Head circumference for boys at 5 months

At 5 months, the median head circumference for boys on the WHO Child Growth Standards is 42.6 cm (16.8 in): half of boys this age measure less and half more. The middle half of boys, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, falls between 41.7 and 43.4 cm, a spread of 1.6 cm. The outer lines of the chart, the 2nd and 98th percentiles, sit at 40.1 and 45.0 cm.

Since 4 months, the median has risen by 0.9 cm in one month. By 6 months it reaches 43.3 cm. That monthly change is less than half the 2.8 cm of the first month, because growth slows steadily through the first two years.

For girls at 5 months the median is 41.5 cm, 1.1 cm less than for boys, which is why the charts are drawn separately by sex.

On the older CDC 2000 infant charts, which some clinics and websites still use before age 2, the median at 5 months is 43.0 cm. A boy exactly on the WHO median would read as about the 36th percentile there, one reason two charts can give different answers for the same head circumference.

Reading the table: a boy at 5 months who measures 43.0 cm is at about the 64th percentile, meaning that out of 100 boys this age, about 64 measure less.