15 weeks - www.kidspot.com.au baby’s first year update


	Baby's First Year Kidspot

Welcome to week 15!

This Week Your Baby Is:

Rolling over

Some time around Week Fifteen your small bundle that once stayed where you put him, will be on the move. Rolling can happen in stages - front to back, followed some time later by back to front - and very often babies begin by only being able to roll in one direction so that they can end up pinned in a corner of a room.

Rolling only begins once your baby has sufficiently developed his neck and head muscles - see, there is a reason for tummy time - enough to flip himself from his back to his front, and while there are babies who never really get rolling properly, the development of the muscles involved in rolling are instrumental in allowing your baby to learn to sit unassisted and crawl later in the year.

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Hot Topic:

Growth charts

So you take your baby to be measured and weighed every couple of weeks, and then months, for the first years of his life, but what does it all mean? Interpreting the percentile growth charts after each visit can seem as difficult as calculus did in high-school.

Percentile growth charts track your baby's growth along a time frame against what is considered 'normal' growth patterns in babies of the same age. Because babies all develop at different rates, there's huge variety between them so it's a good idea to treat growth chart measurements as a guide. All growth charts are rated in percentiles, which cover the variations of 'normal' - and most babies fall between the 5th and 97th percentile bands, which are all normal. If your baby is in the 40th percentile for weight and length, it means that she is heavier and taller than 40% of other babies of the same age and sex. A baby in the 80th percentile for head circumference has a larger head than 80% of other babies of the same age and sex - both babies, though, fall comfortably within the 'normal' range.

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Kidspot Tip:

Changing your baby's nappy

For something that once seemed like a straight forward activity that was done time and again each day, changing your baby's nappy can seem like a saga of epic proportions once your baby's rolling.

Leaving him on the change table for even a second without keeping a hand on him is not an option now, so you may want to consider abandoning the change table altogether and using the floor instead. Even on the floor, however, you may find yourself struggling with a pooey-bottomed baby who constantly tries to flip over. Try to keep a couple of small toys nearby to distract him long enough to get a fresh nappy on and then stand back and watch him go!