Can an average child become a tall adult?

[Binjuices]

My 7 yo DS is around the 50th centile for height (so average height). He is very into a sport for which height is basically a prerequisite. He won’t progress into adolescence/adulthood unless he is tall. Obviously not the end of the world but a shame for him. Me and DH are both tall (me 5.10 DH 6 feet) as is his big sister. So, did any average kids become tall adults?

[newfriend05]

My youngest was one of the smallest in his class all through primary school .. he's now 6.2 ..

[Trufflpig]

Did your health visitor not do that calculation at his 2 year appt?

[TripleDaisySummer]

DS was tall till adolescence as was DH - others outgrew them during secondary.

FIL who 6 1 had a very late growth spurt nearer 16 - and put on nearly a foot - they expected same for DH never happened.

Likest outcome is mid way between your heights - but even between siblings there is variation usually with eldest being tallest but my siblings and looking like my kids seem to do opposite. There's tall and short people both sides so it's hard to predict where they will end up.

[peachicecream]

He's 7 years old. He may or may not be into sport when he grows up. Stop worrying about his height and just encourage whatever his interests are.

[Shopper727]

My eldest son was average until 15/16 now 6’2 big lad younger son slightly different frame 5’8 I’m 5’2 their dad is 5’11 my sisters kids are all, she is 5’8 husbands 6’5 kids have been tall since they were very young though. Just need to wait and see really

[Nigelladamascena]

My son was in age 6-7 trousers when he was 10 years old. In his teens he had growth spurts and he is now 6ft 2.

[BelindaBears]

My DH was average height until about 14 and now he’s 6’4”. No one else in his family is tall, so it took them all by surprise.

[hiredandsqueak]

My eldest was average height despite me and his df being short 5 foot and 5 foot 7. As an adult he is 6 foot tall. My girls were average in primary and stopped growing at 11. One is 5 foot 2 and the other 4 foot 11.

[DiaNaranja]

I was ridiculous short as a child, like a foot behind my peers, would have to wear clothes for 5 year olds when I was ten! I remember always being the smallest by a mile, and hated it, but quickly caught up (and took over!) as a teen. I'm by no means super tall as an adult, but I'm 5 foot 8, so taller than most women I know. I'd say with two fairly tall parents, your child is likely to have a growth spurt at some point. Isn't it a biological fact that sons are always taller than their mother (aside from babies born with dwarfism, genetic issues etc)?

[Binjuices]

Yes I have always assumed that he would be taller than me and his sister, but that’s not possible if he stays on 50th centile. And as I said in my OP I know it’s not a massive problem!

[Hill1991]

@Binjuices

Yes I have always assumed that he would be taller than me and his sister, but that’s not possible if he stays on 50th centile. And as I said in my OP I know it’s not a massive problem!

My dbro is 5'8 and I'm 6ft so not always boys are bigger than their dsis and my bro is the older one of the 2 of us

[lilyfire]

Have you put all the statistics into a height predictor? It said my 7yo was going to be 6’6” and I was sceptical but he is.

[Binjuices]

I have read that those calculators are accurate to something like +/- 4 inches which is not that helpful!

[Passthecake30]

My ds was always average compared to his peers who refused to believe he’d be 6ft like me. He was a slow starter but has grown 4” in the last 8 months and is currently 5ft10 at 15.

[atthebottomofthehill]

@newfriend05

My youngest was one of the smallest in his class all through primary school .. he's now 6.2 ..

Do you know what centile he was on? Mine is the littlest in his class, centile 3 and projected height is shorter than both me and DH...

[UsingChangeofName]

I remember sitting at my ds's Year 6 leaving assembly at Primary school and noting just how small he was compared with most of the year. Some of his peers were head and shoulders taller than him.
He, as an adult is 6'.
Suddenly shot up around his 15th birthday, and then continued to grow in his late teens and early 20s.

[DelphiniumBlue]

Yes, DS's best mate at Primary was a good head shorter than him all the way through until he was about 14. By 18 they were both 6'2.

[SunnySun1]

My dad (and his dad), brother and DP are tall (over 6 foot) and they were all tall children. Always the tallest or one of the tallest in their class at primary and secondary school. I was average height as a child (pre-puberty) but now I’m a petite woman. Those height predictors are not accurate because they predicted me to be a few inches taller than I am.

[mauveiscurious]

Yes

[ElizabethBest]

My DB was 5’6 until he was 17, and then shot up to 6’ pretty much overnight.

[DailyMaui]

My son was always the tiniest in his class. I remember a very smug mum looking at his red book when he was about 1 and saying he'd be rather short when he was older. I can't remember the centile, but it seemed to suggest that he'd be about 5'7.

His mates used to tower over him, especially in secondary school. But he grew, slowly (it seemed very slow) and he was six foot in lower sixth and he's now approaching 6'2 at age 20. His uncle was the same: very tiny and slowly growing right into his twenties to end up at 6'1. I'm 5'7 and my husband is 6 foot so I had faith he'd end up quite tall.

[StrayGoose]

Those two year old measurements are actually amazingly accurate. Six siblings in my family and my father meticulously recorded the two year old heights of each of us: we all ended up within a half inch of the predicted height.

[Hill1991]

@StrayGoose

Those two year old measurements are actually amazingly accurate. Six siblings in my family and my father meticulously recorded the two year old heights of each of us: we all ended up within a half inch of the predicted height.

Oh god I hope not my ds's predicted that he'd be around 6'7 I'm going to start saving now for the clothes 🤣

[8misskitty8]

Dd2 was always small. On the 9th centile. Far smaller than anyone in her class. Looking at the charts and the calculators based on height at 2 years and parents height estimator she should have continued to be small. I’m 5foot 5.5 and dad is 6 foot.

But At about 10 years old she shot up and at 15 years was just under 5 foot 8 the last time I measured her.
Her sister who was average on those centile charts stopped growing at age 11 and is only 5 foot 2.

[MintJulia]

Ask your MIL when your dh had a growth spurt. My ds was firmly 50th percentile until 14.

He's grown 5" since September 😀Now taller than me and inhaling food. His third set of school trousers just need to last another 4 weeks 😂