Height, how important is their height at age 5 to their adult height?

[TwoIfBySea]

Being a month prem dts have always been on the smaller size. Not noticable until they started school in August and they both are the shortest or near enough shortest in their classes. They have always been at the same percentiles height and weight but dts2 in particular is beginning to feel self conscious about it. One of his classmates called him Mr Tiny and he has been worried ever since.

I don't know if parents height has anything to do with it but I am 5'8" and dh is 5'7". I have done my best to comfort dts, all that great things in small packages deal but I can tell he is really bothered about it. The boy who said it has been dealt with too, he calls everyone names and another, taller boy drew on dts2's hands "because he is bigger than me." Dts will be 5 at the end of December but are the height of someone a year younger.

[nikkie]

I my case I was the tallest until I was 11 when I stopped growing and am now 5ft.

[Zofloyya]

my dp was premature, and was teeny-weeny as a child - until he was about 7. He is now 6ft 5. Don't know if that's typical though!

[JanH]

It's all about averages, TIBS - relatively meaningless, except to families of average size! I hope how my kids have turned out will help you reassure your DTs.

DD1 was a tiny little girl - she was below 10th centile right through her childhood and according to the usual benchmarks was supposed to barely top 5'. I am 6' so this was very strange for me! She stayed very small until she was 13-14, but then she went on growing long after her friends stopped, and she has ended up (24 now) at 5'7.

DD2 was a strapping great thing, 75th-90th centile throughout childhood; she is 3 years younger than DD1 and they were scarily close in height at some stages but guess what? At 21 she is also 5'7.

DS1 was completely average, 50th centile until about 11 and then even lower - he was very short between about 12 and 15. He is 18 now and 6'1.

Kids like the ones who are teasing dts2 love to get someone on the run; I hope you can convince him that he won't always be as small as he is now, and work out some strategies to help him deal with these silly bullies. Good luck.

[jennifersofia]

Do mention it to the class teacher if you haven't already. Someone in my school who is Y1 is about the same height as many of the nursery children and we have had chats with the children about not teasing and calling names, and also with the other children in the school about not treating him as a cute baby and picking him up, etc. but encouraging all to view him as a big Y1 boy. Sometimes children don't know what effect their actions have on other children, and helping them to understand that it is a sensitive issue for your child (whilst also not making a huge deal out of it) can make them more aware.

[RTKangaMummy]

I would deffo have a word with the teacher and emphasize that she should be doing something on

ALL CHILDREN ARE DIFFERENT COS THE WORLD WOULD BE VERY BORING IF WE ALL WERE THE SAME

Mine were born @ 27 weeks and so were very tiny

Now DS is 11 years old and is 150cm which is 4' 11" {so just under 5'}

And so he is now on the higher side of average now

So they do grow to be "normal" or "average"

IMHO it has more to do with the parents size ie if parents are tall children will be and also visa versa

DS had some very tall mothers of children in his class in primary school ie over 6' {these were the mums} and so had lots of tall children in his class

But now at senior school he is the higher side of average

I am 5'7" and DH is 6'

Good luck

[singersgirl]

Some children also just grow more slowly and then go into puberty later. DH tells me he was very small throughout childhood, but is now 5'10", so not particularly small. I am 5'2", so I'm not expecting my boys to be very tall. DS1 is tiny - he was average-ish until about 2, and has got smaller and smaller compared his classmates. I assume he will be like DH but perhaps not end up as tall. DS2 is not tall, but is definitely average.

[southeastastra]

when i see my ds(5) lined up with all his schoolmates there is such a difference in heights with them all, they have so many growth spurts, don't worry. i saw a old schoolmate the other day in school he was really tiny now he's about 6ft 3!

[TwoIfBySea]

Thanks for all the advice folks.

Sobernow - both dts are popular, especially with the girls in their class and I have told them things to say when people aren't nice to them that won't make them the nasty ones in return. I sometimes wonder, without sounding conceited, that it is because they are so popular with the girls that is causing a couple of the boys to say something. It is obvious the only thing that they can be picked on about is their height.

JanH - well my two have been the 25th percentile so I think we just have to wait and see. It hasn't bothered me until now where it is starting to bother them. This boy who name called is quite tall but also fat with it so tends to pick on the little ones.

The class teacher is well aware of him as dts2 tells me that this boy is always on the "amber caterpillar." The boy who drew on dts2's hands was sent to the headteacher and missed out on golden time because of it. I will speak to her though if I feel it has gone on as I want them to learn to defend themselves and stop expecting all their girlfriends to do it for them!

[Furball]

There was a formula to work this out in the red book when ds was a baby - It took us ages to work it out but the answer was that ds would be anywhere between 5'3" and 6'3" - hardly rocket science then......

[Mercy]

Don't worry too much. My dd was the smallest child in her reception class, had a massive growth spurt during the summer - and is still one of the smallest! And by small I mean she is shorter and very much slimmer than the vast majority of her year group.

She is slightly bothered by it but I try to reassure her when she does mention it by saying being well-behaved, trying hard at reading is more important etc.

It sounds as though the other child has a 'problem' not your dt.