How To Tell If Your Baby Is Growing And Developing The Right Way
Some of the questions new parents ask to include; is my baby eating enough or too much? Should my child be walking or talking? Is my baby obese? Does my kid show signs of hearing deficiency, autism or other childhood illness? Although these questions may be endless, it’s natural to be concerned about your child’s development and these questions can be trivial to answer without the proper tools.
Besides, your baby’s physicist might be too busy to check on your kid’s progress, but the good news is that with the right child resources you can ensure your kid’s growth and development yourself. To achieve this, you should;
1. Measure baby height and length
Remember when your child was born? What was one of the key things the doctor did? Most likely, they measured the weight and length of the child. Baby length is vital since it helps indicate whether the baby is healthy or whether there might be complications that need to be addressed. It is important to know that height and length alone do not matter. What matters the most is when you have records to compare your child’s measurements. For example, when we take your child’s length and age and compare with other kids, we get to know if your child is average, large or small for their age. Also, that comparison alone is not helpful. We are all aware that children, just like grown people, come in different shapes as well as sizes. Just because your kid is smaller than average does not represent a problem. What’s more important is to keep track of weight and height for your child on a regular basis, to see the trends. It’s expected that an infant puts on weight rapidly within the first six months of life and will also likely grow some inches in length. However, when you take your baby to their pediatrician visits, their weight and length will be measured and recorded. Sometimes in a rush to get patients in and out of the hospital, doctors do not take enough time to measure baby weight and length on every visit. Due to this, it is a good idea to take your weight and length measurement on a regular basis. It should not be necessary you take them more often unless there's an issue you're aware of. Majority of parents like to use height charts to record the progress. Besides, it can be difficult to find length charts for kids less than two years of age, but such are very useful since they’re designed for children and are measured laying horizontally, rather than standing up against the height chart.
2. Measure child weight regularly
How much your child weighs should also continually be measured. The disadvantage of height charts is that they do not provide any indication of how the child’s weight or height compares with their peers. Because of this, it’s important to use a growth chart with a growth data. This enables you to plot your baby’s growth as well as find the percentile they land in. In case your child’s weight and height is in the 95th percentile, you may have a problem. This implies that only 5% of all babies their age are heavier than them plus they’re heavier than 95% of their peers.
3. Monitor your baby’s body mass index (BMI)
Many people understand that weight alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Majority of health experts will suggest checking your BMI in addition to weighing yourself. This is because the BMI is a much better indication of whether or not an individual is overweight. The same applies to babies. Though baby fat is both normal as well as healthy, it’s still possible for the young ones to be overfed to the point of becoming obese. Is your child is obese or has healthy rolls? This is where the baby body mass index comes into play. You should understand that the normal BMI chart that adult use does not apply to kids. Also, a child should have a higher percentage of fat compared to a fit adult. A comprehensive child's body mass index chart can help to answer such questions.
4. Keep record of important shots, vaccinations, and immunizations
Should I vaccinate my child? Does my kid need a tetanus shot? Should I give my baby a hepatitis B shot? These are some of the hot questions with new parents. In case you make a personal decision to get your baby immunized, it is important to keep a record of their shots. Many parents have mistaken the idea that getting your child vaccinated at eight weeks of age is all that is needed. To protect them from certain diseases, multiple shots over a given period are recommended. Due to this, it is significant that you keep a record of all shots.
5. Track development milestones
It is natural for a parent to wonder if her baby is learning at a normal phase or whether they might be falling behind when compared to their peers. Parents tend to exaggerate; hence, it can be hard to know how the child is stacking up. However, the preferred way is to use charts of typical age-appropriate milestones which have been observed as well as recorded by physicists and child psychologists. This will provide a baseline to examine whether the kid is ahead of the curve or needs some extra TLC. Do not stress if other babies their age are toddling around whereas yours is still on the diaper scoot. Just because they’re out of their norm does not mean there's anything physically or mentally wrong. However, if they’ve not achieved multiple milestones that are typical for the age, it may be a sign that you should have an expert assess them more closely.
To sum it up, smart growth charts have combined all of these different tracking as well as measurement tools into one, handy and beautiful keepsake chart. Ideally, they offer the convenience plus look at a high-quality chart and include BMI values, Percentile ranking, important development milestones, vaccination tracking, and healthy eating alongside exercise guidelines.
