Average length of newborn girl

Average newborn length: How tall is a baby at birth?

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The average length for newborns is between 19 and 20 inches long – to be exact, 19 inches for female babies and 19.75 inches for male babies. That said, healthcare providers consider a newborn length anywhere between 18.5 and 20.9 inches to be normal for full-term babies.

Shortly after your baby is born, your healthcare provider will measure their weight, length (height), and head circumference. These measurements give your provider an idea of your baby’s overall health. Healthcare providers measure babies' length from the top of their head to the heel of one foot, and then compare the results to averages on a height and weight growth chart. (You'll see this chart at your well-baby visits in the coming weeks and months.)

If your baby was born premature, your ob-gyn or midwife will use an adjusted growth chart specifically for preemies. Once your baby's adjusted age is about 10 weeks, their healthcare provider will switch to a regular growth chart used for full-term infants.

Try not to stress too much about the exact numbers or compare your baby's measurements to other babies their age – your healthcare provider will assure you that what matters most is that your baby is following their own growth chart and meeting developmental milestones.

In many cases, tall babies do grow up to be tall adults. Genetics – the height of a baby's parents – is the biggest clue as to whether or not a baby will grow up to be tall enough to slam dunk. Babies do inherit their parents' body types – tall, short, heavy, or slender.

Based on this genetic factor, you can estimate your child's adult height by adding both parents' heights (in inches) together. Add 5 inches for a baby assigned male at birth or subtract 5 inches for a baby assigned female at birth, and then divide that number by two. Another way to estimate a person's height when full-grown is to double their height at age 2.

Of course, we've all seen kids who tower over their friends and then end up much shorter than expected, or who are shorter than average throughout childhood and later pull an Alice-in-Wonderland-sized change during puberty – so remember that all of this is just a best estimate. Factors including hormone imbalances, genetic conditions, chronic illnesses (including cystic fibrosis), and taking certain medications may all affect a child's growth.

If your child is 36 months or younger, you can enter their height in BabyCenter's Growth Percentile Calculator to find out whether they're tall for their age. And if your child is at least 2 years old, try BabyCenter's Height Predictor to find out how tall they're likely to be.

Read More:

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Growth charts: Understanding the results

Growth charts: Taking your baby's measurements

Baby growth spurts

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Stephanie Watson

Stephanie Watson is a freelance health and lifestyle writer based in Rhode Island. When she’s not busy writing, Watson loves to travel, try new cuisines, and attend as many concerts, shows, and plays as she can fit into her busy schedule.

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What is the average baby length? Growth chart by month

Most newborn babies follow a predictable level of growth during their first year. People can track the length of their baby using average growth charts.

The average length of a full-term newborn baby is 19–20 inches (in), or 48.2–50.8 centimeters (cm). However, a length of around 18.5–20.9 in, or 47–53 cm, is also typical.

Male babies are slightly longer than female babies. Doctors measure a baby’s length from the top of their head to the heel of their foot.

This article looks at the average baby length, month-by-month, for the first year of life. We also discuss what it means when a baby is shorter or longer than average and when to speak with a doctor.

The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes standard infant growth charts according to the expected growth of children in six countries, including the United States, in optimal growth environments. This includes those who engage in breastfeeding.

It is important to note that most people use the terms “length” and “height” interchangeably. However, until the age of 2 years, most doctors will measure babies’ lengths lying down. In measurement terms, experts call this recumbent length. This is different from height, which doctors will measure after the age of 2 years when a child is able to stand.

In the first year of their lives, babies typically grow in length by 50%. According to the WHO’s growth charts, the average lengths for male babies and female babies by month are as follows:

Age	Male baby	Female baby
Birth	19.69 in (50 cm)	19.29 in (49 cm)
1 month	21.65 in (55 cm)	21.26 in (54 cm)
2 months	23.03 in (58.5 cm)	22.44 in (57 cm)
3 months	24.21 in (61.5 cm)	23.62 in (60 cm)
4 months	25.20 in (64 cm)	24.41 in (62 cm)
5 months	25.98 in (66 cm)	25.20 in (64 cm)
6 months	26.77 in (68 cm)	25. 48 in (66 cm)
7 months	27.17 in (69 cm)	26.38 in (67 cm)
8 months	27.95 in (71 cm)	27.17 in (69 cm)
9 months	28.35 in (72 cm)	27.56 in (70 cm)
10 months	28.74 in (73 cm)	28.15 in (71.5 cm)
11 months	29.33 in (74.5 cm)	28.74 in (73 cm)
12 months	29.92 in (76 cm)	29.13 in (74 cm)

It is important to note that the above numbers represent averages. Children can be healthy at a wide range of heights. No matter how long a baby is at birth, they are likely to grow at similar rates to other babies.

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.

A 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.

For this reason, length alone does not reveal whether a baby is healthy. Weight is also an important consideration, especially since many newborns lose some weight after birth. Doctors will also look at factors, including gestational age and how much and how well a baby is eating.

Most healthy babies follow a similar growth pattern during the first year of life. After that, growth rates vary, and a baby’s length is not usually a good predictor of their height as an adult.

A 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. Research shows that length measurements during infant well checkups have the most measurement errors.

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. A person may wish to request another measurement during the visit or at the next one to rule out a legitimate issue.

Babies who are much smaller or larger than average in weight and length are more likely to experience health complications.

However, there is a wide variation in healthy birth weights, so parents and caregivers may not need to have concerns. A doctor will assess how closely they need to monitor a baby’s growth over time. Growth rates for length are fairly predictable among babies in the first year of life. Doctors are more interested in a baby’s overall growth pattern than their length.

A child who falls below the 5th percentile may have an atypical growth pattern. 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.

However, this may not be apparent immediately. A baby who will be a tall adult may have a shorter length at birth and in the first year or two of life.

Numerous other factors may affect a child’s height, including:

Genetics: Children are likely to be a similar height to their biological parents.
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.
Nutrition: Following a nutritious diet supports healthy growth.
Hormones: Some children with hormonal imbalances grow slowly or more quickly than their peers.
Health: A baby whose growth slows down that they fall into a much lower length group or whose length is persistently at a lower level may have a health issue. Some children with certain genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome, may be smaller than others.
Medications: Some medications, such as steroids, including prednisone, may stunt growth.

People often do not see the effect of these issues on height in the first year of life.

During the first year of life, children should see their pediatrician at least seven times to monitor growth and overall health.

However, doctors’ recommendations may vary slightly. In general, a pediatrician will want to examine the baby at the following times in the first year:

3–5 days old
1 month old
2 months old
4 months old
6 months old
9 months old
12 months

A healthcare professional may recommend more frequent visits for a baby who loses a lot of weight after birth or has an unusual growth pattern.

In the early weeks of life, it can be difficult for parents or caregivers to know how much to feed a newborn. If the baby loses weight after birth, there could be feelings of pressure to help them regain the weight as quickly as possible, especially if the infant was born prematurely or has other health risk factors.

However, the amount of food newborns eat affects their weight much more than their length in the early stages of life. Insufficient weight gain needs to be present for a long time in infants before it affects their length.

Insufficient growth in length by itself in the first year is very uncommon and would more likely be due to a genetic syndrome or other uncommon condition.

How much should breastfed babies eat?

Most breastfed newborns eat every 1–3 hours. Over time, the time between feedings may expand to 2–4 hours. People can feed the baby on demand by following the baby’s feeding cues.

Since a nursing person cannot measure how much milk they are giving the baby, they can gauge whether the baby is getting enough milk by looking at the frequency of nursing and diaper changes. These indicators include the following:

The baby is nursing at least 8–12 times in 24 hours
By day 2, the baby should have at least two wet diapers in 24 hours. By day days 3 and 4, at least three or more wet diapers, and by day 5, at least six or more wet diapers.
By day 4, at least 3–5 bowel movements a day.
The baby is gaining weight.

How much should formula-fed babies eat?

Formula-fed babies may eat less frequently than breastfed babies. After the first few days, people typically feed formula-fed babies with 1–2 ounces (oz) of milk per feeding, which may increase to 2–4 oz by the end of the first month.

Like breastfed newborns, formula-fed infants should eventually eat 8–12 times in 24 hours, including at night. This will continue until they are approximately 6 months old when the child is ready to begin eating solid foods.

Like adults, babies are unique — there is no right or ideal length. As long as the infant is growing normally and does not suddenly fall well below their previous growth percentile, they are usually fine.

Before the age of 2 years, doctors usually measure a baby’s length lying down. After the age of 2 years, when a child is able to stand, a doctor can begin to measure their standing height.

Caregivers should know that at this stage, doctors may switch from the WHO growth charts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) growth reference charts.

Since standing height measures slightly less than recumbent length, a child’s classification may change slightly at this point. The pediatrician can help parents and caregivers answer questions about length, growth, nutrition, and more.

Baby height and weight norms

Newborns come into this world completely unadapted to the environment. Therefore, your care and care will help the kids become strong and strong. During the year, the child acquires many new skills, becomes mobile and inquisitive, and also increases the mass and length of the body more than twice.

Each person on Earth is individual, but despite this, there are general patterns and principles for increasing the weight and length of the body of children. And every mom can rely on them. But you don’t need to check to the gram and centimeter!

The average birth weight for girls is 2800 - 3300 grams, and for boys 2900 - 3500 grams. The average body length for both sexes is 48-51 centimeters. But if your child does not meet these parameters, this is not a reason to panic.

In the first few days of life, a newborn can lose up to 10% percent of the mass, but by 10-14 days he should restore the parameters that he had at birth.

During the first month, the child adds 25-30 grams every day, and in a month the total increase is about 600 grams. Then the monthly weight gain is 800 grams for up to six months and 400 grams monthly for up to 1 year. In a year, the average weight of your baby should be approximately 10 kg.

How do you know if your baby is gaining enough weight?

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the well-being of the child. It is also necessary to note the rate of absorption of food. If he eagerly sucks milk or formula, requires feeding every 20-30 minutes, then it is worth counting the amount of food eaten by the baby.

If your baby is bottle-fed, you can easily determine how much he eats at a time. But how to understand how much a child receives at one meal if you are breastfeeding? The answer is very simple - weigh it before and after eating. The difference in weight is the amount of food eaten. You can find the approximate volume of feeding a child in the first year of life in table No. 1. If your child is not eating enough, do not try to adjust the diet yourself, it is better to contact a pediatrician.

To measure the baby's body weight, conventional scales will not work, since accuracy is very important for your child in the first months of life.

It is better to use special children's scales, which are specially adapted for the smallest. It is convenient to put the baby on them, and they are accurate to the gram, which is very important for newborns.

Child's age	Amount of milk eaten per feeding, ml	Number of milk eaten per day.
3-4 days	20-60	200-300 ml
1 Week	50-80	400 ml
2 weeks	60-90	20% of the child's weight
1 month	100-110	600 ml
2 months	120-150	800 ml
3 months	150-180	1/6 of the child's weight
4 months	180-210	1/6 of the child's weight
5-6 months	210-240	1/7 of the child's weight (800 ml -1 liter)
7-12 months	210-240	1/8 - 1/9 of the child's weight

As for the length of the body of the baby. For the first three months, children grow on average by 3 cm per month, from the third to the sixth month by 2.5 cm. After six months, the growth rate slows down a little, and the child begins to add 1-1.5 cm per month. The average body length per year is approximately 75-80 cm. The correct measurement of height in children of the first year of life is carried out in a supine position using a horizontal stadiometer in the form of a board eighty centimeters long with a fixed bar in the upper part. The child is laid so that the top of the head is pressed tightly into the fixed bar. The legs of the crumbs are straightened by light pressure on the knees.

If your baby differs from the average norms for weight and body length, do not panic, but be sure to contact your pediatrician! After all, the lag or, conversely, the acceleration of development can have many reasons. And also remember that every person on Earth and every child is individual and has its own pace of physical development.

What are the age norms of growth for boys and girls according to WHO - Dobrobut Clinic

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Dobrobut Medical Library

Publication date: 2020-06-18

Growth rates in children - data from the World Health Organization

The physical development of a child is one of the main indicators that make it possible to determine its potential strength, early detection of various diseases that can subsequently disrupt the normal course of his life. This category includes several morphological characters, including growth. Doctors use tables of growth and weight standards for children to better assess this indicator.

Why a doctor measures and weighs a child

Anthropometric data indirectly show the influence of various internal and external factors on the development of a child, the state of his health. Thus, insufficient body weight gain indicates:

inadequate nutrition in quantity and quality,
presence of rickets,
anemia,
immunodeficiency states,
various endocrine diseases.

In case of stunting, a frequent diagnostic finding is a reduced production of somatotropic hormone, a substance that regulates the growth and development of the musculoskeletal system.

For such control, the World Health Organization in 2006 updated special tables indicating the age norms of growth, weight of boys and girls. They use not only clear numbers, but also the limits of the norm. This is due to the fact that many children are bottle-fed. Such babies gain weight and grow much faster than "naturalists" and it would be wrong to indicate the same numbers for these two groups.

Children grow unevenly. On average, the body length of a newborn born on time and without developmental pathologies is 48-51.8 cm for boys and 47.3-51 cm for girls. Subsequently, during the first year of life, children grow quite quickly, gaining an average of 25 cm. Later, the growth rate steadily falls. After a few years, a period of uniform growth begins, when the child adds 5-7 cm per year.

There are 1-2 jumps, during which the rate of increase in body length for 1-2 years increases dramatically. Experts attribute this to the onset of puberty. This is a normal process, if it is not accompanied by any signs of trouble in the body, a visit to the doctor is not required.

In terms of weight, the child also gains especially strongly in the first year. Starting from the second year of life, weight gain is slower, stabilizing by the age of 17-18. Everything that happens with body weight and height at an older age is associated with the characteristics of human life.

All readings outside of the limits below are considered a deviation. Each such case, the pediatrician must carefully study, identify the reasons for the deviation and take all measures to return the child's health to normal.

What to do if a child is not growing well

It sometimes happens that despite proper and nutritious nutrition, good care and a healthy lifestyle, a child does not gain enough height or weight. First of all, parents should get rid of the subjective assessment. The site https://www.dobrobut.com/ recommends not to be nervous in advance, but to contact a pediatrician. He will compare the indicators obtained during the measurement with tables of norms for weight gain and height and assess the situation.

If it turns out that the child is really lagging behind in physical development, the pediatrician will have to study the history, find out everything about the daily routine and diet (you may need to consult a nutritionist), look at the child and prescribe certain diagnostic manipulations.

Late puberty is the most common cause of growth retardation. The child should be observed by a doctor until the hormonal processes start in full force. Endocrine growth retardation is also possible, then the endocrinologist will identify the lack of certain hormones and prescribe the appropriate treatment. In case of inadequate nutrition for age and level of physical activity, parents will receive recommendations on how to change the child's diet. Finally, perhaps just a boy or girl is not destined to become tall due to hereditary characteristics (the parents themselves are short).

There are almost always reasons for stunting, and almost all of them can be eliminated. It is enough just to turn to a knowledgeable specialist in time.