Weighing Babies

[Kiki-frog]

I have just become a great-aunt to a little 8-pounder boy. But it's got me wondering why babies haven't gone metric. Milk, petrol, flour, and all sorts of other things are now only measured in metric. But babies are only ever weighed in imperial.

Anyone know why?

[Graham-W]

Babies are weighed and recorded in metric (look at the baby's chart). The midwife just converts it to imperial for the doting relatives.

[sherrardk]

Grown ups are measured in imperial, maybe it's just too confusing for a sleep addled new parent to work out. I wouldn't be able to work out the maths quick enough to know if my baby was the 'right' weight if it was in metric.

[Kiki-frog]

Come to think of it, beer is still sold in pints, so maybe it's just the best things in life are kept in imperial. Or is sherrard's use of the word 'addled' a clue?

[Jeza]

A bit like we buy petrol in litres but we still want to know how many miles we get per gallon.

[netibiza]

My baby was metric, but that was in Spain.

[pixie373]

Babies have been measured in metric for years. My oldest nearly 18 and he was 3. something kg. I asked them to convert all mine to pounds and ounces, because it made more sense to me. But all their baby records are in kg.

[viv38]

We still use both legally in this country. I prefer lbs. and ozs. myself.

[EcclesCake]

Although I can happily convert lbs to kilos and vice versa, I can instantly grasp how big or small a baby is in lbs but have to thinks about the weight a moment longer if I'm told in kilos.

It would be interesting to hear from parents of the metric age what their preferred scale is!?!?!

[Kiki-frog]

Interesting answers. When my niece told me about little Alexander's arrival, she just gave me the Imperial weight straight away. I never realised that midwives give the metric weight.

Flipping heck, was she just giving me the Imperial weight because she thought an old bat like me wouldn't understand metric.

I'm just off to weep in a corner somewhere.........