My ped said growth under 2 is actually a pretty reliable predictor of adult height. |
It is not as simple. OP, my brother was below average all his childhood and he grew up to 6 ft 3 inches in high school. My husband was super tall until middle school (90% height), started puberty early, and he stayed at 5 ft 11 inches. His sister is 6 ft tall and she kept growing, despite getting her period at 11 years old. How is his eating and sleeping? |
| My daughter was in the 10th percentile until she was 3. She moved up to about the 40th percentile during the elementary years, was a bit late getting into puberty, and ended up 5’6. |
Sounds like he might have some sonrt of nutritional absorption issue. This absolutely can impact his adult height. I don't think polling kids who dont have similar health issues will yield relevant results. My 13.5yr old son has not gone through puberty and he is 5'6". Had a hand scan and dr said he should be well over 6'. However he also had an autoimmune issue when he was young and THANK God We figured it out before his 1st birthday. His growth was slow and he was struggling to gain weight, he was on the cusp of failure to thrive. I absolutely did not take no for an answer and banged loudly on a lot of doctors doors. Once we got him proper treatment the growth was rapid, like within weeks he filled out and shot up. One thing I didn't do was wait on insurance. At the time 13 years ago genetic testing was limited and expensive I just paid the money and skipped the bullshit. |
So you realize your husband is 5 inches taller than his dad, your brothers are 5 inches taller than their dad.... it’s not so cut and dry. Your child might be on the shorter end despite having tall parents. He has a short grandfather. Who cares? He is still your kid. |
Mine said the opposite. It is NOT genetic at birth/before 2. Genetics come into play after 2. Many things influence a tiny or very big baby---nutrition, prematurity, etc. But, past 2 the advantages or disadvantages disappear and it's mostly genetics. My oldest was a huge infant/toddler---like 100% height and 90% weight. By 3, he leveled out and is more like what I would expect given family height---75% height, 50% weight. My youngest was teeny tiny and didn't eat as a toddler. It was like OP's child. He went from 75% at birth to 16% at 2. But now at 11 years old he's 50% height, still pretty damn skinny. He's the tiniest of everyone--but my husband is 5'10" so he tracks with that. |
We also grow late on both sides. My brother is 6'2" but 2 of those inches were in college and I also grew a full inch in college which is rare for a woman. My older son is predicted to be 6'2"--but is having a growth spurt much later than his friends. His shoe size is 11---but vertically he wasn't growing like his friends. He just started really growing now at age 14. I think he will be one to shoot up on the later side of HS. He's by no means short--but not we have neighbors where the kid was 5'9" in 6th grade and stayed there through HS. |
| OP, you are 5'4"? That is below average for a woman, so I would not describe you as tall. |
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OP. I think people have been helpful with their examples and I'll give you mine, but its not straightforward and things can unpredictably, change.
My DS when he was 2 was in the 50th weight percentile and the 80th height percentile. He is now 13 years old and he is still in the 50th weight percentile but also the 40th height. My DD is 12 and currently about 5'1-5'2 so it looks like the prediction would be she should get to 5'4. I am 5'7, my sister is 5'11 and so was our paternal grandmother. Its a roulette. |
5’4 is the average height for women. 5’8.5 is the average height of man, even if my son did trend towards me. 5’4 is well below that for a male. It would be very unusual for a son to be as small/smaller than his mom who is of average height with so many relatives above 6’ |
| Which autoimmune PP? His weight is fine so not sure it’s a failure to grow. I need to get him tested for celiac today so wondering if it’s that. |
Is this true? No wonder everyone seems so short. Sometimes I just blame the DC area, which is definitely filled with short guys. But I suppose it's just filled with average guys. |
DC is filled with average height men. If you are from the a place like the upper midwest, you are probably used to above-average height men. |
| OP, talk with your pediatrician (when you say "his doctor" I'm assuming it's a pediatrician) about consulting with a pediatric endocrinologist. It sounds like this is a bit more complicated than asking for people if they had kids who "shot up". |
OP, this is almost exactly my family profile. I had to double check whether I wrote it. My husband's dad is taller but his mom is smaller so it averages out. I, too, have one tall son and one tiny son. Small one has always been small which isn't the profile for a kid with health issues so doctors have dismissed all concerns. I am so surprised by how small he is... most of the time I don't worry. Just once in a while I get this feeling like, what if there is something wrong and we have missed it? |