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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Do you have a small (as in height) toddler?

47 replies

icapturethecastle · 30/01/2011 21:45

My DD is 16 months is in 2 percentile for height and weight. She is in proportion and has followed this line for a long time. She was 6'11lbs when born (about 25 percentile) but steadily made her way down. The HVs have not been concerned with her. She is hitting her milestones well and she eats well. However, since she started walking so many people comment about how little she is. Nearly every day someone says "she looks too small to be walking". I am trying to not start worrying about this but now my DH is going on about it - ie he says do you think there is something wrong etc. I am only 5'1 and my family aren't giants. I think my DH is worried she is only going to be 4ft! I am sure if I take her to the drs they will think I am loon as I was always up their with my DS have managed to stay relatively calm this time. Is there anyone else in the same position?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

thelibster · 31/01/2011 21:26

My son was enormous at birth but by the time he was 12 months old he had dropped to the 2nd percentile and followed that until he started school and I stopped having him measured by the HV. He is now 17 and 5' 10" which is by no means tall I know, but not remarkably short either! I now deeply regret the time wasted worrying about his height. As long as your DD is hitting all her milestones and happy and healthy, please just enjoy her and try to ignore the stupid remarks made by others.

Original poster

icapturethecastle · 31/01/2011 22:05

You will be glad to know I have calmed down today - obviously just needed something to obsess about last night and was googling for ages. Then spoke to my mum who put me right! I know she is fine she doing everything she should and is very very cute. It also feels like I have had a little baby for longer so should count myself lucky as they grow up so quick.

And yes always getting oh what a lovely boy etc which I put down to the hair as well. (But then I am guilty of doing that too!).

OP posts:

thelibster · 01/02/2011 00:13

I missed the post about the hair. My DD2 had practically no hair until she was about 3 years old and what she had was so blonde and fine that she looks practically bald in all her toddler photos. She is now 15 and has the best head of hair in the family! Now a mid brown, it is long and thick and lustrous Her sister and I are still blonde (greying in my case!) and baby fine.

FSB · 22/02/2011 22:30

my DD is tiny too, she's 19mo and wears mostly 9-12m clothes. she has settled on the 3rd centile for weight since she was 3 months or so and is below 25th for height.

i get strangers telling me how tiny she is and how she looks like a little doll... my mum calls her the guinea pig because she looks like a mini-grown up!

i'd rather this than having a larger than average child. my brother and i were both very tall kids (now 5'10" and 6'7" respectively) and as far as i'm concerned it's better for people to think they are an advanced 2 year old than an immature 5 year old!!!

bulby · 23/02/2011 08:57

So agree fsb dd is 2 and people just think I have a very ill disciplined 4 year old. The irony is that if anything her speech etc is very good for age. I know I shouldn't but when friends smaller children are told how wonderful they are I just want to shout' they're not they're just small'. Please don't worry if your child is in smaller sizes of clothes, it's a damn sight better than putting a 5 year old in teen clothes and paying vat on clothes when they're 8 .

bulby · 23/02/2011 08:58

Sorry that should be vat on shoes.

nannyl · 23/02/2011 09:59

i looked after a teeny tiny little girl

in age 2 - 3 clothes at 5, and still in a group 1 car seat when started school as was still not even nearly 15kg.

anyway she was lovely. bright as a button, and spoke very clearly. you could tell just be speaking that she was more than 2 years old
Her mum wasnt huge (5,3") and had been very small when growing up as well.

she is now 8 and has had a few growth spurts, but is still small.

i dont think it matters at all.... it meant we got in free at the zoo etc for longer as no one would dispute that she was over 3 etc!

jassinkernow · 23/02/2011 15:23

My DD2 is tiny - just below the 0.4th centile at her 2 yr check. She's just into 12-18 mth trousers at 2 1/2. They weren't concerned about her height (I think mostly because I was there and am just 5 ft, if DH ever takes the kids for any checks people comment more on how small they are - he's a more averagey 5'11 or so). She's also extremely blonde and cherubic looking and extremely articulate, so gets a fair bit of 'oh look at that little tiny dolly talking' attention. She's quite a feisty character and I'm working hard not to pigeon-hole her as 'small in size/big in personality', which I don't think would be helpful. I do feel a bit sad for her - I was always the smallest growing up and it wasn't much fun, but growing up generally isn't much fun and I think most kids/teens find things about themselves to agonise about. Nowadays, I don't give my size much thought and =I hope in the long run DD2 won't either.
Nothing useful there, just another experience, but try not to worry :)

babyapplejack · 23/02/2011 15:39

Fine as long as she continues to roughly track the 2nd centile for height and weight.

Birth weight is a product of the baby's environment in utero - nothing to do with how a person will ultimately end up.

Weight as a child is a product of genetics - nothing to do with birth weight.

I have the opposite to you - my 2yo is a giant. Someone asked her the other day "are you 4 or 5" and DD replied "no". Person said, "oh, you must be 6" !! She's off the centile charts the other end, but that's because me and DH are also giants. However, her birthweight was lower than your DD's birthweight because the environment in utero wasn't great and she was induced early.

Your height is on the 9th centile so I wouldn't be surprised for hers to be on the 2nd centile.

Also the height predictor from the red book - take the average of your and your DH's height in cm. Then subtract 7cm and that is the mid parental height. Her height could then be 8.5cm either side. (this is only for girls)

Rebeccaruby · 23/02/2011 15:43

I was tiny as a child, I was taken to the doctor because my parents were worried. I was one of the smallest in my class when I started school, but this had evened out by the time I was seven. I was average in terms of height from then on, and ended up 5ft 6". A lot can change in a few years.

confuddledDOTcom · 26/02/2011 00:15

baby, I don't think that's always the case. My youngest was born with IUGR weighing 4lb 8oz at 35 weeks. She's now, at just over 2, still in 9-12m clothes. I'm 5'9" and the shorty of my family!

thelittlestkiwi · 26/02/2011 07:50

I'm so pleased to see this thread. My DD is wee (hence my username). She is 21 months, 76cm and about 10.3kg. So she is a good weight for her height, bright and healthy looking. But I do worry about her being short. I'm 5ft 3in and OH is 5ft 8in so neither of us are big.

I've gotten used to people giving us goofy looks everywhere we go, saying she looks like a doll and generally talking about how cute she looks. Which is nice in a lot of ways. She generally gets treated very well by people with lots of positive reinforcement. But I'm really worried how things will be when she starts school. She goes to nursery and is quite defensive about her space and things. She's also a biter.... But there really isn't much I can do. I was small too which I suspect make it worse.

Georgimama · 26/02/2011 07:59

DS isn't particularly short (50 centile - OK I know he's not short at all) but he is light - around 25th centile for weight. He eats like a gannet some days, picks on others but he is so healthy - touch wood - I know there is no problem. My brothers were skin and bone when little, although much taller. It's just the way he is.

Because of weight he has always been in trousers for a younger age, but this causes problems with length. I find the solution is to comb the shops for trousers with internal elastic on buttons to adjust the waist, and (unfortunately) buy the more expensive brands as they seem to be cut for the skinnier child!

notcitrus · 26/02/2011 09:12

Ds is a stocky shortarse (below 9th %ile), which has the odd effect of people thinking he's a big chap but younger than he is. He's very verbal so shocks people with his big words and sentences! At 2.6 he's still wearing 12-18mo trousers.

There's the huge advantage that there's still no way he can get out of his cot!

Dn is the opposite - tall and skinny - so despite being 3 months older is about 6 inches taller, and people assume there's 2 years between them.

My dad says he was really short in primary school but then rocketed to 6 foot, so suspect ds will do the same.

mummytowillow · 26/02/2011 20:51

My daughter is 3, she was 7lb 10 at birth, but was very tiny, no could believe how tiny she was for her weight?

She is still very petite, she weighs 29lbs, wears 18-24 month clothes, but they are still big and is at least a head shorter than children the same age as her!

But, that's the only difference, we could have a full conversation at 2, she was referred to a paed because she didn't walk until she was 18 months, never rolled over, and only bum shuffled! The paed said she was streaks ahead with motor skills! And she would get up one day and walk, she did!

I stopped worrying then, she's just going to be my petite princess!! Everyone says she's like a little dolly!

mummytowillow · 26/02/2011 20:53

Not sure where I'm going to get her school uniform from when she goes in September though!!

Any ideas?

sarahtigh · 26/02/2011 22:32

my DD is 15 months next week wears 6-9 month clothes is 72cm ( actually can still fit into mothercare 0-3 month trousers but not tops) she is just over 9th centile for height and just under 25th for weight (almost 20lb)no worries walking at 11 months the big problem was getting proper walking shoes in size 2 ( they dont exist) she was running around outside todayand she can go!! yes she does look small but i'm 5'2 my Dh 5'6 my parents and sisters both under 5'4 tallest in my family in 3 generations 5'8 and DH can not think of anyone other that height in his family either so why would we expect her to be any bigger.

but she is just too good at climbing to make up for missing inches don't worry ignore the competitive parents confront if feeeling brave and remember so many kids are too big so big can seem more normal its strange but people sometimes just think they have to say something when nothing would be better

skybluepearl · 27/02/2011 00:38

my second child was born on the 9th and is now off the bottom of the percentile chart. Has been for some time but is perfectly healthy and eats like a horse. A real bright spark. Now the size of a one year old but is actually 2.5 with the vocab of a three year old. I just find peoples responses entertaining really and enjoy finding her very easy to lift. I recon she will be quite a small adult.

My eldest was always small too - on the 9th but actually seems just a little smaller than average now aged 8. She seems to have caught up a tiny little bit and she is no longer the smallest in the class.

Frawli · 27/02/2011 01:04

Mummytowillow, when I was looking for school uniform last summer I found that Asda do school uniform stuff as small as age 2-3. My DS is on the shorter side, particularly short legs, and the 3-4 would have needed to be taken up for him when he started nursery. Not adjustible waist tho, only elasticated, but quite tight, so good job he is slender, if he was more chubby we'd just have had to get larger and alter the legs. They do girls trousers, or skirts/pinafores too.

I have a feeling that M&S also do smaller sizes.

MumGoneCrazy · 27/02/2011 01:45

All my girls are small for their ages...I'm only 5ft so we expected it

DD1 is 6 in July and is still in 3-4yrs clothes
DD2 was 4 in September and wears 2-3yrs
DD3 is nearly 17 months and only went into 9-12months clothes 3months ago and looks like they will fit for a good while yet

They definitely get good wear out of their clothes

DD3 is still not walking yet, we're waiting for an appointment to see someone about her feet and ankles, she won't put her feet flat and is always on tiptoes, the older two were slow at walking but had both got it by this time.

confuddledDOTcom · 27/02/2011 14:42

Some nurseries do uniform so you should be able to get uniform easily enough. I was worried about it before my eldest started nursery but around that time we got her asthma under better control and since she's not been on the pink pills regularly has caught up a bit. Not hugely but then her prematurity means she's gone up a year so I'd expect her to be small in her class.

My youngest has just been diagnosed with hypermobility which explains her late walking and her size apparently.

thumbwitch · 27/02/2011 14:45

My DS is on the petite side - he was on 9th centile when he was born and pretty much stayed on it. He's nearly 3.3 now, and is still wearing some 1yo clothes! Although mostly 2yo now. He still only weighs 13/14kg too but he's very healthy and runs around like a loon, does most things he's supposed to be able to so I'm not worried. DH isn't particularly tall (5'9") and I'm 5'6" so DS will probably be somewhere in that area too.

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