Hello All,

I would like to know if my baby is growing fine. The percentiles charts as per the American Pediatric Association are a good indicator but I doubt if it would be right to compare our Indian babies on these charts. My baby is 8 months old. He is about 8.5 Kgs in weight and 69 cm in length. I am not at all concerned about his weight but wonder if 69cm is too less. He doesnt appear to be too short but he falls under 10 percentile. I stay in UK and its difficult for me to compare my baby with other European kids. So, I thought if other moms on the board would be willing to share their baby lengths and weights. This info may be useful to many other moms as well. I by no means want to literally compare the growth of my baby with other babies doing better or worse. But its just to give me a better perspective on his development. rajiv replied. i also had the same confusion about my child reg milestones and development charts.sometime back i had asked about it to hetal. here is the copy of my question and the reply to my post.i hope you get some idea in that.

Date: 2006-11-08
Name: rajiv
Subject: For Hetal
Hetal, your suggestions have been very helpful to me.i hv' bn reading your replies and they are very easy to understand & are clear.thank you very much for your support and guidance.
i have some queries. in one of your mails, you said that ask your ped for the growth charts. i followed that and it was very helpful. but i see differences in milestones at a particular month in charts given by my ped and in various baby sites.
i observed that sometimes my baby reaches the milestones mentioned on babysites and other times he follows the chart that my ped gave.
so now i am really confused and i don' t know which one to follow ?
can you please clear my confusion
i have one more question regardng potty training. my son is 6months now and he is not able to sit with support. do you think it' s good idea to start potty training ? i read in some forums that potty training with cloth diapers in winter gives cold to baby, is it true ?
does it really work ?
my wife is working and my mother takes care of my son. it will be tedious job for my wife and mother to manage cloth diapers.
so now i want to ask you what do you suggest me ?
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Replies
Date: 2006-11-12Name: HetalSubject: REHi,1. rely on the charts given by your dr, he is local to the country and its standards and so its advisable to rely more on wat your dr gives you !please note that the charts made on various websites are accordnce to the people/race of the country,,where the website owner or it operts from,,and not always universal..its better to rely on the ones tht your dr gives you...and at the same time you can keep the charts that available in diff sites for your online handy information,, like what all approx you can expect from baby at a certain age..many website give brief descriptn mostly in 3-4 categories,,one is normal growth,2.above average or average growth,,3,good or very good growth and 4th,advance growth,,,also the stds set/or rules by websites are diff,some have developments as thr main goal,others have physcal and likewise some give importance to psychologcal growth,,and onwards...so it dpnds on which website you are ref to..like indiaparenting you will find mostly things specified to indian race,,and some mixed and match of other indo-US or indo-foreign cultures...also note that all babies grow individually,,so as far as your dr is not worried about your baby development,,you should not be worried !!!for some milestones like headsteady or sitting,standing,walking ,,gen have warning signs are given because these are considerd as imp milestones..and ne delay in these as above some months, needs your dr attention.i hope this clears the confusion about charts,milestones and as to how they are decided.2.about potty training..check my post to Monisha soni,,,if your baby shows signs of readiness like being steady,or gettng overexctd or is gives some hummng sound,or is able to pass bowels regularly,,thn it will be easier for you to potty train him..make sure that his head is steady atleast !about cloth diapers giving cold,,it depnds on the type of cloth diaper used and how frequently the diapers were changed,,because cloth tends to give more wetness and does not prevent wetng of the private area like it happns in disposables..which often gives baby cold.also, taking time in changng diapr gives baby cold...the other is it dpnds on the liners you are using in the cloth diapers,,these days liners prvide good dry feel effect and doesnt give baby ne cold effect,,,also if you use really good quality diapers they dont give that wetness to babies and soak more ....which is best to use actually..also, you can try indian style potty training like leaving your baby without diaper on plastic coated bed liners with lil cotton nappy,,if you have enough hands to keep changing the bottom liners/nappy of your baby freq..the best time to start potty training is at 9months and thn its 18months-2years..as by then most baby bowels are quite expected and then ofcourrse,,it depnds more on readiness of child, and after all that,,how good you are able to train him...some babies like mine showed all signs of readiness at 10month with regular bowels and because toddlers need more support from parents,,my dd took 4months to learn and understand the potty training...some in other cases were able to train thr kids in 1week to 10days at 18months and onwards,,as kids at that age are able to understand more and respond in a better way thn younger kids,,so its personal decsn,,upto you,,go by whatever suits you...also if you are in US, once your baby starts walking, you can make him wear training pants that are dsposables and dont require ne cleaning or washing,,also baby learns to feel wetness of bowels and pees in them..just that comp to cloth diaper they will be part of your monthly purchases...so upto you,,many options available...the success of potty training is :the earlier you start, most babies take more time to understand it,,like in months,, and the later you start esp at 18months onwards,,the success ratio is highest observed !visit diaperpin site for more ideas or even bowel and bladder board will help you...
hope this helps you,,take care !


sachna replied. Hi,
I also got same doubt. my baby is 5 month old, 6.7 kg and 57 cm in length,her wait is normal,i am concerned about her length.

thanks ss replied. hi
u can find a growth chart on this website go to the homepage click on newborn care then go to child development u will find all three charts there.
bye take care