Diane, you said:  "I use non-commercial, very rough charts with hardly any
numbers or
graph marks on them, and I tell parents I like the charts because they're
not precise enough to obsess over....I give a copy of the chart to the
parents if they want it."

I thought you might find it interesting to know that in the UK every parent
gets a little red book -- a flexible binder sort of thing -- which is their
record of their child, which they carry around to the various health
professionals they might visit.   The 'parent held child health record' (the
catchy title is usually condensed to the 'red book') contains growth
charts -- there is a boys' version and a girls'.  So every parent we see
already has their own professional-standard chart to hand.

In a paper in shanty town Brazil, Behague has a very interesting discussion
of the meaning growth charts and weighing had for the breastfeeding women
studied.  The charts became quite an influence on them and on how they
organised their plans for feeding their babies.  I am unaware of any other
qualitative (or any, actually) sort of research on growth charts and their
effect on parents -- a lack in the literature noted by Panpanich and Garner
in their Cochrane review on the subject.

I do not say that there is no legit use of charts, but it seems that what
you and Pat are saying that individual practitioners have to make up
reasonable interpretations as they go along.  A bit ridiculous, isn't it?
For something so seemingly 'commonplace'???

Behague, D (1993) Growth Monitoring and the Promotion of Breastfeeding Soc.
Sci. Med. 37(12):1565-78.
.
Panpanich, R, Garner, (1999) Growth Monitoring in Children The Cochrane
Library 1999 issue 4.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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