Attend regular growth monitoring and promotion sessions (GMP) to make sure your baby is growing well.
Take your baby to growth monitoring and promotion monthly during the first year.
A healthy child who is growing well should gain weight every month. If your child is not gaining weight or is losing weight, there is a problem.
Attending growth monitoring and promotion sessions can help identify nutrition problems your child may have, such as severe thinness or swelling. Nutrition problems may need urgent treatment with special (therapeutic) foods.
Measuring the upper arm of a child over 6 months (MUAC) also identifies severe thinness.
During growth monitoring and promotion sessions, you can ask questions about your child’s growth, health and nutrition.
It is important to address poor growth and other signs of poor nutrition quickly, as soon as they are identified. If the problem is severe, you should immediately take your child to the nearest health facility.
When you go to the health centre for growth monitoring, ask about family planning too.
You should also ask about your baby’s immunization schedule. Immunizations protect babies against several diseases.
