How to Measure Children's Height & Weight

As a parent, one of the most satisfying things is tracking your child's height and weight over time. Not only is this information useful for doctor's visits or general health information, but you can compare the growth rates of your children or see where the growth spurts are. The information may also be useful for finding correctly-sized clothing.

Instructions

Height

• 1

  Remove your child's shoes, socks, hair bands and anything else that may interfere with a good measurement.

• 2

  Stand your child with his back to a wall on a level floor with no carpeting. Make sure your child's head and back are touching the wall and that his shoulders are straight. Have the child put his feet together and have the heels touch the wall. Finally, the child should stand up straight and look straight ahead.

• 3

  Place a flat piece of cardboard or other flat, thin item on top of the child's head making a right angle with the wall behind him.

• 4

  Mark the wall with a pencil at the point where the bottom of the cardboard meets the wall. The child can step away from the wall at this point.

• 5

  Measure the height from the floor to the mark on the wall using a metal tape measure. Write down the height to the nearest 1/8th of an inch.

Measuring Weight

• 6

  Place a digital scale on a hard floor such as tile or wood rather than on a carpet.

• 7

  Have your child remove her shoes and other heavy clothes. It's best to measure weight without any clothes on.

• 8

  Have your child step on to the scale with both feet in the middle of the scale and hold still while you get a reading.

• 9

  Write down the weight to the nearest decimal.