Growth parameters for 0-2 years kids

Hello everyone. Today I will share about growth parameters for 0-2 year kids. As parents, we always worry if our kids are growing well or not. When we visit a paediatrician, they observe all health parameters: height, weight and head circumference. So, parents should focus on all three. But often, people are worried about weight only, which I feel is incorrect.

Myth : Weight = Health

I will be sharing one distressing instance about baby weight. Forgive me if this seems little off-topic. But I am mentioning this to show how much biased people are towards weight of kids.

Once a self-certified (or internet certified) doctor thought that I am not a good mother as my daughter is very lean and underweight and I should feed her well. I was shattered by the words. They didn’t help me in my pregnancy journey nor during the tough times, and sleepless nights I faced after delivery. Yet they were very prompt in delivering their judgement. But I consoled myself because my paediatrician thought my child was healthy and so no one else’s judgement mattered.  And this is the mentality of several people to think a lean, slim child is unhealthy. 

A lean, slim child is not always unhealthy.

Growth parameters 0-2 year kids

A healthy full term baby is born at 37-40 weeks of gestation.

Babies born before 37 weeks are preterm. Those born between 34-37 weeks are late preterm who have better chances of survival. Although there are chances of some complications in preterm babies and their height weight also differs from full term babies.

My paediatrician said,’ Never just look at the weight to determine the health of the baby. Height, weight & physical activity should be considered. Some can have good height growth but slow weight growth or vice-versa and yet they might be normal.’ 

I feel people have many myths regarding baby growth. Let’s check out different growth parameters here. 

Weight growth for 0-2 year kids

A newborn baby’s(full term) weight ranges from 2.5- 4 kg (5.5- 9 pounds).

During the first week, infants lose around 7-10% of their birth weight. This is the fluid loss. By 2nd week, they should have regained some weight and come back to their birth weight.

In the first 6 months, infants grow at the rate of around 140- 200 gm (5-7 ounces) every week.

Most babies double their birth weight by around 6 months.

In the age range 6-12 months, infants grow at around 100-150 gm (3-5 ounces) every week.

On their first birthday, they should generally be triple their birth weight.

In the 2nd year, babies should gain around 1.5-2.5 kg (3-5 pounds).

By 2nd birthday, kids should quadruple their birth weight.

Height growth for 0-2 year kids

A healthy newborn’s height ranges between 46-53 cm ( 18-21 inches) in length. 

Most infants grow around 1.5-2.5 cm (0.5-1 inches) every month in the first 6 months.

In the age range 6-12 months, infants grow around 1 cm( 0.4 inches) every month.

In the 2nd year, babies will grow around 10-12 cm (4-5 inches).

Head circumference for 0-2 year kids

Head Circumference of newborn is around 35 cm (14 inches).

The brain size is around 25% of the adult size.

In the 2nd year, head circumference grows around 2.5 cm(1 inch).

Premature babies are a little underweight when compared to full-term babies. But the thing to be kept in mind is if they are growing by a certain amount of weight or height every month or not. 

1. Many don’t even consider height as a criteria for good health. A chubby baby is healthy according to them. But, they don’t realise that a baby who is overweight from childhood will be prone to several health issues later in life. Obesity is the cause of several diseases so it doesn’t need to be applauded.
2. Some suggest adding excessive ghee/butter to a baby’s diet just to increase the weight. Ghee/butter in limited quantities is good for health. But we need to understand that everything should be done within the limit only.

 Every child is different

We should understand that every child is different.  There is a timeline for milestones and a range of what is normal and what is not. There is separate growth chart for girls and boys. Always ask a paediatrician about these things in case of confusion. 

An important thing which we can notice here is all parameters are on the basis of birth weight/height. Every child is born with different height, weight & head circumference. So, it is not wise to compare two kids who have different growth charts.

Apart from these parameters, physical activity is equally important aspect of development. There are several milestones for every month as they grow. This is an elaborate topic which can be discussed in other blog. Hope this blog was useful for you. Do share it with your fellow parents and leave reviews.

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