Short-term weight variability in infants and toddlers: an observational study.

Aims: To explore short-term weight variability in young children; (1) how it relates to expected weight gain and (2) how it is affected by age, time of day and dietary intakes and outputs.

Methods: Twenty healthy infants aged 2-10 months and 21 healthy toddlers aged 12-35 months were weighed at home by their parents six times over 3 days. The toddlers' parents also recorded whether they had eaten, drunk, urinated or passed stool in the previous 2 hours.