It is important to track your baby’s growth. Tracking the weight is one of the ways to ensure he or she is developing properly. The pace at which every baby grows is different. Given the “normal” size range of baby’s weight is wide, it’s hard to know whether your child measures up to standards. This is the major reason why pediatricians recommend tracking babies’ physical development with growth charts.
What is a baby growth chart?
Some parents wonder what a “normal” baby should look like, and they worry if their little one is bigger or smaller than other infants. So a baby growth chart is a measurement chart revealing how a child is growing.
What exactly do baby growth charts measure?
This chart measures length, weight, and head circumference, but our main focus today is weight.
At some point, almost every parent wonders if their baby’s weight gain is within the normal range. Some thoughts include: “is my baby growing too fast or not fast enough”?
We will show you how to determine if your baby is on track, simply check out this baby weight chart and compare with that of your baby to help ease your mind. If you haven’t been tracking it, then start now and measure it against these benchmarks.
Baby Growth Chart
The information in this chart is from The World Health Organization (WHO).
| Age | Boys | Girls |
| Birth | 6.7 – 8.1 pounds | 6.5 – 7.8 pounds |
| 3 months | 13.0 – 15.2 pounds | 11.8 – 14.0 pounds |
| 6 months | 16.2 – 18.8 pounds | 14.8 – 17.5 pounds |
| 9 months | 18.2 – 21.1 pounds | 16.7 – 19.7 pounds |
| 12 months | 19.8 – 22.9 pounds | 18.2 – 21.4 pounds |
| 15 months | 21.1 – 24.5 pounds | 19.5 – 23.0 pounds |
| 18 months | 22.4 – 26.0 pounds | 20.8 – 24.5 pounds |
| 21 months | 23.6 – 27.5 pounds | 22.0 – 26.0 pounds |
| 24 months | 24.8 – 28.9 pounds | 23.3 – 27.5 pounds |
| 27 months | 27.0 – 31.2 pounds | 25.8 – 30.0 pounds |
| 30 months | 27.8 – 32.2 pounds | 26.7 – 31.1 pounds |
| 33 months | 28.6 – 33.2 pounds | 27.6 – 32.3 pounds |
| 36 months | 29.5 – 34.3 pounds | 28.4 – 33.4 pounds |
Quick facts from the chart
For babies born prematurely, use gestational age (not age since birth) when you look up their numbers in this chart.
By age 6 months, most babies have doubled their birth weight.
What next after this chart? Based on the result of this chart, several questions might come up. We will address the major ones which are:
• What if a child is low on the baby weight chart?
• What can you do if your child weighs more?
What if a child is low on the baby weight chart?
Simply because your baby is on the lower end of the scale doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. The average baby weight is just that—average. According to the World Health Organization, only half of the babies fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles, meaning that half of all babies fall outside of that “normal” range. But they are still perfectly normal!
If you are deeply concerned that your child is behind on the growth charts, there are many things you can do. Try out the following:
• Contact a lactation consultant
• Test your milk quality
• Improve the nutrition quality
• Support your baby’s digestive health
What can you do if your child weighs more?
If you feel your baby weighs more than the range set in the growth chart above, simply contact a pediatrician.