Worried about my son's height

[BettyButterknife]

DS1 will be 4 next week, he's 96cm which puts him on the 7th centile. He started off in the 50s somewhere at birth, went down to 35th by his first birthday. Haven't had him measured very regularly and now I'm beginning to worry he's dropped down the graph quite significantly.

DH and I aren't particularly tall - 5' 6-7" - so it's obvious DS was never going to be a 6 footer, but I don't know whether to get DS checked out by the HV/GP. He is 40th centile for weight, although he doesn't eat a great deal, but reasonably varied diet.

what is his weight?

Does your red book have a section in it whereby you can 'predict' your DS's adult height based on his current measurements? Think DS3's does - I have this issue with DS2, who is 3.5 and v small. I can't remember what his current height is (maybe 92cm?) but iirc his predicted adult height based on the info in DS3's red book was 5'6" - although the book does say that it could be 3" either side.

On that basis, given that 5'6" isn't unusually small for a man (although I suppose 5'3" would be, and I am so worried he will feel like a real pipsqueak between DS1 and DS3, who are both looking likely to be tall ), I haven't sought any advice on this.

DS2 also started out at 50th centile, now much lower (think 9th? Can't quite remember). Think he weights about 2 stone, not sure where that puts him on the centiles for weight.

Sorry, am rambling a bit and really not being v helpful. Anyway, just wanted you to know that you're not alone. I also have a friend whose DS1 started out 'normal' size, and then just seemed to stop growing at around 2.6, and has been noticeably smaller than his peers ever since, and is still really dinky (now 5.8). She was worried and went to GP, think they did some tests re: growth hormone etc. but all came back normal. She was just told that some children grow much earlier/later than others etc etc. Also, I suppose some have to be small. Not sure what his centiles were, or anything like that.

If you're going to worry, maybe it's worth getting him checked out - but just wanted to let you know that it might not lead to any definitive 'answer', iyswim.

I had similar worries about my daughter. Check your 'red book' to see what the estimated height is for your son based on you and your husband's height. The redbook also gives the expected range below and above that height and says to contact your doctor if he fails outside that range - which my daughter did. Your GP should refer you to a pediatrician, however my GP was quite dismissive ('oh, they all just grow at different rates....') but thankfully I have private medical insurance and asked for a private referral. if you can't go private then you may have to get quite pushy and insist on a referral. It is true that growth rates vary enormously and there's no such thing as an average child but the GP should take your concerns seriously.

Ds3, 5, was 98cm for nearly a year and has suddenly shot up to 105cm. He is still the smallest of his friends by quite a bit. Ds1 was quite tall at this age but ds2 and my sisters dc's were all small and they are all normal height now.

His weight is 34kg, which is 40th centile according to the red book.

MogTheForgetfulCat - that is helpful! DH isn't tall and was always noticeably dinkier than his peers, although he said he grew really slowly but grew for a couple of years beyond some of his friends who seemed to hit their adult heights aged 14 or something. MIL had DH's brother checked for growth hormone tests etc but they were all normal. His adult height is around 5'5" so he's probably slightly smaller than DH. I guess what I'm getting at is that they are not a tall family! Although my brother is 6'2" and I worry that DS2 might be more along those lines. Would be quite bad for DS2 to overtake DS1...

I think in my heart I know it's probably normal within the parameters of his genetics, but it's hard when your child is nearly 4 and some of the age 3 clothes are too big for him. This all came about because we were going to buy him a bike, spoke to the manufacturers about whether to go with the 3 or 4 year old version - they said he wasn't big enough for the 3 and that it would be DANGEROUS for him to ride it. Poor thing, really had his heart set on a birthday bike :(

My DS is also the shortest of his peers. He is 2.8yrs He is also 25th pc on weight too.

I am 5'2, but his father is 5'11, so I thought he would be taller than this. Although my DH says he was one of the shortest in his class at 14, and then within a year or so shot up to 5'11 and was one of the tallest. Iam hoping DS will be like this.

I guess different kids have growth spurts at different times.

I have the same issue. My 7.5 month old DS is really low on chart for height - can't remember what but 9th or 25th? He was a tiny baby, as were both my DH and I, and my DH was teeny as a boy - his mum said she was worried about it - and then at about 11 he shot up to the magnificent 5ft 8" that he is now...my dad had the same story...and I'm only 5ft 1" so I guess DS will be similar...

I worry he'll be tiny and picked on, but then, if it wasn't that, it could be something else, so I've given up worrying. My DH said he didn't care, he was cheeky and friendly, and I'm hoping that same spirit will rub off on DS if he's smaller than his peers

The problem is also in a class that you have kids whose birthdays fall at the end of a year, those whose fall at the beginning...that's an enormous range when we're talking about growing little people.

Don't worry - it doesn't matter if he's different from his siblings. What matters is that he's made to feel the differences are fabulous!

My ds started on the 99th for height but by a year was 9th! He's nearly 3 now.
He's been 50% for weight all along so I'm trying not to worry - which is easier now as I swear he didn't grow at all for 18 months and then recently grew 2 inches in 2 weeks...

They do spurt, and as his dad is average height and stocky, my mum is petite and looks like ds, and even my tall dad was short until late puberty, so I figure he's OK.

Maybe phone the HV and ask what should make you worried, eg if he doesn't grow X amount in a certain time?

My DD is also tiny. At the end of Reception all kids are weighed and measured (a national thing). DD was referred to hospital growth clinic where they investigated as she is smaller than she should be for my and dh heights, and for her birth weight. She has been diagnosed with a very common growth disorder called constitutional growth delay (google it) which means that she is growing but at a slower rate than her peers but will continue to grow when they stop (in early teens for girls), likely to go through puberty later but will be 'normal' height by adulthood. They are keeping an eye on her but don't need to do anything unless she is bothered by it (not really) in which case they can give growth hormone (I'd rather they didn't).

If he is healthy I'd not worry about it and see what school nurse says next year.