Height and weight Your child's height and weight are a very useful guide to general progress and development. You can have your baby regularly weighed at your child health clinic or doctor's baby clinic. Older children should be weighed and measured as part of other health checks. Babies vary in how fast they put on weight, but usually weight gain is quickest in the first six to nine months, and then it slows down. Most babies double their birthweight by four to five months.
Most babies treble their birthweight by one year.
Some health visitors may ask you questions about your baby or ask your child to do little tasks such as building with blocks or identifying pictures. Others may simply watch your child playing or perhaps drawing, and get an idea from this observation, and your comments, of how your child is doing. If your child's first language isn't English, you may need to ask if development reviews can be carried out with the help of someone who can speak your child's language. If your child seems slow in one particular area of development you'll have the opportunity to discuss what the reason may be. And to see whether there's anything useful that needs to be done to speed things up.