Height and weight conversion chart for safer care

We can provide better and safer care for your child when we weigh in Kilograms and measure in Centimeters.

Although most American families measure a child’s weight in pounds and length/height in inches, the doctors and nurses at pediatric hospitals need to know this information in kilograms and centimeters.

Why is this important?

Children often need smaller amounts of medications than adults. Accidentally calculating the amount of medication using the weight in pounds instead of kilograms can result in a child getting more medicine than they should.

We want your child to be safe.

In order to provide safer care and prevent medication errors, RMHC has put the following precautions in place:

• Our scales only provide metric (kilogram/centimeter) measures of weight and height.
• Your child’s weight in kilograms and height in centimeters is recorded on your child’s medical record in a prominent place, so that everyone providing care has accurate information.
• We only provide information related to height and weight in metric form (centimeters and kilograms) in order to avoid confusion when calculating dosages.

Why are we providing this chart?

We believe that it is important for you to be a part of your child’s care and want to provide information that is accurate and easy to understand. When we refer to your child’s weight or height using metric measurements, this chart can be used to convert kilograms into pounds and centimeters into feet/inches.

PLEASE NOTE: Over-the-counter medicines are usually dosed by age or pounds. Please read labels carefully.