so little boss is eight months old…I was unbelievably naive to think that staying at home and looking after a baby would make time slow down. if anything the past eight months have flown by quick as a jiffy – well maybe not that quick but you get my drift. we had her check up with the health nurse this week and answered the endless round of questions before little boss got her gear off to get weighed and measured. everything was going well with both weight and length following the curve…then we get to the head circumference. so old pam puts the tape around little boss’ noggin and then marks the measurement in her record book…she looks at the dot on the page and declares that she must have read the tape wrong because that can’t be right….so she measures again, this time with more care, and shut the front gate it’s the same measurement…and its off the curve – by a mile. now the problem with diagnostic tools is that when something is presented that doesn’t fit into the norm then it means there is something wrong. there must be a reason for this outlier in the stats….and there is. we are a family of big heads. I don’t mean ego, I mean literally huge heads. my grandmother, father, brother, nephew, myself and now little boss – all dealt the challenge of finding a hat that fits. for some of us we also have ears that stick out either side of our big heads and at eight months it’s very cute but later on when people are calling you wing nut it aint so much fun. of course you grow into your head and to look at us you wouldn’t say that we are out of proportion but at six months little boss was wearing hats to fit 12-18 months poor love….even getting her bonds singlet over her head brings tears to her eyes if I havent ruined it by stretching the neck.
anyhoo so the health nurse says to me “keep an eye on it”….ahhhh what for? yes I am fully aware that her measurements are all meant to follow the same curve and clearly she has gone off the chart on her head circumference but surely genetics play a part and common sense should prevail. my mum found my baby book in their latest move and to say things have changed in the last 40 odd years is an understatement. todays health record comes in a folder and must go with you at every doctors visit. it contains all immunisation info, measurements, doctors visits, health questionnaires and assessments and a whole heap of other stuff I havent bothered to read. mine is a small book of about 20 pages, several of which are blank and most of the information relates to milestones rather than health topics. the one page that did interest me was titled immunization and it says….
The Department of Health recommends that immunization against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping-cough should start when your baby is three months old and three injections should be given at monthly intervals.
When baby is 15-18 months old he will require the first booster injection and at school entry he will require another booster injection if he is to be fully protected.
The immunization against poliomyelitis should also start when your baby is three months old and three doses of Sabin vaccine are given at two monthly intervals followed by a booster dose when baby is 15-18 months old and a further booster when he enters school.
just a little different to the program we have now…and lucky for my mum that they didn’t measure head circumference back then or she would have been freaking out with the size on my brothers melon…
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