Editorial policy

Articles on this site are published by the GrowthKit Editorial Team, the small team behind the GrowthKit child growth tracker for iPhone. GrowthKit was started by a parent of two who wanted accurate, private growth tracking and built the app's WHO percentile engine and the 100+ free calculators on this site.

We are not doctors, nurses or dietitians.We don't give medical advice. We explain what official health organizations and published research say, and show you the underlying numbers so you can have a better-informed conversation with your child's pediatrician.

We rely on primary sources: the organizations that publish the growth standards and clinical guidance pediatricians use, and peer-reviewed research. We don't cite other parenting blogs as evidence. Every article ends with a list of its sources, and important numbers link to the source where they first appear.

• World Health Organization — Child Growth Standards
• CDC — Growth Charts
• CDC — Developmental Milestones (Learn the Signs. Act Early.)
• American Academy of Pediatrics — HealthyChildren.org
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
• Peer-reviewed research indexed in PubMed

Where official bodies disagree (for example, U.S. and U.K. guidance on some feeding questions), we say so and follow U.S. guidance by default, since most of our readers are in the U.S.

Growth tables and charts in our articles are generated directly from the official WHO Child Growth Standards (birth to 5 years) and CDC growth chart (2 to 20 years) LMS parameter files, using the same LMS (Lambda-Mu-Sigma) method and code as our free calculators and the GrowthKit app. We don't hand-copy growth values, which keeps every page consistent with the official data.

• Every number, threshold and age range is checked against the primary source it cites.
• Clinical thresholds that appear in several articles (for example, when a newborn should regain birth weight or which milestones to expect by 18 months) come from one shared internal fact sheet, so our articles don't contradict each other.
• Safety guidance (safe sleep, choking hazards, medicine dosing, fever) follows current AAP guidance.
• Statements about the GrowthKit app describe only features the app actually has.
• Articles say clearly when the evidence is weak, disputed or still emerging.

We use AI writing tools to help research, draft and edit some content. A person on our team reviews every article, checks every number against the cited sources, and is responsible for what we publish.

We re-check every article at least once a year, and sooner when major guidance changes (for example, a new AAP policy statement). The “Updated” date on an article changes only when we make a meaningful change to its content, not for cosmetic edits.

If you spot an error, please email hey@heyvish.com with the page link and what you believe is wrong, ideally with a source. We review every report and aim to correct verified errors within seven days.

We make GrowthKit, and our articles mention it where it's genuinely useful. When we compare growth tracking apps, we say that GrowthKit is ours. We don't run ads, accept paid placements, or sell your data. See our privacy policy.

Content on growthkit.app is for general information only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a qualified health professional. Always talk to your child's pediatrician about your child's health. If you think your child needs urgent care, call 911 (in the U.S.) or your local emergency number.