During the early stages of a child’s life, the journey of growth unfolds with a fascinating predictability, akin to a well-charted path. Parents often find themselves diligently tracking this path on growth charts, which serve as invaluable tools in understanding their baby’s development. These charts measure a crucial aspect of growth: length, which is the distance from the top of the baby’s head to their heel. It’s a process filled with wonder and anticipation, as parents eagerly await those precious milestones. On average, full-term infants typically measure around 49-50 centimeters in length, and any measurement within a range of 1.2 centimeters shorter or taller is still considered within the realm of normalcy.
In the quest to offer parents even more insight into the remarkable journey of their baby’s growth, Debametulam.com has recently unveiled an illuminating article. This article delves into the intricacies of a baby’s length during each month of their first year of life, unraveling the mysteries of this extraordinary phase. Furthermore, it addresses a question that often crosses the minds of parents – what if a baby’s length doesn’t fit within the expected average? Join us as we explore this captivating world of infant growth, filled with surprises and revelations.
Average size of a baby in the first year
Based on the growth rate of children in 6 countries, living in a healthy environment, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a table of average infant growth data by month.
According to the WHO growth chart, the average lengths of male and female newborns during the first years of life are as follows:
| Age | Male (cm) | Female (cm) |
| Newborn | 49.9 | 49.1 |
| 1 month | 54.7 | 53.7 |
| 2 months | 58.4 | 57.1 |
| 3 months | 61.4 | 59.8 |
| 4 months | 63.9 | 62.1 |
| 5 months | 65.9 | sixty four |
| 6 months | 67.6 | 65.7 |
| 7 months | 69.2 | 67.3 |
| 8 months | 70.6 | 68.7 |
| 9 months | 72 | 70.1 |
| 10 months | 73.3 | 71.5 |
| 11 months | 74.5 | 72.8 |
| 12 months | 75.7 | 74 |
(Source: WHO)
As can be seen, healthy babies will have different body lengths from month to month. No matter how old a baby is, they are likely to develop at a similar rate to other babies.
The growth in length during the first year is largely based on the length at birth, except in cases where the baby has a serious weight problem that makes it difficult for the baby to grow.
The child’s weight is objectively measured by the doctor by the doctor, but the measured length of the child can vary depending on the person taking the measurement, how much movement the child moves during the measurement. Therefore, if the child’s height changes rapidly between two consecutive visits, it may be due to the difference in measurement.
The length alone cannot reflect the health of the child, because weight is also an important factor to pay attention to, especially the fact that many babies lose weight after birth.
What if the child is shorter or taller than average?
Newborns do not grow at a steady rate. They have times when they grow slowly and there are times when they grow faster. A spike that occurs over a short period of time is called a spike.
Growth rates can happen at any time, and they don’t necessarily follow a pattern. Some of the ages at which your child may experience growth spurts are ten days, three weeks, six weeks, three months, and six months.
During and after a growth spurt, your baby will need more milk. You may need to feed your baby as much as every hour or two, a phenomenon commonly known as cluster feeding.
This tends to happen more often with breastfed babies. Since breast milk is created based on supply and demand, your baby will breastfeed much more often around growth spurts, signaling your body to make more milk.
Babies whose average weight and length are below or much above the norm are more likely to have health complications. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a falling child with a growth rate below the fifth percentile may have an abnormal growth pattern.
For example, if a 12-month-old boy is only 72 cm, or a 12-month-old girl is only 70 cm, they are in the fifth percentile.
However, there is a big difference in the weight of healthy babies. Doctors will assess how necessary it is to monitor your baby’s growth over time. Often, they are more concerned with the child’s growth pattern than their current length.
There are many factors that affect a child’s height. Where genetics plays an important role and children can be the same height as their parents. However, this is not absolute, because a tall child as an adult can be shorter than the norm at birth or in the first 1-2 years of life.
Nutrition is one of the issues doctors always emphasize because this factor can cause stunted growth for children if not met enough.
Not all growth charts are created equal
Just as all children are different, it is important to realize that not all growth charts are the same. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a set of growth charts that include older data and information from a combination of feeding methods.
The CDC growth chart is a reference and shows how children have grown during a particular period in the United States.
The World Health Organization (WHO) growth chart contains more data from breastfed infants. Mothers are breastfeeding more and more, and the WHO charts are considered the standard for how children should grow.
The CDC recommends using the WHO growth chart for all infants (whether they are breastfed or formula-fed) for the first two years. The American Academy of Pediatrics (APP) agrees with the CDC’s recommendation.
Amount of food needed for babies
The amount of food an infant eats has a great influence on the weight and length of the body in the early stages of life. Lack of nutrients leads to underweight and in the long run can affect the development of body length.
If a baby loses weight quickly after birth, parents need to help the baby gain weight back as quickly as possible. Especially in the case of babies born prematurely or with risk factors affecting health.
Most breastfed babies will eat every 1-3 hours but formula-fed babies may eat less than this. After the first days, parents can increase the amount of formula to 30-60ml per feed and increase to 60-118ml by the end of the first month.
For breastfed babies, it can be difficult to predict exactly how much milk your baby has taken. Therefore, the mother can feed the child according to the child’s hunger. Usually, when children are hungry, they will show the following symptoms:
- Open your mouth and turn your head to the side
- Lip licking
- Try to put everything in your mouth
- Put your hand or finger in your mouth
- Cry
Factors that determine the length to the length of the baby
The factors that determine height are:
- Genetics : The height of a child’s mother, father, and other family members has the most significant influence on how tall the child will be.
- Gender : Boys tend to be taller than girls.
- Nutrition : Good nutrition for both mother during pregnancy and the baby after birth can ensure that the baby’s body receives the right amount of vitamins, minerals and protein for healthy bones and growth. optimal growth.
- Sleep Patterns : Studies show that babies grow in length after a short nap and a long sleep duration.
- Physical activity : Being physically active and physically active helps build strong muscles and bones.
- Overall health : Chronic illnesses and illnesses in childhood can affect growth and development.
When does a child need to see a doctor?
During the first years of life, children need to see their pediatrician at least 7 times a year to monitor their growth and overall health.
- 3-5 days after giving birth
- 7-14 days after birth (or maybe 1 month)
- 2 months
- 4 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 12 months
However, your doctor may also recommend more frequent visits when your baby is growing abnormally or has lost a lot of weight compared to when he was born.
Almost all healthy infants follow a pattern of development during the first year of life. After that, the growth rate will have different variation among babies. As long as the child’s growth rate remains steady and does not suddenly drop lower than before, parents have nothing to worry about.
Parents need to give their children regular check-ups at least 7 times a year and pay attention to creating a favorable environment for children to develop, especially investing in the quality of nutrition in meals.
