Add or subtract weights in pounds and ounces, turn decimal pounds into lb and oz, and convert kilograms or grams to pounds and ounces.
Total oz = lb × 16 + oz · 1 oz = 28.349523125 g
Deli scales, shipping scales and spreadsheets usually show decimal pounds, while recipes, baby records and package labels use pounds and ounces. 2.35 lb is not 2 lb 35 oz or 2 lb 3.5 oz. The decimal part is a fraction of a 16-ounce pound, so multiply it by 16: 0.35 × 16 = 5.6, giving 2 lb 5.6 oz.
| Decimal lb | Ounces |
|---|---|
| 0.1 lb | 1.6 oz |
| 0.2 lb | 3.2 oz |
| 0.25 lb | 4 oz |
| 0.3 lb | 4.8 oz |
| 0.4 lb | 6.4 oz |
| 0.5 lb | 8 oz |
| 0.6 lb | 9.6 oz |
| 0.7 lb | 11.2 oz |
| 0.75 lb | 12 oz |
| 0.8 lb | 12.8 oz |
| 0.9 lb | 14.4 oz |
| Ounces | Decimal lb |
|---|---|
| 1 oz | 0.0625 |
| 2 oz | 0.125 |
| 3 oz | 0.1875 |
| 4 oz | 0.25 |
| 6 oz | 0.375 |
| 8 oz | 0.5 |
| 10 oz | 0.625 |
| 12 oz | 0.75 |
| 14 oz | 0.875 |
| 15 oz | 0.9375 |
A baby is born at 7 lb 8 oz and weighs 6 lb 15 oz at the day-3 check. How much is that, and what share of birth weight? (This is the calculator's Load Example.)
Step 1: Convert both weights to ounces
Step 2: Subtract
Step 3: As a percentage of birth weight
The baby is down 9 oz, or 7.5%. In metric that's 3.40 kg to 3.15 kg. Working in ounces avoids the borrowing mistakes that come from subtracting 8 − 15 directly.
Newborns usually lose some weight in the first days and are back to birth weight by about two weeks. Whether a particular loss is a concern is for your pediatrician or midwife to judge, not a calculator.
Hospitals in most countries weigh babies in grams, but family often asks in pounds and ounces. The WHO defines low birth weight as under 2,500 g, which is just over 5 lb 8 oz.
| Kilograms | Grams | Pounds and ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 kg | 2,500 | 5 lb 8.2 oz |
| 3 kg | 3,000 | 6 lb 9.8 oz |
| 3.5 kg | 3,500 | 7 lb 11.5 oz |
| 4 kg | 4,000 | 8 lb 13.1 oz |
| 4.5 kg | 4,500 | 9 lb 14.7 oz |
You're pricing a parcel before you have a scale big enough: the boxed item weighs 1 lb 6 oz, the packing material 5 oz and a second item 12.4 oz.
Carriers round any fraction up, so this parcel is charged as 3 lb. Under a pound, USPS prices Ground Advantage in ounce steps instead, which is why the calculator shows both the nearest ounce and the rounded-up weight.
Pounds and ounces work like hours and minutes: you carry and borrow in sixteens, not tens.
If that feels error-prone, convert everything to ounces first, do the sum, then divide by 16 at the end. That's exactly what the calculator does.
No. 1.5 lb is one and a half pounds, which is 1 lb 8 oz. 1 lb 5 oz is 1.3125 lb.
Many kitchen and baby scales show pounds and ounces separated by a colon, so 1:08 means 1 lb 8 oz, not 1.08 lb. Check whether your scale is set to lb:oz or decimal pounds before writing the reading down.
Weight (avoirdupois) ounces, 16 to the pound. Fluid ounces measure volume. A fluid ounce of water happens to weigh about 1 oz, but most other liquids don't.
Yes. Any number of ounces is accepted, and anything over 16 carries into pounds, so 40 oz shows as 2 lb 8 oz.
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