Height-Weight Charts For Children
As a concerned parent, it is comforting to be able to occasionally take a look at what is "normal" or "average" when it comes to child development, even if the experts think that parents are better off not being concerned about what normal is. However, wanting to know what is best for our children is the most important parenting skill there is.
Truthfully, the experts do have a point. Obsessing about what is normal or average or "right" when it comes to baby development or toddler development isn’t always a good thing. Every child is different, and every baby is different in how fast they grow and put on weight, just as every toddler is different when it comes to how fast they walk or run, or even how big they are. However, withholding information from concerned parents is never a good idea. When people lack the information they want, they tend to infer their own data, and when it is worried parents we are talking about, we tend to assume the worst. It certainly wouldn’t send most parents into a frightful state of paranoia if we got a good look at the official height-weight charts for toddlers and the official height and weight charts for babies.
Unfortunately, the Internet doesn’t offer too much help for a curious parent who wonders if their 3-year old is taller than average, shorter than average, or bigger than average overall. Too many search engine results point to preachy articles about obesity in young children and toddlers. Most parents can eyeball their toddler or small child and have a gut feel about whether or not they are starting to get "big boned." But, for parents wondering if little Sally is shorter than other 4-year olds, or if it just so happens that her handful of friend are all just taller than average, such articles are no help.
Trying to limit a search to reputable sources only makes it worse, because these are the doctors, counselors, and other experts who like to hold that information about whether or not a kid is average weight or average height close to their vest. Instead, they hand out patronizing answers like, "perfectly normal" and then tell us "I wouldn’t worry about it." Like that helps.
So, it was with some excitement that I found the official U.S. government height and weight charts. These are the height-weight percentile charts with the graphs of curving lines that show exactly where your child falls with regard to how tall or short they are relative to their peers in the United States. The reason they are so hard to find is that they aren’t called what you think they are. They aren’t listed on a government webpage under height-and-weight charts or height-weight graphs, but are rather listed as Clinical Growth Charts, and they are on the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website of all places.
Is My Baby Tall Short or Average? Is My Toddler Taller or Shorter than Average?
Of course, there is, in fact, no reason to lose even one second of sleep over the fact that a toddler or baby is shorter or taller than average. The growth rates change dramatically, and a kid who is tall today can end up average or short tomorrow. However, more facts and truthful parenting information is always a good thing to have. If nothing else, it can get you to stop worrying, especially if it turns out your little one is just a tiny bit taller or shorter than average.
Ironically, at these younger ages, the percentiles for height and weight exaggerate the actual differences between the size of toddlers. That is because when dealing with a 36" inch tall child, a full 10% difference in height is just three and a half inches. As relative percentiles to their peers, the numbers are even smaller.
For example, in 2-year old boys, the difference between 50th percentile, and 95th percentile is just 2 inches. In other words, the difference between perfectly average and taller than 95% of all little boys who are two, is just a two tiny little inches. That leaves a lot of room in between for everyone who is "a little taller" than average.
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NORAD Santa Tracking Website Up and Running
Each year, for more than 50 years, NORAD has tracked Santa Claus as he flies around the world on Christmas Eve. NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs under Cheyenne Mountain was featured in the movie War Games
The centerpiece of NORAD’s claim to fame is that the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is a joint operation between the United States and Canada, is that it is responsible for detecting incoming attacks against the United States of America. Most famously, this involves detecting the launch of nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union. The idea is that no one on the planet is better at tracking objects as they fly through the air. Who better then, to track Santa Claus on his famous Xmas Eve flights?
NORAD Tracks Santa Website
Not long ago, NORAD’s radar detection of Santa’s flights was a small segment on the local news broadcast or a mention on the radio. But in the days of Web 2.0, NORAD has a full website up and running to provide up to the minute updates on Santa’s exact position as he circles the globe.
Since, there is no tracking action going on right now, the NORAD Santa Claus website has other entertainment and information available for visitors. Kids with an interest in the Air Force or radar or technology, or just old Saint Nick himself will find plenty of fun things to see and do on the NORAD Christmas site.
Of course, Christmas Eve is when the real action starts.
Christmas Eve NORAD Tracking Information Online
On Christmas Eve, NORAD tracks Santa live on the Internet. Graphics, charts, maps, and radar screens that will satisfy the most technical of kiddos appear to track Santa Claus as he moves across the globe bringing toys to all the good little girls and boys. As an added bonus, this can be a great way to also teach children about things like how time zones work, how it is night on part of the Earth while at the same time daytime on another part of the Earth. If you want to get really fancy, you can even broach the subject of the International Date Line and explain how in some places on the globe, it is already tomorrow.
The Santa Tracking NORAD website address is www.noradsanta.org. You’ll find plenty of dot-com addresses that are either imitators, or flat out steal the images and content while serving up plenty of advertising to unsuspecting girls and boys (and their parents). However, the real NORAD website tracking page is plenty of fun for kids of all ages.
One quick word of warning, though. Unless you really want to test out your parenting skills, before you try and fire up the Internet and show your kids where Santa is in order to rush them off to bed, check the site first. Otherwise, you’ll have children who feel no urgency since Santa is still in Europe, depending upon when their bedtime is.
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Good Children’s Movies for Toddlers and Young Kids
Recently, I started thinking about how many movies I’ve tried to show my now three-year old daughter, and how many of those films she just never got into. It isn’t that these aren’t great movies, they are, it is just that for a young toddler with a short attention span, and love for action, color, and fun, some movies just are not well suited to kiddos.
So, I’ve started compiling a list of the great movies to show children, as well as a listing of what movies from Disney classics, to Pixar movie cartoons, belong in the home library of every parent with small children.
You can see the current list here: Best Movies for Kids
I also recently wrote up a page at another website detailing the Disney movie, The Emperor’s New Groove, which is one of the best kids movies for toddlers thanks to a fast-pace, fun characters, and plenty of action. In addition, the villain, while plenty scary and evil for those of us a little older and more comfortable with those topics, is surprisingly non-frightening for youngsters who find her more funny than scary.
What Being a Dad Is Like
Just a quick micro-update.
Was thinking about ways being a father is different from how things are before you have any kids. I had a pretty good list when I heard an nondescript noise from upstairs, and I realized, that one of the many changes in your life when you become a father is that those little I’m sure it was probably nothing sounds that you used to ignore quickly become, What was that? sounds that you need to check out right aways.
Just a lonely blurb for the afternoon…
Baby Food Stains Remover (Works on Poop Stains Too)
Babies are messy. The spills and accidents put stains in baby clothes that can be very hard to remove. Even parents of newborns have to content with baby formula stains, spit up stains, and most of all, poop stains. Getting stains out of baby clothes isn’t as easy as it sounds. For starters, babies have sensitive skin, so harsh laundry soaps and stain removers are out unless you want to be calling the pediatrician about a baby rash that looks really bad.
Bleach is a no-no for baby clothes too, not that it really matters since virtually all jumpers, onesies, shirts, pants, and tops made for babies have bright colors or cute patterns on them anyway.
Baby Laundry
Shortly after giving birth to a beautiful baby the mommy and daddy realize two things, that sleep is really, really, important, and that the increase in laundry volume is very disproportionate to the increase in family members. The washing machine gets a workout and the dryer does too. For the most part, though, more laundry is easily handled, especially once you realize that there is no point in folding baby clothes.
Yet, when it comes to ugly yellow stains, or brown stains, or even blue stains (don’t ask) it can challenge anyone’s parenting skills. For some reason, our usual stain stick, the Shout stain remover with the plastic brush thing on the top, seemed particularly ineffective on baby food stains. It is also not fun to try and rub a stain fighter all over the back of a onesie after a diaper blowout leaves a disgusting yellowish stain all over that awesome baby outfit Grandma bought.
Many skilled parents use a baby laundry detergent like Dreft or other pediatrician recommended laundry soap with no dyes, no perfumes, and no harsh chemicals in order to keep baby from developing a rash from his clothing or sheets. It is natural to assume that a laundry soap like that might be "weaker" than regular soaps with all of their powerful non-sensitive skin friend chemicals; so, you might be tempted to try washing baby’s clothes in "regular" laundry soap. However it turns out that isn’t the case. (Most of the stuff in laundry soap these days has less to do with getting your clothes clean than it does with smell, wrinkles, or static.)
If you are thinking of throwing a scoop of OxyClean in with the "pure" baby laundry detergent, don’t. The oxygen bleach chemicals that give it the cleaning power it has are some of the most irritating ones out there when it comes to your baby’s skin.
So, what is a parent to do? Just get over it? After all, the baby doesn’t care if her clothes are stained, and most people are too busy looking at how cute she is to notice a stain on her back. Maybe, parents should just accept that baby clothing stains are a part of life.
WHAT?!?! Accept defeat? From a STAIN? NEVER!
Best Baby Clothes Stain Remover
The Undefeated Daddy bought just about every stain remover and stain fighter on the shelves of the grocery store and at Target. There would be no permanent yellow poop stains on his kid’s clothes.
After trying out tons of different things it turns out the best baby stain remover is Zout. It not only gets out baby food stains, baby formula stains, and spit up stains, it also works really great on those poop stains that go unnoticed while baby is in their car seat, crib, or Jump-a-roo. Best of all, it comes in a spray bottle, so it is just as easy to cover large amorphous blob areas as it is to get a single strawberry jelly drop spot.
The most important baby stain removing tip is to rinse the clothing as soon as possible. However, do NOT use hot water. Hot water actually starts setting the stain even as you try and rinse it out. Instead, start with luke-warm water, or even cold water to rinse the stain out. Whatever is left, hit it with the Zout. Don’t be afraid to really soak it. I’ve never had it cause any discoloration even on super bright clothes or sheets.
Just let it sit there in a puddle on top of the stain until you are ready to do laundry. Obviously, if you let it sit there for five or six days, it might be too late; it isn’t magic. But, if you get baby’s stained outfit into the washing machine sometime that day or the next day, you should be fine. It shouldn’t be too hard to do with baby generating enough laundry for a small load every 24 to 36 hours 
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