7th day by 5% each shift until it is 40% (I live in south tx where it is very humid and thats about what our room humidity is at :) ). We only take our premies out of the incubator if they are getting kangaroo care.

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

We are supposed to weigh our preemies every night, but we can defer if we feel the baby's unstable. All our isolettes are Giraffes, and try to put the micros in Omnibeds. IMHO, it's dangerous and crazy to weigh q12h, especially in newly born unstable micros. I wonder what your IVH rate is. What's the rationale behind weighing that often? Do they adjust the total fluid q12 based on weight change?

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

For kids with a bedscale...QD. Those without are only twice a week until 34 weeks, unless there is a valid reason to get one such as CHF, etc.

I'd like to know what your IVH numbers are too if you are taking them out to weight them.

Humidity...start at 60-75% and wean after 5 days by 5% and every day thereafter by 5% until at 40% and then off. Some ELBW kids we leave on humidty a bit longer.

[Preemienurse23]

We weigh q 24hrs unless they are unstable. Those with bed scales are weighed in the bed, everyone else uses the portable scale.

I'm not fond of the bed scales though, they are too tempermental. I had one kid gain 340 kg over night, I weighed him on the portable and got 700kg, and then he managed to go up to 840 then next night on the bed scale......

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

What's the rationale behind weighing that often? Do they adjust the total fluid q12 based on weight change?

That's what I'm wondering. They must make changes based on the weights, if they're requiring weights that often, correct? Otherwise it's a big waste of time and dangerous for those tiny babies, especially if you have to take them out of their warm/moist/quiet environment. I really think I would throw a fit if I had to take a micro out of a bed, along with UAC, UVC, etc and also risk a head bleed

All of our babies in the unit are weighed QD, those in the intermediate nursery are weighed twice/week unless specified for daily weights. The micros are always in giraffes, which have built in scales. I personally love bed scales as it's much less traumatizing for the kiddos. Bed scales might not be the most accurate, but as long as you're using the same scale each time, then it's comparable.