Pediatrician told my son he will be 6 feet tall!

[Anonymous]

He probably looked at a chart, saw that he was in the 85 percentile, and if it holds over time he’ll be 6 ft tall. No need to get worked up about it, I don’t understand what you’re venting about.

Might be a good time to explain your kid how predictions, variability and genetics work. At 13 the basics should have been covered in math and science classes.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry--the doctor shouldn't have said that. Height is mostly genetic.

We took our son to the doctor for genetic testing for Marfan (negative) but height came up because it's marker for that condition.

I recall something like kids may be taller than their tallest parent, but it won't be extreme - 2-3 inches.

[Anonymous]

I strongly doubt this happened.

[Anonymous]

I am so happy my younger son who was a very late grower just hit 5’9” at 17. We knew he was behind growth when he had a cray of heel/foot at 14. They thought about two years behind. He didn’t have all of his adult teeth at 16. His 2nd molars (not the wisdom) just came in- one had to be pulled. He lost baby teeth late.

He just had an annual physical and was told he’s just starting the trajectory of a growth spurt. He may end up taller than his 5’11.5” older brother (who is still growing at 19).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He probably looked at a chart, saw that he was in the 85 percentile, and if it holds over time he’ll be 6 ft tall. No need to get worked up about it, I don’t understand what you’re venting about.

Might be a good time to explain your kid how predictions, variability and genetics work. At 13 the basics should have been covered in math and science classes.

My kid was 20% at 13 and 90% at 18. He was also 95% at 2 years old and kept going down (40-20%) until growth spurt at 16.

Percentile will be high at 13 if kid grows early/hits puberty early and a kid that is a late grower will be average or low percentile at 13, and move up percentile as he grows …while the early grower moves down percentile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, height at 14 doesn't predict at all. I know people like my brother who stopped growing at 15ish and some people like my cousin who didn't hit his big growth spurt until 16 and grew while in college.

Right! My dh was 6’0 when he graduated high school and 6’2 when he graduated college. I know a lot of boys who grew in college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, height at 14 doesn't predict at all. I know people like my brother who stopped growing at 15ish and some people like my cousin who didn't hit his big growth spurt until 16 and grew while in college.

Right! My dh was 6’0 when he graduated high school and 6’2 when he graduated college. I know a lot of boys who grew in college

Height at 14 is actually predictive of height at adulthood but it’s not a perfect correlation. You’re talking as if you have a very limited understanding of variability and statistics.

The doctor wasn’t wrong that the kid will likely be 6ft absent other information, but it’s not guaranteed he’ll be 6ft. Perhaps he should have explained better, but still it’s obvious to most people what he meant.

[Anonymous]

Our ped told my son at 13 or 14 that he would be 6’3”-6’5” and likely at the taller end of the spectrum. He’s 18 and 6’5”…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh.

I hate those charts and growth predictors.

My DS is 14.5 and 5’9”, convinced he will be 6’0”+ since some online calculator say so (and his older brother is, sure). But pretty much anyone could look at my DS and realize he is about done growing. I don’t say anything about it to him either way, but I’m 99.5% sure he is going to be disappointed.


The online calculators are one thing but it is another thing for a pediatrician to be doing it…..I’m sure the ped didn’t mean anything by it, but probably not a good idea.

Odd. How can one look at a 14.5 yo boy and know he’s done growing? I can’t tell looking at my own 14.5 son. I think there are another two inches or so, but who knows?

I do, however, take advantage of the unknown timing to explain that height is impacted by sleep and nutrition. So he’s motivated to look after both.

[Anonymous]

Did you hear exactly how he phrased it ? There is a difference between “you are going to be 6 foot” and “you could grow to 6 foot” type of phrasing.

Also if he’s only 2 inches shorter than dad at barely 13, it’s likely he’s going to be taller than his parents height indicates. Realistically might be more like 5’9 or 5’10 but keep in mind a pediatrician sees a LOT of kids over this time and if anyone has a good guess on final height it’s going to be them. Maybe he sees something you don’t. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annoying. My kid was told that and is 5 7 so yeah.

Same. He was disappointed because of the expectation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He probably looked at a chart, saw that he was in the 85 percentile, and if it holds over time he’ll be 6 ft tall. No need to get worked up about it, I don’t understand what you’re venting about.

Might be a good time to explain your kid how predictions, variability and genetics work. At 13 the basics should have been covered in math and science classes.

My kid was 20% at 13 and 90% at 18. He was also 95% at 2 years old and kept going down (40-20%) until growth spurt at 16.

Percentile will be high at 13 if kid grows early/hits puberty early and a kid that is a late grower will be average or low percentile at 13, and move up percentile as he grows …while the early grower moves down percentile.

+1

My DS was 30th percentile for height at 13. He is 90th percentile for height at age 16 and is still growing. Late bloomer.

Some of his friends were near their final heights already at 13.

And of course most boys are somewhere in between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Annoying. My kid was told that and is 5 7 so yeah.

Same. He was disappointed because of the expectation.

Or he is just disappointed in general because he’s short. Normal and not the doctor’s fault.

[Anonymous]

My doc told my son he’s likely going to be 6’1 or 6’2 since he was about 10, and voila, at 15 he’s 6’1. It turns out those docs and their medical degrees often know more than parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh.

I hate those charts and growth predictors.

My DS is 14.5 and 5’9”, convinced he will be 6’0”+ since some online calculator say so (and his older brother is, sure). But pretty much anyone could look at my DS and realize he is about done growing. I don’t say anything about it to him either way, but I’m 99.5% sure he is going to be disappointed.

The online calculators are one thing but it is another thing for a pediatrician to be doing it…..I’m sure the ped didn’t mean anything by it, but probably not a good idea.

It wouldn’t be unusual for a kid his size and height to gain an inch over a year and another inch by 18. He would be very close to 6 ft. He’s not far off