Monitor your child's growth and development

Measuring your child’s weight every month:

• It is important to attend growth monitoring and promotion sessions to weigh your baby and to see how he or she is growing.  
• A community health worker will help weigh your child using a floor scale (first the mother alone and then mother with baby), a special hanging scale or an electronic scale.
• Your baby’s weight will be noted on his or her growth card. The growth card shows your baby’s physical development, and helps provide guidance on nutrition, vaccination, and support for early learning and development. Mothers or caregivers should be asked to come for growth monitoring more often if problems are detected.
• A healthy child who is growing well always gains a certain amount of weight every month.
• Measuring the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of a child over 6 months of age using a colour-coded measurement tape can help to identify children with severe thinness. Caregivers can also be trained to use a MUAC tape to screen their children for malnutrition at home.

Developmental milestones:

• Development has to do with how children learn, communicate, understand, relate to people, move their bodies, and use their hands and fingers. It also has to do with children’s hearing and vision.
• Children develop physically and learn at different paces. Some children learn quickly, and some children need more time.
• Children’s skills build upon one another. For example, a child must learn to sit before learning how to stand.
• Some children are born with or develop conditions that can impede their physical and social abilities. These children may develop differently in how they move, see, hear, learn, think or interact with others. All children can learn but some children may need extra support.
• All children should have their feeding, growth, development, hearing and vision monitored to identify any concerns as early as possible. If you are concerned or observe developmental delays, seek support from a health care provider.