which charts do you follow?

[Therese's Mommy]

DD is 8mos. She seems to be a perfectly healthy and very mobile baby. She isn't big at all, but I wouldn't call her tiny either (she is fitting into age appropriate clothes, while the clothes one size smaller are too small). She was 9lbs at birth, at least that is how much she weighed on the mw's fish scale at my house. She now weighs 16lbs 2oz. The ped plotted her weight on 2 different charts. On the chart labelled "United States, girls, birth to 36 mos" her percentile was about 25th at both 4 and 5 months but now at 8 months is 14th. On the chart labelled "WHO, girls, birth to 2yrs" her percentile at 4mos was 15th, at 5mos it was slightly higher than 15th and now at 8mos is about 25th percentile. So, on the US chart her percentile is dropping, but on the WHO chart it is rising. How crazy is that? Which chart should I believe? She is ebf and hasn't started solids yet if that makes any difference.

[boobs4milk]

the who chart is what we follow. the other chart is the cdc chart and is mostly based off formula fed babies.

[Therese's Mommy]

Hey DDC buddy! Thanks for responding Wow, so dd is actually doing well since her percentile is increasing instead of decreasing. I think I will pat myself on the back

[PatioGardener]

Please let me rant for a minute about the WHO growth charts. Rant in a good way.

The WHO charts are based on growth standards. This means they show how babies should grow, rather than the CDC charts, which show how (mostly) white babies in the midwest do grow.

The WHO charts are based on a huge study that looked at healthy, full term babies growing in optimal circumstances, all over the world - so babies who are able to grow to their full genetic potential. The WHO described 'optimal' as moms who did not smoke in pregnancy and who continued not to smoke when baby was born, who breastfed exclusively until at least 4 months (at that time the rec had not been extended to 6 months) and continue to breastfeed, and who introduced nutritious complementary foods. And the charts include data on healthy small (below 2.5 kg) babies born at term.

So the WHO charts are not for breastfed babies, or only North American babies, but they are for all babies. Because they reflect normal growth, they don't have breastfed babies 'dropping off the curve' at 4-6 months like the CDC charts do.

Rant over. I really like the WHO charts. I hope that soon everyone will be using them. The Canadian Paediatric Society and Family Physicians have adopted them as standard now.

[Therese's Mommy]

I am so glad to hear this. I was a tiny bit concerned when I saw she was only 14th percentile and that her percentile had dropped all 3 times she has been weighed at the ped. But I am grateful he also printed off her plots on the WHO chart. How crazy that she is dropping on the CDC charts but has gone up about 10 percentiles on the WHO!

[KristyDi]

Just another "this is nuts" CDC chart vs WHO chart anecdote. From 6 months to 12 months the CDC chart showed DD dropping from the mid 80th percentile to the 10th percentile. On the WHO chart she had hovered right around the 50th percentile her whole life.

Or ped did not have the WHO charts and was concerned and gently pushing me to wean and major on whole cows milk (which caused eczema for dd). I had print the WHO charts off the web, plot her weights myself and show him.

Now my dd is on the smaller side and hovers around the 25th-30th percentiles. But she's healthy.

[Therese's Mommy]

I was with our ped yesterday and after looking at my 3yos labs I had him pull up the 2 weight charts for the baby. He totally agreed that the CDC chart is not an accurate measure for my child. I am glad that I have a ped who has his head on straight

[Lauren31]

So my baby who was 7 lbs at birth and 18 lbs at 4 months should maybe be plateauing a bit now? She is EBF and was in the 100% for height and weight.

[listipton]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

Please let me rant for a minute about the WHO growth charts. Rant in a good way.

The WHO charts are based on growth standards. This means they show how babies should grow, rather than the CDC charts, which show how (mostly) white babies in the midwest do grow.

The WHO charts are based on a huge study that looked at healthy, full term babies growing in optimal circumstances, all over the world - so babies who are able to grow to their full genetic potential. The WHO described 'optimal' as moms who did not smoke in pregnancy and who continued not to smoke when baby was born, who breastfed exclusively until at least 4 months (at that time the rec had not been extended to 6 months) and continue to breastfeed, and who introduced nutritious complementary foods. And the charts include data on healthy small (below 2.5 kg) babies born at term.

So the WHO charts are not for breastfed babies, or only North American babies, but they are for all babies. Because they reflect normal growth, they don't have breastfed babies 'dropping off the curve' at 4-6 months like the CDC charts do.

Rant over. I really like the WHO charts. I hope that soon everyone will be using them. The Canadian Paediatric Society and Family Physicians have adopted them as standard now.

Thank you for explaining the difference, I learned something new today
We don't go to the doctor unless we really feel the need and honestly, I tend to ignore charts....but it's good info to know