Toddler Height

[Waspie]

After some reassurance really please!

Is it normal for a toddler not to grow for 3 months?

My son is 21 months and 88cm tall. At 18 months he was 87.5 tall so he's grown only half a cm in three months.

I've checked the red book and this puts him at roughly 91st percentile so it's not that he's falling off the charts or anything worrying.

I guess I just naively assumed that he would grow gradually but perhaps that isn't how it works?

Should I wait for a growth spurt or start gently racking him during his sleep?

TIA

[bethoo]

hope you get some adice as my son is 2 and not yet 88cm! he still wears 12-18 month clothing and everyone keeps telling me how small he is going ot be as if he is a dwarf.

[caffeinelover]

My son is nearly 2 1/2 and he is only 87cm!!! He still wears 18-24 month clothing and although he is small, he has always follwed his line. If they are following their centile - his is only 9th centile! - then they are doing fine. It is only a worry when they drop more than 2 centiles(from 75th to 25th say) in weight and height but even then they are just monitored. He is fine and looks like he will be tall anyway if he is on 91st percentile. THink about it, only 9 kids on average are taller than him out of a 100 i mean that is pretty tall no!

[Waspie]

My son is taller than most of the 2-2.5 year olds at his nursery, bethoo so I don't think your son is particularly small for his age

My son has always been both tall and heavy so it's not his actual height that concerns me more the lack of growth for such a long (in toddler age terms anyway) time.

[Niecie]

IME children don't grow evenly. They can stay the same for a few months and then have a spurt.

I think you can see this most clearly in shoe sizes actually - it is not at all uncommon for children to wear the same shoe size for a few months and then go up a size in the space of a week.

It is also very difficult to measure height accurately so maybe your DS has grown a cm or more but he wasn't standing exactly the same way when you measured him this time as last time. Or you have been using a fabric or plastic tape measure which has stretched slightly.

I wouldn't worry yet. 3 mths isn't long especially as he is tall in the first place.

[Waspie]

Thanks for the info Caffeinelover. He's dropped from 98th to 91st, so just one centile so far. If he hasn't grown at all in another couple of months I'll phone the HV and ask for advice.

[FAQtothefuture]

yes - quite common for "nothing" then a spurt - my DS3 is 2.2 and approx 94cm > hoping he's going to stay at that height for a good while yet

[Waspie]

Thanks Niecie.

I expect you are right. I think I will try and measure him whilst asleep. The growth charts someone linked to in a thread a few days ago suggest that you measure children under 2yo in length and over 2yo in height.

As a baby he was measured regularly at the hospital because he was being monitored for a hole in the heart but since he's been signed off from the hospital I haven't really measured him particularly scientifically.

[Waspie]

FAQtothefuture - a potential NBA star in the making there

In preparation for a "spurt" I've just bought him some age 2-3years trousers!

[sooey76]

If he was been measured at the hospital they are usually pretty acurate, whereas I find if you measure yourself, or if hv does it its not as accurate-fidgeting, head not held upright etc. As for clothes I have 5 children, and found with all (except youngest who grows like a weed!) that around 12 months clothes last longer than stated age. I have a nearly 5 year old son, who was in 12-18 month clothes till going on 2 and only in 2-3 at around 3. As I said he is nearly 5 and in 5-6 clothing now. I think it's just the clothing sizing that goes a bit haywire.

[morethanyoubargainfor]

i think boys have growth spurts, where as girls tend to grow slowly and steadily. My ds who will be 7 in October is on 114cm and before the summer hols began he was and had been for about 18 months 108cm, he often doesn't change height wise for a year or so then grows masses quickly iykwim. All his friends mums say the same about thier boys but not the girls.