Height and Weight Charts

When a baby is born, it is less about their height and all about their weight.

Click to view the Growth Graph chart up close!

A baby's weight is one of the first things communicated to friends and family as soon as a baby is born.

The Growth Graph was developed to facilitate the recording of this vital information from the time your baby is new born.

Average birth weight after a normal pregnancy is 7.4 pounds (3400g). Low Birth Weight (LBW) means birth weight (BW) less than 5.5 pounds (2500g).*

There is general consensus that a baby weighing under 6 pounds (2720g) is on the smaller size and babies over 9 pounds (4080g) is on the larger size. Recording your baby's weight is the first step in tracking their growth for the rest of their lives.

Medical professionals, including paediatricians and general practitioners will want to keep track of your baby's weight on a baby weight and growth chart over the first year of their life. This is especially true for babies with low birth weight. In countries like Australia, about 6% of all births result in babies with LBW.

Your baby's weight is a good indicator as to the health of your child. Pediatricians will tell us even though there are large differences between the weights of healthy babies, there are indicators as to whether a baby is not gaining weight quickly enough or gaining weight too quickly. Seeing this information on one chart at any given time will be useful for your pediatrician. Average baby weights provide a guide to positioning your baby on the average growth continuum.

Use the Growth Graph to track your baby's weight and then height as he or she grows into childhood and beyond.

* reference: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/ocecd/earlychildhood/library/publications/ecis/low_birth_weight_babies.html