Measuring your baby's weight and height periodically helps doctors determine whether your child falls within the normal range for other children his age. This helps health care professionals determine whether there might be a problem affecting your child's development and allows them to identify drastic changes in development over time that could signal an underlying concern.
Definition
Doctors use the term "percentile to compare a baby's height and weight with those of other children of the same age. Once a doctor obtains your baby's height and weight, he can plot them on a chart that displays the averages for children of the same age and determine what percentage of babies are heavier or taller than your baby. Subtracting the number of your baby's percentile from 100 allows you to determine the percentage of babies the same age who are either heavier or taller than yours. For example, if your baby is in the 80th percentile for weight, only 20 percent of babies the same age are heavier than yours.
Significance
Determining what percentile a baby is in for weight and height is important for identifying potential problems that could occur if your baby is too much underweight or overweight for her height and age. Underweight babies may not be getting enough nutrition or may have a problem that affects the absorption of nutrients, while overweight babies could suffer from weigh-related problems later in life and may need their diet adjusted. Standard growth charts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show graphs depicting the average heights and weights for children from birth to 36 months. Boys and girls grow at different rates, and the CDC uses different charts for each gender.
Measuring
Measuring your baby accurately is extremely important when assessing her growth and assigning her a percentile for her age. While you can weigh and measure your baby at home to track her growth, it's vital to take her to the doctor regularly during the first years of life to be measured accurately and to allow a doctor to address any concerns with her development and growth. Babies are weighed completely naked on a baby scale that allows exact measures down to ounces or tenths of a kilogram. Your doctor will measure your baby from the top of her head to the bottom of her heel to the nearest inch or 1/2 inch when recording her height.
Considerations
What percentile your baby falls in isn't usually a concern unless he rapidly changes percentiles drastically, such as quickly moving from the 50th to 70th percentile for weight. Doctors often run laboratory tests or other diagnostic studies on babies who fall in extreme ranges, such as below the 5th percentile or above the 95th percentile. Doctors also measure head circumference when assessing a baby's growth and development, since a steady increase in the size of the skull usually indicates healthy brain growth.
References
- KidsHealth: Growth Charts
- BabyCenter: Growth Charts: Taking Your Baby's Measurements
- BabyCenter: Growth Charts: Understanding the Results
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Weight-for-Length Percentiles: Boys, Birth to 36 Months
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Weight-for-Length Percentiles: Girls, Birth to 36 Months
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