Nutrition: Following a nutritious diet supports healthy growth.The pregnancy: Research shows that factors, such as maternal anemia, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, or obesity, may impact a baby’s growth after birth.Genetics: Children are likely to be a similar height to their biological parents.Numerous other factors may affect a child’s height, including: A baby who will be a tall adult may have a shorter length at birth and in the first year or two of life. However, this may not be apparent immediately. By the age of 12 months, having a length of 28.5 in as a male infant or 27.5 in for a female infant puts them below the fifth percentile. Doctors are more interested in a baby’s overall growth pattern than their length.Ī child who falls below the 5th percentile may have an atypical growth pattern. Growth rates for length are fairly predictable among babies in the first year of life. A doctor will assess how closely they need to monitor a baby’s growth over time. However, there is a wide variation in healthy birth weights, so parents and caregivers may not need to have concerns. What does it mean if a baby is small or large?īabies who are much smaller or larger than average in weight and length are more likely to experience health complications. A person may wish to request another measurement during the visit or at the next one to rule out a legitimate issue. Therefore, if it seems there is an unexpected change in a baby’s length from one visit to the next, it can be due to differences in measuring. Research shows that length measurements during infant well checkups have the most measurement errors. After that, growth rates vary, and a baby’s length is not usually a good predictor of their height as an adult.Ī parent or caregiver who takes their baby in for measuring should also know that an infant’s measured length can vary according to who is doing the measuring and how much the baby is moving around at the time. Most healthy babies follow a similar growth pattern during the first year of life. Doctors will also look at factors, including gestational age and how much and how well a baby is eating. Weight is also an important consideration, especially since many newborns lose some weight after birth. This means that if a baby is born longer than average, they are likely to stay this way during their first or second year of growth.Ī baby’s growth in length during the first year almost always depends on their length at birth, unless they have significant issues, such as feeding difficulties or medical problems, that may cause insufficient length or weight gain.įor this reason, length alone does not reveal whether a baby is healthy. No matter how long a baby is at birth, they are likely to grow at similar rates to other babies. Children can be healthy at a wide range of heights. It is important to note that the above numbers represent averages.
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