Postnatal Growth Restriction Is Reduced If Birth Weight Is Used for Nutritional Calculations in ELBW Infants.

Since fluid and nutrition needs and delivery in ELBW infants are calculated based on their body weights, there could be a measurable difference in fluid, nutrition, and protein intake calculations based on birth weight (BW) or current weight of the infant, especially in the first two weeks of life. Theoretically, the use of current daily weight (CW) for calculations may result in decreased fluid, nutrition, and protein delivery as well as a cumulative protein deficit (cPD) over the first two weeks of life until the infant regains birth weight. However, there have been no clinical studies comparing the clinical and nutritional impact of these two strategies is unknown.