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Original poster

Tall parents, shorter children?

16 replies

NeonHalo · 12/01/2023 16:11

DH and I are both 6ft yet have two children on the 28th centile for height (DS1 is 5 and DS is 2). Both perfectly healthy children, both have followed their birth weight centiles (around the 30th mark) and have no concerns regarding development. Just seems unusual as was always told that boys grow to at least the height of their mothers and according to the red book are set to be around 5’7.

DH was a small baby (6lb) despite being full term and healthy and then shot up at puberty but both his parents are a lot shorter than him so doesn’t seem as odd.

Anyway would be great to hear if I’m concerned unnecessarily. Thanks.

OP posts:

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 12/01/2023 16:57

It's very early days. Most of the boys in our family were 40-50th centile before puberty. Some were smaller. There are no adult males under 6 foot, and several over 6' 3".

DGS, the current small boy, is 30th centile. His dad is 6' 3", his mum (DD) is 5' 9". He's going to be an absolute unit when he hits 14.

CinnamonTwist · 12/01/2023 17:01

My husband and his mother are both short - they were both amongst the tallest in their classes until they were 11, and then everyone else grew and they didn't 😂 Equally; I have cousins who are extremely tall (well over 6ft, have to duck through doorways) pre-puberty they were quite average height wise and you wouldn't have expected they'd be so tall now. I wouldn't be concerned just yet!

Hopingforno2in2023 · 12/01/2023 17:03

Both DH and I are tall. DS followed the 50th fe tile until he was around 5.5. Now he moves between 60th and 85th dentils after a significant growth spurt.

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Hopingforno2in2023 · 12/01/2023 17:03

Sorry centiles!

MrsTerryPratchett · 12/01/2023 17:04

was always told that boys grow to at least the height of their mothers

I know a little boy whose mum is about 5' 8" and dad is 5' 3". He's small and I think will remain so. I lot of the 'wisdom' about height is based on the norm, not every case.

RonniePickering · 12/01/2023 17:07

My daughter was 9lb at birth and she's now 18 and I'm 3 inches taller than her.
My 8 year old son is on the 95th percentile and is in aged 10+ clothes (he was very long when he was born though).

mondaytosunday · 12/01/2023 17:08

My son was in the 98th percentile sll through primary yet topped out at 5'11" despite both parents being that height and both grandfathers 6'2". My daughter stopped growing at 12 and is 5'6.5". I was 5'8" at 11. For decades kids generally grew taller than they'd parents but that no longer seems to be the case.

Cuppasoupmonster · 12/01/2023 17:13

I don’t think there’s an exact formula, I think a lot of ‘unusual cases’ have to do with womb environment and baby nutrition. My sis is the ‘short arse’ in our family - men all over 6 foot, women all over 5’7. She’s about 5’4 but had to have a series of bowel operations as a baby that meant she grew very slowly for the first 6 months. Equally DH is 5’9 but noticeably shorter than his dad and brother who are over 6ft, he was a poorly baby with food absorption issues for a number of months.

FourTeaFallOut · 12/01/2023 17:18

mondaytosunday · 12/01/2023 17:08

I don't know, I've been doing college visits with my eldest and these open days seem to be filled with determined mothers around my height (5 foot 6ish) marching around with a floor plan being trailed by the most enormous teens. So in my area at least, the pattern is definitely holding.

reluctantbrit · 12/01/2023 17:33

I am short, 1.60m, my cousins are giants, all the way to 2m and over in one case. We all have similar size parents but our grandfather's genes came through.

DD was a lot taller than average until she turned 13, now she is a normal sized teen.

Mumof1andacat · 12/01/2023 17:36

I wouldn't go much on this at the moment. Dh was the smallest boy in infant school when he started. By 15, he was 6ft 2.

Teamsaction · 12/01/2023 17:39

I was wondering the same as my 4year old is following 25th centile, healthy and following from birth size. I'm 5'8 and Dh 6'3 so always shocked he is one of the smallest at school. I know it shouldn't worry me as he's healthy but it does a bit, so interesting to hear alot grow around puberty.

PuttingDownRoots · 12/01/2023 17:39

My DD was on the 9th centile until she was 5... then shot up and now tracks around the 65th.

Elder DD was on the 91st centile, consistently taller than her friends... but now they've hit puberty, she hasn't and looks a lot younger! I was 5ft6 at her age, she's closer 5ft

No idea what their final height will be, since I'm 5ft7 which is quite a bit above average but their dad is below average at 5ft8.

Original poster

NeonHalo · 12/01/2023 20:31

Thanks everyone for the responses! I feel massively reassured. Will be interesting to see if they have some growth spurts between now and puberty too.

OP posts:

simonthedog · 12/01/2023 20:37

DH and I are both 5ft 10. DD is 16 and has stopped growing she is 5ft 3. I can't understand it.

mindutopia · 12/01/2023 21:18

They really do sprout up later. I’m 5’9 and Dh is 6’5. Dc1 was 20th centile for quite a long no time. When she was 5, her projected adult height according to her red book was 5’3! She’s 10 now and taller than probably 2/3 at least of her class. Dc2 is probably 50th centile at 5 but with a very long torso like Dh, so no doubt he will have a growth spurt too at some point. Oddly, I on the other hand, have been 5’9 since I was about 10 so go figure!

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