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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

that kids are getting taller nowadays

163 replies

saragoepal · 28/05/2019 16:30

Hi I have two ds who are quite small for their age. Ds1 is 12 and 143cm, ds2 is 9 and 130cm. I’d say that is somewhat below average but not that much. However they are by far the smallest in their classes, and many kids in ds2 class tower over ds1! I cannot remember that when I was their age that kids were that tall. Is this just a coincidence or are kids really getting taller these days?

OP posts:
floraloctopus · 28/05/2019 20:31

For a mountainous country Norway is doing pretty well.
If flat land = large feet is at all accurate then my DCs and me were all born in the wrong country.

SmarmyMrMime · 28/05/2019 20:36

At 5'2, I felt wonderfully average in China Grin

BlueJava · 28/05/2019 20:40

I think you're right. My DP is 5'10", I have 5'5", both DS are 6'1 at 17 yo. I have no idea where that's come from!

Mummyshark2019 · 28/05/2019 20:43

My 7 year old is 133cm. Age 9-10 clothing. They are getting bigger. Most of the kids in the class the same. A few smaller ones though.

hotmessmom82 · 28/05/2019 20:46

My 7 year old has size 2 feet and is 135cm. I am 152 cm and am a size 3. He can't wait to nick my trainers as I have a Nike cortez obsession 😂

neversleepagain · 28/05/2019 21:40

I have tall girls, they are 6 and 129cm and 126cm, both the tallest in their classes but not massively so. Dh is 6'4 so they take after him. I am an average 5'6.

Rowgtfc72 · 28/05/2019 22:17

Dd is 12 and 5ft 8 (and a half!) with size 9 feet. She has always from birth followed the 99.9% centile.
I'm 5ft6. I was the tallest girl in my school at her age. Dh is 6ft 6. We're assuming it's genetics.

WhenTheDragonsCame · 28/05/2019 23:50

My 10 year old is one of the shortest in the year, and the youngest. I think she is around 137cm and has size 4 feet! She can easily fit into 7-8 clothes.

Her younger sister is 8 years old and slightly taller than DD1 was at that age, about 133cm and size 2 feet. DD2 is similar to her peers whereas DD1 is quite a bit shorter.

I am 5' 3.5" and ExH was 6' so not sure how tall they will end up. DD1 is moving up to secondary school in September and I'm not sure they will have a blazer small enough Grin

Original poster
saragoepal · 29/05/2019 17:51

I guess kids are really getting taller, amazing how tall some of the kids are !

OP posts:
tartoeps · 30/05/2019 10:56

@saragoepal My 16 yo is smaller than your 12 yo (he's 136cm). But we're both short as well and he's a late bloomer. I guess everyone is different...

nokidshere · 30/05/2019 12:16

Both my boys were always much taller than their friends growing up. DH is 6ft6 though so we sort of expected they would be tall. At age 11 my eldest grew a whole 8 inches in the space of 8 months and was 5ft 10. The youngest grew more steadily.

DS1 grew more slowly after that and has stopped growing now he is 6ft, all of his shorter friends have pretty much caught up or overtaken him and he's about average in his friendship group.

DS2 again was always the tallest in his group. At 17 he is just short of 6ft4. One of his A level classes has 8 pupils and he is the shortest Shock

DH was 6ft2 at ages 15 and was a full head and shoulders above his peers, all his school,photographs show just how much taller he was and that he was the only person in his yr group who was taller than average. 50 years later, not only do we know people taller than him but he is not unusual at all when he is out and about in a crowd.

ElenadeClermont · 30/05/2019 12:32

Those UK growth charts must be based on the generation born in the 1930s.
DS (11) is a bit above average height in his class (although there is one boy and two girls close to 5'10" in that class, parents are tall).
DS is between 91st to 98th percentile on the chart. He will obviously be taller than DH and me.

whothedaddy · 30/05/2019 12:43

my 9 year old DD is the second tallest in her year (yr4) and is 149cm.
She has alwasy been tall though. both parents above average (me 5ft7, her dad 6ft3/4)
It is her feet that surprise me though. adult size 4. I'm only a 5 1/2

Otterhound · 30/05/2019 12:49

Ds is 13 and 177 cm. dd is 10 and 160

LaLaLanded · 30/05/2019 15:54

DS is 8 and am not sure how tall he is now - must measure - but last weekend I told someone he’s 12 and they believed me (I don’t go around lying a out his age - it was something with an age limit that had no need of an age limit at all!)

Dr said DS will be between 6’3 and 6’7. I’m hoping he doesn’t reach the upper end as beds will be a problem...

I’m 5’11 and DS’ dad is 6’2 so I think he just got a double dose of genetics rather than it being evolution or better food!

sheshootssheimplores · 30/05/2019 16:02

It stands to reason that good nutrition has played a part. I’m sure my grandfather would have been a much taller man if he hadn’t been born in the era he was. You could also argue that biology dictates that females like to reproduce with strong, tall men on the whole. So perhaps over the generations more tall men have fathered children.

steppemum · 30/05/2019 16:07

hmm I'm not sure.
ds is now 16 and 6'3". But my brothers are that tall, as is my dad.

dd1 is smaller than me and seems to have stopped growing. She is about 5'6"

dd2 is going to be taller, but probably not taller than me, and I am the same size as my mum.

All three were way out the tallest in their class in year 6

so, none of them are taller than their parents or grandparents, but they are tall

firawla · 30/05/2019 16:08

My eldest will be 11 next month and he is 141cm, so seems similar to yours op. He is one of the shortest too, although there is one boy just a cm shorter in his class. He has friends that are already bigger than me!
None of mine are particularly tall, my 2.5 year old is on the 2nd percentile line at about 82cm - I still have a few 9-12 month clothes that she wears, but she’s perfectly healthy not malnourished or anything!!

Aragog · 30/05/2019 16:12

I'm only 5 foot 1 so short, but I notice a lot of adult women who are my height and even shorter.

But not so many teens. Dd is 17y. Growing up she always seemed fairy tall, was always in the top half - third of her class for height. However she got to about 13/14y and stopped growing. She's now just over 5'4" and most of her friends are taller. The boys are almost all 6 foot plus.

Nat6999 · 30/05/2019 16:39

Ds is 6'1" at 15 & still growing, I'm panicking because my brother is 6'5" & DS is taller than he was at 15. Ds is also in size 11.5 shoes, his cousins on his dad's side both are in size14, buying school shoes is already a nightmare.

FudgeBrownie2019 · 30/05/2019 16:47

DS1 is 13 and 6'1" with size 12 shoes (I didn't even know size 12 was an actual size til now). DS2 is 8 and 5'3" with size 5 shoes.

DH and I are tall but not exceptionally so. I agree that children are getting taller; both DC here look set to reach around 6 foot 4 or 5 by the time they're done.

HJWT · 30/05/2019 17:01

I feel sorry for DD she is going to tower over everyone when she goes to school, people look so shocked when I say she is 2.5 and when she starts she will be 5 😂

WaxOnFeckOff · 30/05/2019 17:08

If it's any help, I found that DSs feet didn't grow after about age14. they are a 12 and an 11. DH takes a 12 and i'm a 6 which is quite small for my height. My feet didn't grow after age 12.

I'd bought next size up boots and trainers for DSs when I saw a bargain and then they never grew into them...

anothermansmother · 30/05/2019 17:11

I've found this too. I work in a school and although there is variation amongst the students there are not many even in year 7 (11years old) are smaller than me 1.61m, my own ds is in year 7 and is 1.70m and a size 10 shoe. My dd is 9 and 1.40m.

TulipCat · 30/05/2019 17:16

I am frequently bowled over by the size of some of my son's friends' feet. They are all 9/10 (Yr 5). Their shoes are bigger than mine and I'm a size 6! Looks so odd next to my son who is still 9, and the youngest in Yr5. He is a size 1!