Newborn baby's length

[Pandora88]

DS was born two weeks ago and no one took his length measurement since, whenever I ask midwifes or health visitor they all say that is just "not something they routinely do." I've got a family in Italy and Germany and over there it is one of the very first things they check - together with baby's weight etc. Also it seems that there are percentile charts for length contained within the red book, so one would think this stat is supposed to be tracked?

What are your experiences with this? Is it normal in the UK not to track baby's length from birth? If I wanted to have him measured who should I turn to? (I asked one of the midwifes and she's done some sort of a measurement but DS was kicking and screaming at the time and she herself said "my measurement is probably as good as yours" :-/ )

[HeyRoly]

It's not something they routinely do, no. It's not exactly indicative of newborn health in the same way that weight is.

They take it at birth and again by the HV at the one year check.

[SleepFreeZone]

Yeah I agree, it's not a health sign. In the early stages they want to be sure the baby is growing well all over, putting on weight and getting nutrition from their feeds.

[AmberEars]

It's surprisingly difficult to measure a newborn baby's height accurately, which is why it isn't typically done. They will start doing it when he is a bit older.

[WellErrr]

Mine have all been routinely measured, youngest is 5 months. Seems odd!

[AmberEars]

Are you concerned about his height, OP?

[SleepFreeZone]

Plus as you correctly state, trying to get an accurate length measurement is pretty damn impossible, so why bother unless is actually important?

[Pandora88]

@HeyRoly

But they didn't even measure him at birth :(

[SprogletsMum]

My first 2 dc were measured at birth and then regularly. Dc3 was measured at 2 weeks by the health visitors, they don't do the birth measurement anymore.

[crocodarl]

They measure them routinely here, every month from birth up until 1 year.

[crocodarl]

My youngest is 2 months, so they're definitely still doing it!

[Pandora88]

@AmberEars

People tell us DS seems really tiny etc. I'm a little paranoid since DH's dad is very short. I guess it would give me some reassurance to know he is in the normal range.

[HeyRoly]

Are you sure they didnt measure him? I didn't see it happen but found it written in the red book later.

I still don't think it's a massive deal, even if they didn't.

[YokoUhOh]

They don't measure babies in our part of the country. They're only concerned with weight.

[alltouchedout]

Ds1 was in 2006 (Norfolk) . I don't think ds2 was in 2009 (Cambridgeshire) and ds3 definitely wasn't in 2014 (Manchester).

You could always measure him yourself if you think it would help.

[Bjazzle]

My ds was born September just gone and wasn't measured at birth or since by anyone.

[TeaCakeLiterature]

Our baby wasn't measured at birth and we were told afterwards that that's because they don't do it anymore.

They did measure him at a HV appt at our house once but since then I've had to ask at the clinic and they seem surprised when I ask - no one else seems to ask or be bothered!

[Popskipiekin]

DS1 born 2014 camden, length measured at birth and tracked whenever I took him for regular weigh-ins. DS2 born 2016 Lambeth, length not measured and midwives looked at me like I was batty for wanting it done. You could try to do it yourself but - as has been pointed out - it's pretty tricky so you might not get accurate result! If he's little he's little. As long as he's putting on weight on a consistent centile then he's all good. And there's no knowing what will happen in later childhood, puberty etc. Cousin of mine did not grow in line with peers until he was 17! He's now 5'11 so all fine in the end.

[AlcoChocs]

Babies used to be measured from birth routinely. It took 2 people, one would hold the head and the other would stretch the baby on a measuring mat as straight as possible and measure to the baby's heels.
Sometimes when the baby was measured 6 weeks later by different HCPs, who maybe didn't stretch the baby quite so much he/she was found to have shrunk, resulting in worry for parents and visits to GP.
Routine measuring doesn't serve any purpose and could do harm, trying to straighten a newborn's legs probably isn't good for the hips.

[bookgirl1982]

My son was measured at birth and at his recent one year check. The don't do it in between, only weight here.

But you can try and do it yourself if it is just for family interest.

[SquedgieBeckenheim]

DD is now 2.6. She had length measured at 6 weeks then at 1. She was growth restricted, so if they were concerned about any babies size you'd think that's the group to check! They went purely by weight.
Reason I was given is that it's too difficult to get an accurate measurement when they're that young.

[PotteringAlong]

None of mine have ever been measured for length - I had their height done at 1 year and 2 year checks but not before.

[LatinForTelly]

My youngest (born 2010) wasn't measured at birth. In fact, I don't think my middle one was either (2007). I have spoken in the past to US and French doctors about growth issues and they think it's batshit of the UK, but yes, the accepted wisdom is it's not very accurate so why bother. It isn't that accurate but it's better than nothing surely for identifying growth problems?

[sleepy16]

My two youngest 11 months and 2 have never been measured length, only had their head done at birth as well.

[cestlavielife]

Why don't you lay a tape measure on his changing mat and stretch him out gently and measure yourself? Heel to top of head. If you can, put feet against something . Then again in three months to keep track. It will be no more or less accurate than a basic hv measurement.
How short is his dad ? Technically short e.g. Under 150 .cm ? Or?