What exactly is your fundal height, why is it important and how does your doctor or midwife measure it? Many first time moms hear this phrase and wonder what it means, if it is normal, and if their baby is ok.

The fundal height is the measurement from the top of your pubic bone to the top of your fundus. Your doctor or midwife will normally start measuring this during your second trimester, possibly around the 20 week mark, or when you start showing if it is later in pregnancy.

The fundal height is used to assess your baby’s health while in the womb. Your fundal height should be equal to the number of weeks you have preogresses in your pregnancy. So if you are 30 weeks pregnant, your fundal height should measure around 30 centimeters. A couple of centimeters in either direction normally isn’t much of a worry. However, if you are measuring quite a bit different it could be a sign of a problem.

If you are measuring bigger than normal, it could be a sign of a baby that is also bigger than normal, or a sign that you are having twins if it was not previously discovered. If you are measuring smaller than normal, it could be a sign that your baby is not growing properly, or has perhaps stopped growing. If either of these is the case your doctor or midwife will most likely order an ultrasound to further check the health and development of your unborn baby.

As you reach the end of your pregnancy, the fundal height can become less accurate. As your baby grows and fills out your uterus, his position can change and the measurement of your fundal height can change as well. If your doctor or midwife shows no concern over your fundal height, it isn’t something that should concern you either.

By Sarah Holmes, Ph.D.

Once you have selected the best baby crib for you new baby, there are several issues to be aware of that will help you to use your new baby crib safely over time. This article reviews the important safety issues involved in safely using your new baby crib.

Where to Put Your Baby Crib: Location, Location, and Location
Carefully choose a location for your baby’s crib. It is best to avoid placing the baby crib near any windows, drapery fixtures, or furniture. The baby crib should be at least 3 feet from any window with drapery or blinds. If you have drapery cords hanging down, be sure to tie them up or cut them in half. They are a huge safety hazard for little ones. For more information on making your windows safe for children, please visit the Window Covering Safety Council website at www.windowcoverings.org. They will provide free cord-repair kits that will make your windows safe. You may also reach them toll at 1-800-506-4636. As your baby gets older, it is important to make sure that the baby crib is at least 1 foot away from any furniture or walls. The danger is that your toddler could climb out of the baby crib and get wedged in the space between the baby crib and the furniture or wall.

Using Crib Bedding Safely: The Bumper Pad Debate
There seems to be some debate about crib bedding in terms of using bumper pads. Some believe that this type of crib bedding poses a suffocation and choking hazard. Others recommend bumper pads because they prevent your baby from sticking an arm or leg through the railings. This will not become an issue until around 4 months of age. If you decide to use a bumper pads, follow these simple guidelines to make sure that you are using the bumper pads safely.

1. Make sure the bumper pad fits around the entire inside of the baby crib. There should be no area inside of the baby crib where the baby could wedge his head between the bumper and the inside of the baby crib.
2. If the bumper pad ties onto a standard baby crib, it should have a tie for each of the four corners and a tie in the middle of each long side. Ideally, the bumper pad should tie at the top and bottom edge. After securely tying the bumper pad to the baby crib, trim off the excess strings. They can pose a potential safety and choking hazard. Be sure to check to make sure it remains securely tied to the baby crib. Once your child can pull up to a standing position, it is time to remove the bumper pad. Your child could use it to try to climb out of the baby crib.

Say “No” to fluffy Crib Bedding
Even though it is tempting to put fluffy crib bedding, pillows and stuffed toys in the baby crib, it is important that you remove these items when you put your baby in the baby crib. An infant can suffocate on fluffy crib bedding like quilts and sheepskin as well as from stuffed toys and pillows. These products may cause infants to re-breathe exhaled air and suffocate. To prevent deaths from soft crib bedding, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) recommends the following:

1. Place baby on her/her back on a firm, tight-fitting mattress in a baby crib that meets current safety standards.
2. Remove crib bedding such as pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys and other soft products from the baby crib.
3. Consider using a sleeper as an alternative to blankets, with no other covering.
4. If using a blanket, put baby with the feet at the foot of the baby crib. Tuck a thin blanket around the baby crib mattress, only as far as the baby’s chest.
5. Make sure your baby’s head remains uncovered during sleep.
6. Do not place baby on a waterbed, sofa, soft mattress, pillow or other soft surface to sleep.

Check Your Baby Crib’s Hardware for Loose Screws
It is imperative that you regularly check the baby crib’s hardware to make sure the screws and slates haven’t come loose. As you baby begins to jump and bounce around in the baby crib, the hardware could become loose. Keep in mind that most baby crib injuries come from baby cribs coming a part. At the time that I wrote this article, I had never checked my baby’s crib for loose screws (she was 20 months old at the time). When I did check it for the first time, I found several loose screws caused from her favorite activity: jumping as high as possible in her baby crib! I had never thought about the importance of checking her baby crib. Now I check her baby crib for loose hardware on a monthly basis.

Using Crib Mobiles and Other Baby Crib Toys Safely
In general, never hang anything on the baby crib or near it so that you baby could reach it. For example, never hang a toy, diaper holder, or clothing on the baby crib. If you hang a crib mobile above the baby crib, make sure that the crib mobile is completely out of reach of your baby. If you are going to use baby crib gyms, make sure they are secured at both ends of the baby crib so that it can not be pulled into the baby crib. You will need to remove the baby crib gym when you baby is 5 months old or is able to get on his/her hands and knees. It is important to remove all baby toys from the baby crib when you put your baby to sleep. Any toys left in the baby crib pose a suffocation risk.

When to Adjust the Baby Crib Mattress Height
Once your baby is able to sit up by himself, move the baby crib mattress to a lower position. When your baby can stand, be sure to lower it to its lowest position.. It will be important to remove any toys and bedding that will help your baby climb out of the baby crib. Keep in mind that parents aren’t aware that their child can climb out of the baby crib until they do it. My sister was very surprised when her 24 month old son started crying during his nap. She went in his room and found him on the floor. He had used a stuffed teddy bear to help him climb out of the baby crib. She had no idea that he was even close to being able to climb out. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt. Not all children are us lucky when they climb out of the baby crib.

The Right Time to Switch from a Baby crib to a Bed
It is time to move your child to a bed when your child is 35 inches or higher or when the side rail is less than three-quarters of his or her height. . Some children are better climbers than others. If you have a good climber on your hands, you may need to move your child to a bed when your child begins to try to climb out of the baby crib. A lot of baby crib injuries happen when a child climbs out of the baby crib and falls to the floor.

A Couple of Other Remaining Safety Issues to Consider
Never use plastic bags as mattress covers. The plastic could cling to a baby’s face and cause suffocation.

Make sure that you raise the baby crib sides to their fullest height and lock them when your infant is in the baby crib.

With all of these tips in mind, you should be able to use your new baby crib safely with your little one. It can be a fun and stimulating environment as well as a safe place to play and sleep for your child.

About the Author
Sarah Holmes, Ph.D. quit her full-time job in order to stay home with her baby girl. She created www.BabyCribCentral.com as a free resource to other new moms and dads. Her site compares prices on hundreds of baby cribs from more than 20 online stores allowing you to find the beset price with a click of a button. Her site also offers lots of information about the different types of cribs as well as all sorts of safety information about how to buy and use your new crib safely.

By Lily Carter

Growth charts are tools your pediatrician can use to keep track of your child’s physical growth. During each checkup, the doctor will measure your baby’s length, weight, and head circumference. The doctor can then compare the measurements for your baby to a chart of national averages for infants of the same age and sex.

The result is that the doctor will be able to tell you what percentile your baby is in when compared to average baby growth around the nation. For example, if your doctor tells you your 4-month-old is in the 86th percentile for weight, that means 86 percent of the two-month-olds in your country weigh less, and that 14 percent weigh more. A baby that is at the 50th percentile in either height or weight is right at the national average.

Typically, parents seem to worry quite a bit about these percentages, and that worrying is usually needlessly blown out of proportion. There are many factors that come into play when determining where your baby’s statistics will fall in the percentile chart.

It is very important to remember that no two babies are the same and that every child, due to body chemistry, heredity, diet, and many other factors will grow at their own pace.

Some babies will have growth spurts right from the start and others will take a bit longer to begin major growth periods. These measurements, charts, and percentile points are merely guides for a doctor to help in assessing your baby’s growth.

In addition to the measurements that your pediatrician will take during regularly scheduled doctor visits, you may also want to track your baby’s growth at home.

Keep in mind that the measurements you take at home may or may not be as accurate as the measurements your doctor takes, but they can provide a certain degree of insight into the growth of your baby and many new parents have found it to be a fascinating way to participate in the parenting process.

Here are some tips that can help you, as inquisitive parents, track your baby’s growth at home using commercially available scales and other measuring devices.

If baby is too small to stand upright on the scale, you can try using this procedure:

Many parents want to know how tall their baby’s will be when they are born. There are many ways to guess, and sometimes you will get pretty close, but nothing is guaranteed and often your baby will end up several inches taller or shorter than the estimates just because of genes and the changing environment.

Double the Inches
Some people believe that you can double the inches of your two year old to determine how many inches they will be when they are at full adult height. If this was the case and your baby was 36 inches at two years old, then they would be 72 inches as an adult, or six feet.

Growth Charts
In many cases you can go by the growth charts to get a general idea. By the age of two your baby’s growth patterns should have stabilized enough that you can look at their chart and see if they fall more on the small side, average side, or high side of the chart. If they fall on the small side, they will probably be on the smaller side for adults. If they are in the 90% as a two year old, then they will probably be a tall adult.

The Formula
There is actually a formula some go by that can be pretty accurate. It says to add up the parent’s height and divide by two to get the average. Then for a girl subtract 2.6 inches and for a boy add 2.6 inches. That means that if mom is 67 inches tall and dad is 73 inches tall, making the total 140 inches, the average is 70 inches. This would make their daughter approximately 5′6″ tall and their son approximately 6′0″ tall. This is not always accurate however because it is possible that a girl might get a short grandmother’s gene as her dominate gene, making her shorter than the formula states she would be.

Nothing is exact; after all it is all science. Everything is just the expert’s best guesses on how your child will grow through puberty and into adulthood.