My best friend and I had babies just a few weeks apart. It has been fun watching our babies grow. However, now her baby is much bigger than my baby and I am worried about my baby being too small.
Discuss all of your concerns with your baby’s doctor. All babies grow differently.
A study of growth patterns of babies was conducted in Ohio from 1929 to 1975. The information from that study was published as the standard for growth patterns of all babies in 1977. The growth chart was used for years to determine if a baby was growing adequately. The babies in that study were primarily fed formula and solid food was started at an earlier age than it is now.
The medical community in the 1980s began to recognize the growing evidence that babies fed their own mother’s milk were healthier. They also started to realize that breast-fed babies did not grow like formula-fed babies. They did not always fit into the growth charts that were developed from the Ohio study.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control took on the task of revising those charts and published a new one in 2000. This new growth chart includes data from both formula-fed and breast-fed infants. Babies that receive only their own mother’s milk tend to gain weight rapidly in the first two to three months. They then slow down in their growth from the sixth month to their first birthday. From 6 to 12 months they tend to weigh less than formula-fed babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that babies be exclusively fed their own mother’s milk for the first six months and then be introduced to supplemental foods over the next few months.
In 1993 the World Health Organization recognized that there were no internationally acceptable growth charts for infants. There was concern that there should be an international chart available that would indicate when a child was growing well. In 1994 they passed a resolution requesting that an international study be done.
The results were published in April of 2006. Six countries participated in the study: Brazil, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Oman and the United States. More than 12,000 infants were followed. The study found that human growth during the first five years of life is very similar across diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The new WHO child growth references reflect how a child should grow. The new reference relies on not only height and weight but body mass index as well. The new standards also include what are being called “Windows of Achievement.” The achievements refer to six key motor development milestones and the range and timeline in which they should occur.
So is it out with old and in with the new? Time will only tell how long it will take for the new standards to be adopted worldwide. Probably the first hurdle will be that right now WHO is charging for the new growth charts. Free charts are always more appealing.
Try not to compare your baby to your friend’s baby. I am willing to bet you are not the exact height and weight of your friend.
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