Typically children growth charts are used by pediatricians to monitor your child´s growth, and I’m sure when you go to the pediatrician, you love to hear that your child is growing well and he/she is on the average, right?

Today, growth charts are commonly used by many parents as they are very simple to use and are accurate.

Monitoring the growth of your child is particularly important because it is closely related to his / her general health and nutrition. It is also important because you know how your child is changing.

If you are interested in monitoring the growth of your child, here I will show you how to use a growth chart, and even better, I will provide you with a template so you can, day after day, month after month or year to year, follow the good growth of your child. Remember, you are not alone!

  • How accurate is a toddler growth chart?
  • Do you want to make sure your toddler is at a normal size?
  • Is there something that may affect your toddler growth?

How to use and read a toddler growth chart?

Toddler Growth ChartA growth chart simply shows how your child is compared to other children.

The graph is composed basically of a behavior pattern of growth, commonly considered as normal patterns compared to other baby boys or baby girls. You just have to give the current age and weight of your child. The result provided by the graph is measured in percentiles.

For example:

If your child is in the 30th percentile for weight, that means that he / she weighs more than 30 % of baby boys or baby girls her age, and less than 70%.

Considering that this graph measures the growth performance, a single measurement does not necessarily mean something bad in your child. The important thing is the pattern over time.

The toddler growth chart can also be used in combination with weight and height percentiles in order to have a derived measure.

For example:

If your child is in 20th percentile for weight and 30th percentile for height, that probably means that your child is to be petite and it does not mean that something is wrong. However if your child is in 15th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height, there may be a nutrition concern and your doctor may recommend and monitor his / her nutritional intake.

You must also consider the genetics of your family. There are families where the average height is high, and other families are small, or are thin, or big size. Therefore your child will be a reflection of the growth pattern of the family.

Have you heard the saying “Like father, like son.”

So if your little one has a steady progress in their weight and height, and he / she is in line with your family pattern, it is likely that your child is growing just fine.