Pediatrician told my son he will be 6 feet tall!

[Anonymous]

This isn’t that big of a deal. Ours told DD she would be 5’7”, which is ridiculous given our heights. She proudly quoted that for years. All I responded was a calm “I hope you are.” She ended up being 5’2”, exactly like me. She is not upset and sometimes laughed at how she believed that.

And yes, I also have a son so before you tell me height is a big deal for boys. No teen who’s done growing is going to be upset that they didn’t or did reach a prediction by their pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

A prediction based on percentiles at the pre-pubertal age of 10 is going to be more accurate than a prediction based on percentiles at 13 because the age of puberty is so variable. If op’s kid already had a growth spurt, he may not have much farther to go. At 13, my ds was shorter than op’s son, but he hadn’t had his growth spurt at all then. It hit in the last year and now he’s nearly 6’1”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t that big of a deal. Ours told DD she would be 5’7”, which is ridiculous given our heights. She proudly quoted that for years. All I responded was a calm “I hope you are.” She ended up being 5’2”, exactly like me. She is not upset and sometimes laughed at how she believed that.

And yes, I also have a son so before you tell me height is a big deal for boys. No teen who’s done growing is going to be upset that they didn’t or did reach a prediction by their pediatrician.

You really think this? I think you're generally wrong. I think boys will eventually accept their height predictions are wrong but also that quite a few will be upset to be shorter than predicted.

I also have a son.

[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.

Same for my DS. And yes, late bloomers have longer to grow, so if they were short in MS, chances are, they will be above average later in HS. That happened to my DS.

OP - do you know how far along he is in puberty? That will tell you how much longer he has to grow. I think at Tanner stage 5 they pretty much stop growing. Tanner stage 4 is usually when they grow the most.

That was 16 for my DS. He was 58.86 in at 13. He is now 5'11 last we checked at 20. I haven't seen him in a while, so he might be taller. His growth has definitely slowed. DH grew till 20/21.

DS pediatrician also predicted that DS would be about 6' based on the trajectory, but that was when DS was like 17, not 13. Based on 13 yr trajectory, he would've been like 5'9".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t that big of a deal. Ours told DD she would be 5’7”, which is ridiculous given our heights. She proudly quoted that for years. All I responded was a calm “I hope you are.” She ended up being 5’2”, exactly like me. She is not upset and sometimes laughed at how she believed that.

And yes, I also have a son so before you tell me height is a big deal for boys. No teen who’s done growing is going to be upset that they didn’t or did reach a prediction by their pediatrician.

You really think this? I think you're generally wrong. I think boys will eventually accept their height predictions are wrong but also that quite a few will be upset to be shorter than predicted.

I also have a son.

+1 DS would've been not happy if he had not reached close to 6' that the ped predicted.

[Anonymous]

I would get a second opinion to nip that in the bud. Otherwise your son will count on it, even if logically he knows he shouldn’t, and he’ll be disappointed.

The doctor is an absolute idiot. I would complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

How do you know that his friends were near their final heights at 13 — if they are all around 16 now? Is there something that indicates which boys will continue to grow into their late teens and very early 20s — and which ones won’t?

Well, one can never be 100% sure, but the friends had a huge growth spurt & have been the same height for the last 2 years….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Boys continue to grow thru their teenage years. My DS grew in college.

Definitely some do. But most are done growing in height around age 16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Boys continue to grow thru their teenage years. My DS grew in college.

Definitely some do. But most are done growing in height around age 16.

+1 A lot depends on when they hit puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

It’s like gambling, the doctor will predict accurately some of the time.

there are charts for this and they can make a very educated guess based on the growth pattern. Just like professional card player knows all the odds. Professional card players and doctors win more than random parents.

Random parents usually don’t know what they are talking about. I get it. But there’s really no point in predicting unless there’s an issue.

[Anonymous]

What’s with the obsession with height? Why would a boy be “disappointed” if he’s 5’9” or 6’0”? Is this a new thing to worry about/compete about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would get a second opinion to nip that in the bud. Otherwise your son will count on it, even if logically he knows he shouldn’t, and he’ll be disappointed.

The doctor is an absolute idiot. I would complain.

I think OP can just make sure her son knows that it is just a prediction based on average statistics. It could be totally off for any individual person. Keep repeating that info any time it comes up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s with the obsession with height? Why would a boy be “disappointed” if he’s 5’9” or 6’0”? Is this a new thing to worry about/compete about?

No it doesn't matter, but where have you been the last 15+ years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would get a second opinion to nip that in the bud. Otherwise your son will count on it, even if logically he knows he shouldn’t, and he’ll be disappointed.

The doctor is an absolute idiot. I would complain.

What? Ridiculous. Tell your son what a prediction is and then move on. A second opinion is for a serious illness, not a height prediction.

[Anonymous]

Eh .. find a new doctor who doesn’t lie