The Role of Baby Scales in Pediatrics

A baby’s weight at birth is a key component of overall health. Frequent, accurate weight measurements with a baby scale are crucial to growth and nutrition.

A baby’s weight at birth is a key component of overall health, making frequent, accurate weight measurements crucial. On average, a baby born to term weighs about seven pounds. Small babies and exceptionally large babies are more likely to experience health issues. To monitor if a baby is at risk, they should be weighed daily with a neonatal scale to determine growth, fluid and nutrition requirements.

Recording accurate weight of pediatric patients is especially critical for premature infants. With the help of a dual-range baby scale, weight can be recorded in smaller increments. This more precise weight serves as a way to diagnose a premature baby and inform a care plan.

As a baby grows, weight continues to play a role in their health and well-being. such as antibiotics for an ear infection, after a visit to the clinic. However, a number of potential problems can occur after prescription takes place, including incorrect dosing recommendations, unclear dosing recommendations for children of different ages and weights, and the lack of readily available documented weights to determine appropriate weight-based doses for children. More comprehensive weighing of infants and children using baby scales and pediatric scales can help prevent inaccurate dosing.

Errors in medication ordering are the most common cause of preventable adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. In one adult study, half of all preventable adverse drug events occurred at the physician ordering stage, and the most common type of error was in medication dosing. These errors occurred at a higher rate in children than in adults. Determining proper medication dosing in children is only possible with accurately documented weight using a baby scale or pediatric scale.

In order to appropriately prescribe medications, practitioners need an accurate weight. Most retail pharmacies do not mandate inclusion of the child's weight on written prescriptions, making it difficult for pharmacies to correctly determine if a weight-based dosing error has occurred. There is tremendous variation in normal weights for young children and estimating weight by age rarely renders accurate results. In order to correctly prescribe medications, practitioners need to record an accurate weight using a baby scale or pediatric scale. With that, they can provide the most effective dosage recommendations.

Rice Lake offers pediatric scales, such as the RL-DBS digital baby scale or the 650-10-1 neonatal scale, that are specially designed for weighing the most precious patients. Motiontrap™ technology ensures accuracy and dependability through movement compensation, making it easier to weigh active infants. The RL-DBS-2 and the 650-10-1 digital baby scales harness the power of dual-range weighing to record precise measurements and help practitioners care for premature infants.