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Parent's Guide to Understanding Baby Growth Charts
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Do you often look at your baby and think, “he used to be the size of my forearm once; he has grown so much, so quickly.” Every parent feels overwhelmed with joy thinking of their child. But just acknowledging that your child has grown is not enough. You need to track their growth. You need to keep an eye on your child’s physical and mental growth; for that, you must make your baby’s growth chart.
Are you stressing over how to make a baby growth chart? Fret not! This detailed guide will help you in creating one. It will also elaborate on the importance of making a WHO growth chart and how to understand a growth chart percentile.
Keep reading to understand everything you need to know about baby growth charts.
Why Baby Growth Charts are Important?
Understanding why you need to prepare and track a baby growth chart for your little one is essential. So here are some of the advantages of preparing a WHO growth chart:
1. Tracking growth over time
Maintaining a baby growth chart helps you regularly track the growth and development of your baby. For example, by referring to the WHO height and weight chart for boys or girls, you can understand if your child is having healthy growth per their age. If you notice their slow development, you can focus on their nutritional needs early.
2. Early detection of genetic issues
A proper growth chart percentile can help you detect genetic issues in your child. Issues like metabolic disorders or hormonal imbalances can be easily tracked through baby growth charts.
3. Diagnosis of underlying health conditions
Growth charts can help you identify a nutrition deficiency in your little one’s body. These charts are not just for tracking physical growth; they also track brain development and mental growth. It can be used as an aid to detect severe problems like autism, ADHD, and other conditions in kids.
4. Guiding expectations of parents
Growth charts are essential for parents to track their child's growth and keep their expectations in check. First-time parents can panic when they see other kids doing an activity their child is not yet doing. Keeping growth charts can help guide parents' expectations and set realistic developmental milestones.
Besides, you can support your child’s healthy growth with BabyOrgano’s Ayurvedic childcare products. We use natural ingredients and herbs to create products that gently nurture your little ones. Visit the official website of BabyOrgano for baby care products.
Baby Growth Chart
There are broadly three categories of baby growth charts that you can refer to:
- Weight Growth Chart
- Height/Length Growth Chart
- Head Circumference Chart
1. Weight-for-Age Chart
Check out this baby weight chart to understand the normal baby weight for each age group.
2. Height-for-Age
Below is the height chart for boys and girls, which will help you understand the average height growth for each age group.
3. Head Circumference-for-Age
Here is a head circumference chart essential to track growth in toddlers and young children.
How to Use a Baby Growth Chart?
Here is a step-by-step guide to measuring and tracking your kid's growth using a detailed growth chart:
- Take measurements: Measure your child’s height, weight, and head circumference.
- Track the measurements: Measure the baby’s growth at regular intervals, such as monthly. Consistency is the key to identifying abnormalities.
- Plot the measurements on the Growth Chart: Plot the updated measurements on the growth chart. Compare the growth with the WHO growth chart and the kids around you.
Factors That Can Affect Baby Growth
It is very valid for parents to wonder what might be causing abnormal growth trends in their baby. Here are the significant factors that affect the growth of your child:
- Genetics: Genetics play a significant role in deciding the physical build of any individual. You have a higher chance of being tall if you have tall parents. It also applies to mental conditions like ADHD and OCD.
- Nutrition: Nutrition is the second most crucial factor affecting children's growth. If your child does not get enough protein and calories during their developing years, they might develop conditions like marasmus, which are caused by malnourishment.
- Environmental Factors: Pollution, unsafe drinking water, contaminated food, and unhygienic living conditions can also negatively impact your child’s growth.
Also, check out baby care products from BabyOrgano to improve your children's health and growth rate.
What to Do If Your Baby’s Growth Chart Shows Concerns?
If the baby growth chart reflects that your child’s growth might be slow or stunted, it might trouble you as a parent. However, it is essential to understand that the best thing about having a growth chart is that these problems can be detected early enough to be resolved at the right time.
Here’s what you should do if your baby’s growth chart shows concern:
1. Stay Calm and Do not Panic
The first and foremost thing you need to do is to remain calm. Your stress and anxiety can stop you from making the right decision, so do not panic.
2. Consult Your Pediatrician
Take the growth chart and consult your regular doctor. They can analyse and understand the chart better. If there is any major health concern, the doctor will know the best course of action.
3. Monitor and Review Developmental Milestones
If you see abnormalities in your child's growth chart, review the growth of other kids around you. Due to environmental factors, the development of all kids in your area is slow. So, try to compare and find patterns in the growth chart of other kids in the locality.
4. Stay Positive and Patient
Stay positive. Medical science has advanced significantly, and almost every disease can be treated nowadays. So you do not need to worry. Your stress can also impact on the well-being of your child.
5. Consider Family History
Your family history can account for many abnormalities in your child's growth chart. If you or your partner have a genetic history of certain diseases, it is better to talk to the doctor to find a solution.
Conclusion
Parents are always concerned about their children’s healthy growth. By designing a growth chart, you can track your child’s development and ensure they grow healthily. Regular monitoring of your baby’s growth can help you find their health problems or dietary loopholes and give a quick solution.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. How accurate are children's growth charts?
Every child is different and can have different growth patterns. So, you cannot entirely depend on growth charts as their values are based on a general analysis of kids worldwide to give a rough idea for comparison. However, growth charts will help you track malnutrition or genetic diseases at an early stage, which makes them very important.
2. What is the age limit for growth charts?
Growth charts are available for everyone, from infants to 20-year-olds. However, you do not need to track their growth until their late teens. You should at least track their growth rigorously until the age of 5 and then briefly until they are 13.
3. What is the purpose of growth charts for children?
Having a growth chart for your child is to understand and track their growth according to age. Knowing the average growth of a child at any given time is essential to diagnosing underlying health issues quickly.
4. What are the limitations of growth charts?
The major limitation of growth charts is that they provide average data and don’t account for individual growth. Therefore, growth charts should only be used as a point of reference, not a guide.
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- baby care products
- Baby Growth
- Baby Growth Charts
