The Basics of Your Growing Baby

The first 12 months of your baby's life is a period of amazing growth. By the time he smushes his face into his first birthday cake, he'll have tripled his birth weight and grown about 10 inches. This development may be hard to notice on a day-to-day basis. But you'll see the proof at his well-baby checkups. "Your doctor will closely monitor your infant's weight, height, and head circumference this year to make sure he's growing at a healthy rate," says Parents advisor Jennifer Shu, MD, a pediatrician and coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality. You, meanwhile, will probably have questions about how your child's doing and how she compares with other babies her age.