Head circumference of a 6 year old child. Dimensions of a child’s head by month after birth: norms and deviations

Immediately after giving birth, especially if it was the first, the mother is surprised at how the baby’s head looks - disproportionately large, slightly elongated upward. As the baby grows and develops, parents may be concerned about the size of the fontanel and the rate at which it is overgrowing. So that nothing distracts from the joy of motherhood and fatherhood, it is necessary, long before the birth of the baby, to learn about all the nuances of its development, including the principles of skull formation, possible deviations from the norm and the dangers to which they entail.

Shape and size of a newborn's head

The skull of a newborn before birth and for some time after it is held together, practically, only skin membrane. And this is not a pathology, but a kind of cunning of nature - in this way it made it easier for the baby to pass through the birth canal. If the child is born naturally, and not during caesarean section, then the shape of his head can be round or oval, slightly elongated upward, flattened, ovoid. There is no need to be alarmed if the newborn's head is not symmetrical or has characteristic postpartum swelling.

Another feature is the size of the newborn's head. The head is disproportionate to the body, its girth is at least 2 cm greater than the girth of the chest. Such indicators are the norm, and deviations are called hydrocephalus and microcephaly. Both should be the reason for a detailed examination of the baby and a number of diagnostic measures.

Why is hydrocephalus dangerous?

Too much big sizes head of a newborn (hydrocephalus) can be a sign of accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the skull. In the first months of life, this does not entail any danger, since in most infants up to 3 months it drains through special channels. After examination by a highly specialized doctor, the child is prescribed therapy, and the problem is easily solved before it develops into a serious pathology.

What is myrcocephaly

Microcephaly is the most dangerous for a newborn. A small head is a sign of its underdevelopment, which can affect the formation of the brain long before birth. The cause of this pathology is the mother’s alcoholism or drug addiction, intrauterine infections, birth injuries, hormonal diseases.

What is a fontanel

The fontanel is a non-ossified part of the skull in a newborn, protected by the connective tissue. elastic fabric. It is needed so that the baby’s skull during childbirth can adapt to the shape of the mother’s small pelvis and birth canal. There are six fontanelles on the head of a newborn, but you can only observe one, the largest of them. It is located on the top of the child’s head and is completely overgrown with bone tissue only by 12 months. Its main functions:

facilitating the birth process,

· providing optimal space for brain development,

· regulation of heat exchange, cooling of the brain during periods of increased body temperature,

· cushioning in case of a fall.

Find the most large fontanel, diamond-shaped, measuring approximately 2 by 2 cm, on the baby’s head is very simple - it is located in the middle of its parietal part. Another fontanel that can be felt is located on the back of the head, and its size does not exceed 0.5 cm.

During the period until the fontanel is overgrown, it is necessary to monitor how it looks. If the fontanelle protrudes too much above the surface of the skull or is too sunken, this may be a signal of problems in the child’s development. The fontanel may sink due to dehydration caused by diarrhea, high temperature. Having noticed this, you need to ensure drinking plenty of fluids and call a doctor. If the fontanelle bulges, and this is accompanied by changes in the baby’s behavior, high fever, vomiting, convulsions, if bulging is observed long time, it is necessary to urgently take the baby to a medical facility.

How to care for a fontanel

Head shape, size and general development the baby in the first year of his life is directly related to the fontanel. Special rules Medicine does not recommend caring for him. The most important thing is to ensure safety and eliminate the risk of injury to the newborn’s head in the area of ​​the large and small fontanel.

In order for the baby’s head to form correctly, it is necessary to periodically place the baby on his back, one side and the other. This measure will not allow parts of the skull to shift to one side and will ensure minimal load on the fontanel. In addition, there are several rules for caring for the fontanelle:

When combing, do not touch the teeth of the comb,

· wash the baby’s hair with neutral products and very carefully,

· after bathing, dry your head with blotting movements,

· never put pressure on the fontanel,

· there should be no seams on the caps in the fontanel area,

· before removing parietal crusts, soften them with baby oil or cream,

· do not rely only on the pediatrician and independently monitor the rate of overgrowth of the fontanel.

Parietal crusts can cause anxiety to the baby and affect the rate of ossification of the fontanel area. If they form intensively and form a dense layer on the baby’s head, then you need to lubricate them with cream not only after bathing, but also before it - 20-30 minutes.

What to do if the fontanel does not heal

Not only slow, but also too rapid formation of bone tissue in the fontanel area should cause concern. If the fontanel does not heal and the baby is already over a year old, then this may indicate the presence of the following problems:

· development of hydrocephalus,

· metabolic disease,

disease of bone tissue,

Hypothyroidism (dysfunction of the thyroid gland).

It is impossible to determine the reasons on your own, and you need to consult highly specialized doctors - an endocrinologist, geneticist, neurologist.

If parents notice rapid overgrowth of the fontanel, this should also be a reason to consult a doctor. You don't have to wait scheduled inspection, which are carried out monthly in children under one year old, you can come to the clinic and ask for diagnostic measures - blood and urine tests, ultrasound internal organs, MRI of the head, if there are indications for this. This is necessary if symptoms appear against the background of rapid overgrowth of the fontanel:

· nervousness,

· poor, short sleep,

· lack of appetite,

low rates of weight gain,

· thinness,

· unstable functioning of the gastrointestinal tract,

· pallor or cyanosis of the skin.

Rapid overgrowth of the fontanel may be a signal of the development of disorders in the formation of bone tissue - craniosynostosis, microcephaly, which entails deviations in the functioning of the central nervous system and brain formation. Ossification of the skull in the area of ​​the spring is considered early if it occurs at the age of three months from the day of birth. Parents have the right to insist on diagnostics aimed at identifying the listed developmental problems. But to refuse preventive measures, even if there are no other symptoms of disorders, it is unwise.

In no case should you rely on the opinion of grandmothers, friends or neighbors if the shape of the baby’s head, the rate of its growth or the overgrowth of the fontanel cause concern among parents. It's important to realize that folk methods or self-prescription of vitamin-mineral complexes in such cases can be not only useless, but also very dangerous for the baby.

Immediately after birth, the baby undergoes all sorts of procedures performed by neonatologists and nurses. They weigh it, wash off mucus and blood, and also measure the volume of the child’s head. The last manipulation plays important role, because it can tell doctors a lot.

What should you know?

Almost all newborns are born with swelling of the head, called birth trauma. Sometimes mothers themselves note that the baby has changed in appearance at 3-4 days. better side. In fact, the swelling that occurs during childbirth has subsided. How does this happen?

When the hour X comes and the woman realizes that the time has come to give birth, the baby begins to gradually make its way to the exit along the birth canal, which is the female genital organs - soft fabrics, adjacent to each other. The baby has to literally push through them, and since he usually goes forward with his head, the main load and pressure lies on it.

Healthcare professionals know that swelling of the head is normal phenomenon for a newborn, which resolves in 2 days and does not require any treatment. Moreover, it is completely painless and the baby simply does not feel it.

Sizes after birth

After birth, the volume of the head is one month old baby is approximately 34 cm, depending on the gender of the child. There is a slight difference between boys and girls, which is that the latter have a smaller circumference. In just a month, newborns’ heads grow in size by 2.5 centimeters. At the same time, the volume chest in a newborn it is 2 cm less than the size of the skull.

At 3-4 months, the volume of the head is already equal to the size of the chest, the circumference of the first is approximately 40 cm. That is, the skull grows quite intensively - one and a half to two centimeters per month.

Typically, a newborn's head is several centimeters larger than the volume of the chest

Then the growth of the head slows down, and the growth of the chest comes to the fore. At six months of age, the volume is 43 cm; it grows only one centimeter per month.

After six months, no more than 0.5 cm is added per month. Thus, at one year of age, the child’s head volume is about 47 cm.

Table

Below are the indicators normal height in the table.

However, it is worth remembering that premature babies Usually there are minor deviations from the norm, which are expressed in reduced sizes.

They experience active growth a little later than in normal children. Therefore, this table is just an example of the classic growth of a baby’s head size; in fact, everything happens individually.

Alarm Signals

Of course, the growth of the body as a whole and its parts separately is a personal matter; each child develops in his own way. However, there are certain standards, well known to pediatricians and neonatologists, according to which there are symptoms of abnormal growth.

For example, if a newborn's head rapidly increases in size shortly after birth, this is clear evidence of progressive hydrocephalus. The disease is characterized by the fact that a lot of fluid forms in the spinal canals, which “bursts” the skull. If you have such symptoms, you should definitely see a neurologist.

When the head size is too small, microcephaly is mainly observed - a reduced brain. This disease can sometimes be seen on an ultrasound during a woman’s pregnancy. Microcephaly is often a reason for medical termination of pregnancy. indications.

If the volume of the child’s head is too small, immediately consult a neurologist, since this is also a serious disease that requires complex treatment.

How are children's head sizes measured?

You can regularly measure the volume of the tiny head yourself and write down all available measurement indicators in a special notebook. For this procedure, you will need a soft tape with a clear division into centimeters.

The child should be placed on a couch, sofa or table. It is important that the baby does not cry or scream during the manipulation, since the results obtained when the baby is overexcited may not be entirely correct.

The measurement is taken at the eyebrow line. You just need to put the tape on your head to the indicated level and write down the result. This way you can monitor the growth status of your baby. If there are deviations, you will be the first to know about them and will be able to react quickly in such a situation.

Don't worry, in any case, symptoms of abnormalities quickly appear, and you will immediately see a disturbance in head growth. It is much more important not to hesitate and urgently seek help from specialists.

The very first numbers that appear in a child’s chart, besides the time and date of birth, are his anthropometric data. Parents and neonatologists pay the most attention to the height and weight of the newborn. close attention, head circumference and chest volume in children are also considered important indicators. A complete table of these numbers is the main indicators of the baby’s health, its usefulness physical development.

Anthropometric tables

Such tables indicate average data, from which you can determine how correctly the baby is developing. If the deviations from the norm are small, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about. If, when measuring any part of the body, the doctor notices serious anomalies, then additional examination will be required.

Average indicators of anthropometric tables help to identify early stages quite serious diseases, such as:

• weight deficiency;
• hydrocephalus (enlarged head);
• sternum deformity.

Baby's head and chest circumference

The head circumference of a newly born child is an indicator by which the baby’s growth is subsequently monitored. By comparing the obtained figures with the data recorded at the previous examination, the pediatrician, in the presence of serious deviations, may suspect serious illnesses. The average size the head of a newborn is about 35 cm. Small deviations from the norm in the region of 2-3 centimeters are not considered a problem.

Important! The volume of the head is measured with a soft measuring tape. They pass it in front along the line of the eyebrows, and in the back, along the most protruding part of the occipital protuberance.

In a newborn baby, the chest volume is normally 2-3 cm less than the head circumference. By about the 4th month, these indicators level out. U one year old child the sternum becomes larger by about 2 cm than the circumference of the head.

Child's chest

In addition to the volume of the chest, the doctor will definitely look at its shape. Normally it should be conical. The ribs should be at right angles to the spine. During the second half of life, the baby's breast size becomes larger, which is noticeable when measured during an examination by a pediatrician.

How to measure the chest correctly and accurately?

Measuring the sternum circumference of a baby under one year old is not difficult at all. In young children it is measured in a lying position, in older children - standing. At the time of taking measurements, the baby should be calm, arms relaxed, located along the body. The edge of the measuring tape should be placed on the left side of the armpit. From the side of the back it is carried out at an angle of both shoulder blades, along the front part - along the bottom of the areola. Typically, measurements are taken during inhalation and then during exhalation. The difference in these parameters is also important; it reflects the excursion of the sternum, that is, its mobility. Normal excursion should be within 5-8 cm.

Important! Before taking measurements, the doctor must treat the measuring tape with a 70% alcohol solution.

Formula for calculating normal chest size:

For children under 6 months of age, the circumference is calculated using the following formula: 45-2*(6-n).

From 6 months to a year: 45+ 0.5*(n-6), where n is the baby’s age in months.

For older children (up to 10 years old), the calculation will look like this: 63-1.5* (10-n). In this case, n is the age of the children in years.

Physical development of children under one year old

Data on height and weight is needed in order to understand whether your baby is developing correctly. The normal height for a newborn is: from 46 cm to 51 cm, and weight: from 2600 to 4000 g. The ratio of these values, the Quetelet index, is also very important. It shows whether the baby received enough nutrition during the period intrauterine life. An index value of 60 to 70 is considered normal. For example, a child weighing 3250 and height 50 cm has an index of 65. A low index may indicate a deficiency in mass. But this index is considered true only for children born on time.

In addition to monitoring body weight, doctors also measure the child’s head circumference. On average, the figure should be 34-36 cm.

So, physical development of children under one year old after discharge from the maternity hospital, the local pediatrician controls it. To keep track proper development crumbs, height, weight, chest and head circumference are measured once a month for a year from the moment the baby is born.

Of course, your baby is individual and the physical development of children under one year old does not always correspond to calendar standards. But the absence of any skills or deviation in the growth of your baby is a reason to consult a specialist.

So, the physical development of children under one year old by month.

Newborn. Height 46-51 cm. Weight 2.6-3.5 kg. Circumferences: head – 34-36 cm, chest – 32-34 cm. The baby exhibits innate reflexes: sucking, swallowing, blinking, grasping reflex.

1 month. Height 53-54 cm. Weight 4.1-4.3 kg. Circumferences: head - 36.6-37.3 cm, chest - 36.0-36.3 cm. The baby can already hold his head in an upright position and tries to lift it when he lies on his tummy. In response to loud sounds, sudden movements reflexively spreads the arms to the sides, clenching the fists (Moro reflex).

2 months. Height 56-58 cm. Weight 5.0-5.3 kg. Head circumference - 38.4-39.0 cm, chest - 38.1-39.0 cm. The baby can already lift and hold his head vertically well for 1-1.5 minutes. Turns his head towards the speaker. Grabs objects with the palm of the hand and holds tightly.

3 months. Height 59-61 cm. Weight 6.0-6.3 kg. Head circumference - 40.0-40.9 cm, chest - 40.0-41.3 cm. The child can freely hold his head in an upright position for 5-6 minutes. Lying on his stomach, he rises and leans on his forearms and elbows. The baby turns his head towards the familiar voice of an adult.

4 months. Height 62-64 cm. Weight 6.5-6.9 kg. Circumferences: head – 41.0-41.9 cm, chest – 41.8-42.0 cm. Your baby can lift his head from a position lying on his back. Rolls freely from back to stomach. Lying on his stomach, he rises up, leaning on his palms, and follows a moving object. Your child is already grasping and holding small objects. He enjoys playing with toys hanging over the crib, picking them up, feeling them, and putting them in his mouth.

5 months. Height 64-68 cm. Weight 7.4-7.8 kg. Circumferences: head – 42.2-43.2 cm, chest – 43.0-44.3 cm. Your child can already sit down, but is not yet able to hold his back without support. With support under the arms, the baby stands straight on his feet. Captures the intonation of speech without understanding the words. He already recognizes his mother's voice.

6 months. Height 66-70 cm. Weight 7.7-8.0 kg. Head circumference – 43.2-44.2 cm; chest – 44.3-45.5 cm. Your baby can sit up independently without any support and roll over from back to tummy. The baby tries to crawl on all fours and begins to pronounce the first syllables: “ma-ma,” “ba-ba,” etc.

7 months. Height 68-71 cm. Weight 8.3-8.9 kg. Head circumference - 44.0-44.8 cm, chest - 45.0-46.4 cm. Your child rises to all fours and is already crawling freely. Sitting, tilts and straightens the torso. When supported by both hands, he stands upright and walks well with his legs.

8 months. Height 70-72 cm. Weight 8.5-9.5 kg. Head circumference - 44.3-45.4 cm, chest - 46.0-47.2 cm. Holding onto the crib, the baby gets up and sits down on his own. Gets up and tries to walk with the support of his hands. Your baby is seriously interested in toys: he examines them, taps them against each other, and tries to throw them down.

9 months. Height 71-7.3 cm. Weight 9.3-9.9 kg. Head circumference - 45.3-46.3 cm, chest - 46.7-47.9 cm. The baby is already walking, holding onto a support. Already able to perform quite complex actions: sorting through cubes, collecting small objects. Fulfills simple requests. Knows his name, turns to the one who calls him. Understands the word “no”.

10 months. Height 72-74 cm. Weight 9.5-10.4 kg. Circumferences: head – 45.6-46.6 cm, chest – 47.0-48.3 cm. Your baby rises on its own and stands without support. Can walk holding a hand or a stroller. The baby takes small objects with two fingers and does not give up the toy he likes. Consciously performs complex movements, for example, opening and closing a box. Begins to pronounce simple words.

11 months. Height 73-75 cm. Weight 9.8-10.5 kg. Circumferences: head – 46.0-46.9 cm, chest – 47.7-48.7 cm. Your baby is well oriented in space. Knows the names of many objects and parts of his body. The accuracy of his finger movements has noticeably increased (he holds toys tightly, crumples and tears paper).

12 months. Height 74-76 cm. Weight 10.1-10.7 kg. Circumferences: head – 46.0-47.2 cm, chest – 47.7-49.0 cm. Your baby is already walking independently, and comes to you if you call him by name. Performs comparatively difficult tasks: opens the door, brings individual items, toys. Actively participates in dressing and washing. Lexicon your baby has about 10 words.

After the examination, the doctor may describe your child’s developmental status as “harmonious” or “disharmonious.” What does this mean? Having assessed the measurement data, the doctor compares them with each other and makes a conclusion about their correspondence to each other. For example, with average height and low weight, the doctor concludes that there is a disharmonious child development up to one year. But comparing them with more early changes, can tell whether your baby is developing rapidly or slowly.

Your child's normal development can be helped by:

massage for infants

Massage for a child up to one year old contributes to normalization muscle tone and development of fine motor skills.

Helps increase the body's endurance and resistance to external influences.

Correct nutrition for a child up to one year old

During the period of intensive growth, the baby requires proper nutrition.

Moms should take these numbers and formulas seriously, which at first glance seem boring. After all, it is the physical development indicators of children under one year old that will tell you whether your baby is healthy or not.

All parents want to know whether their child is developing correctly. Tables with norms for weight, height, chest and head circumference will help determine this. For this purpose, centile tables can be used, as well as the 2006 WHO standards. In the article we will look at how to use these tables to assess the physical development of children, how to correctly measure the parameters of children, in particular infants, and also what deviations from the table norms may indicate.

How to use norm tables to assess the physical development of children under one year old and preschoolers?

Features of the compilation of WHO tables released in 2006:

• Initially, monitoring was carried out in different countries and clinics the world A. Based on such global studies, numerical indicators were derived normal development every child, regardless of place of residence.
• The fundamental difference new system assessment of physical development from outdated is as follows important indicator like breastfeeding. This is the type of food that is considered normal for babies. Previous “reference” figures were overestimated because they were focused on formula-fed infants. The new WHO standards apply in any region, regardless of race and national characteristics medicine of a particular country.
• For five years, scientists and doctors, nutritionists and immunologists, nutritionists and children's rights advocates conducted research , and the resulting graphs and tables became a breakthrough in the children's healthcare system.

How to use WHO tables to assess child development?

WHO tables (used by Russian doctors) are divided into columns. Each contains numerical indicators that determine how much the child’s development is in the generally accepted norm. To assess whether a child is developing correctly, you need to find in the WHO table in the first column a value corresponding to the child’s age or close to it, and then in the same row in other columns find an indicator close to the value of the body parameter measured in the child.

• Normal indicators in the middle column are considered and in the adjacent columns with values ​​above and below the average . If the parents' measurements are identical to those in the middle columns, there is nothing to worry about.
• The indicators of the child’s physical development that are in the outer columns of the table with low/very low/high/very high values ​​should alert parents and encourage them to contact a pediatrician.

How to use the domestic centile table to assess chest circumference in children?

The centile graph-table is easy to use and understandable to ordinary average parents. Since centiles (or otherwise percentages) are indicated in average values, there is no need to panic if the child’s data is within the middle two columns. Below we will consider a method for assessing a child’s development using a centile table with chest circumference standards.

• To determine whether a child is developing normally based on the size of the chest, in the leftmost column of the table, find the age corresponding to the age of the baby. If the baby’s age is 3 months and 6 days, then we are looking for the norm for three month old baby. If the real age of the baby is 3 months and 20 days, then we look for the corresponding indicators in the line “4 months”.
• The top line is graduated by centiles (percentages) - 3, 10, 25, 75, 90, 97. Having measured the chest circumference, check the data obtained with the average normal indicator in the corresponding line.
• If the baby's chest circumference falls between the 25th and 75th centiles, then this is great, there is no reason to worry.
• If the child's chest circumference corresponds to the value in the column 10 or 90, then this indicates a possible emerging imbalance in development.
• If the child’s chest circumference corresponds to the values ​​in the column with the 3rd or 97th centile, then this is a reason to consult a pediatrician or neurologist.

An important factor is the consistency of the indicators of all tables with each other. For example, in a subtle small child even an indicator of the 3rd centile can only indicate his asthenic constitution, and not the development of pathologies in the body. Be sure to check whether height corresponds to age, body weight to height, or head and chest volumes to age.

WHO tables: norms of weight, height, head circumference for boys and girls up to one year

Using the tables below, you can check how the head size, weight and height of babies should normally change in the first year of their life. The rates for boys and girls are different. To use the tables, you must first sequentially measure the circumference of the head, chest, baby's growth and also weigh the baby. All received data is recorded and the baby’s development is assessed using tables.

How to correctly measure the head circumference, chest circumference, height, weight of a child?

It is not at all difficult to make correct measurements to assess the physical development of a baby. The main thing is to take into account several nuances:

In infants, it is worth paying attention to the chest and head circumference parameters in relation to each other. According to doctors working for the international organization WHO, the following changes in anthropometric data are considered normal for infants:

1. The first 30 days of life - the circumference of the skull is greater than the circumference of the sternum by a couple of centimeters.
2. Closer to the 90-day mark of life, the infant's head and chest circumference are equalized in terms of indicators.
3. Closer to the 180th day of life, the chest circumference should be larger than the head circumference.

Height, weight, and chest and head circumferences undergo the greatest changes during the first year of life in both boys and girls. Do not forget that newborns have “fontanelles” that completely disappear only by the age of one and a half years. This affects the size of the baby's skull.

Norms of weight, height, head and chest circumference for girls and boys from 1-6 years

The following 8 tables illustrate normal and extreme values ​​for children of both sexes aged 1 to 6 years.

What might a deviation from WHO standards indicate?

Naturally, in in this case Only maximum deviations are considered, the numerical indicators of which are indicated in the outer columns of the tables.

Baby's weight is too high or too low

Weight is very important for newborns, and weight gain should occur continuously during the first year of life.

The problem of dystrophy and obesity forces world organization health, monitor this indicator carefully, which was the reason for its inclusion in generally accepted standards.

• A weight greater than the permissible norm should prompt parents to change the frequency of feeding the baby.
• – this is a reason to contact your pediatrician for advice and review the child’s diet and nutritional regimen.

Head circumference more/less than normal

Anthropometric indicators equal to the outer columns, in this case, may indicate such serious illnesses, such as hydrocephalus, microcephaly, rickets, intracranial hypertension.

• At hypertension The baby's head grows too quickly, as excess fluid accumulated inside the skull puts pressure on it. This diagnosis can be confirmed by a neurologist and an ophthalmologist who will examine the fundus and vessels inside the eye sockets. In the case of hypertension, the “fontanel” will not grow together for a long time, and all the joints in the skull will be mobile or simply soft.
• changes the very shape of the skull, but is accompanied by additional painful and unpleasant symptoms.
• A defect in the development of the skull bones is considered craniostenosis. The essence of the disease is premature fusion of sutures and their ossification. The child's brain will grow, but the skull will not expand, which will lead to excessive pressure on the walls.
• Microcephaly– this diagnosis is made if the brain does not increase in size. A lack of brain mass of more than 25 percent (of the accepted norm) leads to early closing"fontanel".

Too big/small height

This indicator is important, but it is influenced by many factors. First of all, it's genetics. In general, babies with tall parents gain height quickly, but it is likely that a short great-grandmother or other distant relative may appear in the child’s genes. In this case, it is important that the development of this indicator is in harmonious combination with the others.

Deviations from average indicators do not always indicate diseases or pathologies. Weight gain or growth in many infants occurs in spurts. So what is missing in one month can be more than compensated for in the next. Therefore, it is important to record indicators constantly, without omissions. In most cases, this will help restore the emotional balance of the parents themselves, especially if the baby is the first in the family.