Is your baby too big or too small or don’t you have idea about how well your baby is growing?

First at all, before you worry about your baby size make sure you are using the right growth chart. Do you know that not all growth charts are suitable for every baby?

There are notable differences between formula and breast feed babies growth charts. The first ones have different growth patterns, they grow faster than formula-fed babies in the first months (2nd-3^rd month) and then gain weight in a slower way, while the formula-fed babies acquire the most of the weight between 3 and 12 months.

So you can’t chart a breast-fed baby using a formula-fed chart, at the moment the two main growth charts used by pediatricians are the CDC growth chart and the new WHO growth chart.

The CDC growth charts use a mix sample of breast-fed and formula-fed babies and have troubles when applied at the same ages into different fed babies. The WHO growth charts use a sample of exclusively breast-fed babies but is not intended just for breast-fed babies because it can serve as a warning when a formula-fed baby experiences excessive weight gain especially in the early weeks.

So, we can conclude that despising factors such as malnutrition, socio economic status and maternal drug-use the children whatever their race, country or age are, they grow quite similar.

Also a very important fact is that if your newborn baby is not gaining well you should consider the advice of your pediatrician.