when would you turn from noticing to concern (if you should) about a child's height?

[grumpypants]

we are all quite tall, except ds2 who is a summer baby and the smallest in his class. He is Year 2. He is very small but in proportion - strangers often assume he is a reception child.

Is height ever an issue?

Only if you make it one! My ds is 4 weeks off being 9 and he is the same height as my 6yo. In fact the 6yo wears bigger clothes than ds. The only problem i find is people tend to talk down to him, and assume he is the same age as my 6yo. Then he replies in age appropriate language and i get told how grown up and advanced he is for his age! .

As long as you can deal with this you will be fine.

That's good to hear - i think i am wondering if it ever needs to be checked out formally, or if we can assume he is just small?

My DS is 10, wears age 6-7 clothes and is stick thin to boot. He is glad that now he's in Y5 there are finally juniors smaller than him. We're very positive about his size and he enjoys the fact he's so fast and nippy when he plays football and rugby.
He is old in his year, and people often assume he's much younger, so he loves shocking them with his amazing knowledge before revealing his real age . His friends are very protective of him, they help him reach high stuff and he helps them with maths etc.
Just focus on what your child's individual skills are and build confidence that way instead of focusing on an attribute they can do nothing about.

I am quite tall 5 10 and DH is 5 9 so reasonably tall, my ds is under the hospital and is seen regualry. I have mentioned about his growth and they aren't worried about it. He is following the same percentile as he always has and as he grew 4 cm in 18 months apparently there is nothing to worry about as he is growing, just at his own pace!

I think if he is eating well and active and doing all the things a child of his age is doing then i really wouldn't worry about it.

Children's height and weight are measured at intervals throughout childhood anyway, and you should be told if there's cause for concern. If the child is reasonably active etc. There will probably be no problems.

If he was in Year 1 would he still be smaller than the majority of the children?
As a summer baby, remember he will be in a class with children nearly a year older than he is.
What age clothes does he wear?

inmysparetime - ds enjoys fake genius status too!

He wears clothes maybe two years below - just that other people seem to be commenting made me wonder if there was 'a problem' that needed checking?

Thanks for the helpful advice - I'd prefer not to worry if poss, and assume all is ok.

One of the boys in DS's class is very small compared to the others, always has been. Aparently his dad was the same, and he's now well over 6foot!

I have a twin brother -I was always one of the tallest in the class, he was always the smallest, and thinest!

my dad is 6ft 2 and my mum 5ft 7 so no one expected him to be short, but then he hit 16 and shot up, almost overnight, to the lofty height of 6ft 4!

my ex was 5ft 11 but hit that height at 12, was always the biggest in primary but ended up distinctly average

I would say as long as he is healthy I wouldn't worry about it -what will be will be :-)

It would really only be a concern if a child was very small for familial height - ie much smaller than you would expect based on parental heights and overall growth prediction.

For example, in the red/green/blue/whatever colour you have book, there are growth charts, as well as a little formula for working out predicted height. It will be a range, so for eg the child would be expected to grow between the 2nd and 25th centiles, or 50th and 91st, or whatever.

Of course it isn't predictive and is subject to other factors but can be a useful starting point. So if you think he's much smaller than you would expect him to be then you could see the GP.

I think at this age any concern would be if he has suddenly dropped off the centiles on the charts - as long as they are roughly following a line there is no concern, if they were following the 50th centile and then dropped to the 3rd centile then they would be checking it out. So get his health record out and check out his height on the charts.

If you still have concerns then have a chat with your health visitor or doctor. If there are problems with height due to a hormone deficiency then this needs to be addressed before puberty, as once they have gone through puberty there won't be much that can be done about it.

Thank you for your sensible advice, everyone. I am aware of his height because :

he was the biggest baby (8lb 8oz) but is now the smallest child
the midwife visiting ds3 commented on ds2s very big head !
he is very tiny compared to me, dd and ds1, and people assume he and ds3 are twins
i don't want to worry for no reason but if i am missing anything, i would like to know iyswim?

sort of, if he is tiny that's fine, but if he's tiny because x,y,z (problem) i'd like to know and help.

ok, might do that after peeking at the red book. Just always try to avoid the GP if i can get an answer on mumsnet first

so, how tall is he? Just being nosey! My DS has the opposite problem. He has just started reception, is one of the older ones there (October birthday) and is 118cm tall. My DD who is nearly 3 is only 91cm. they look funny together!

DH is 6ft4 and I'm 5ft7 and DS1 is scooting along on the 5th centile for height. He appears totally healthy, but he is so far off the family height trend that he was sent to a pediatritian.
They did a ream of blood tests etc and also a bone-age test to see if he is going to be one of those kids who just shoots up later on (as DH and I both did).
Oddly his bone-age is spot on and all the tests were fine, so I guess he's just a throw-back to some of DH's shrimpy ancestors?

Anyway, there are a lot of disorders and diseases that can skew a child's growth, so it might be worth mentioning it to your GP if your worried?

well, he was six in the summer and was 109 cm in september. That's (according to the red book) 8th percentile. So, still 'normal' height. but, according to the red book, he started on 91st at birth, was on 25th at just over a year and 10th at 4 1/2 so not growing very fast!

He is cognitively 'normal' as far as we can tell, can't read but tries, doesn't have other physical difficulties - maybe wait and see?

My brother was short for his age and didn't grow much in a year. Doctors discovered a thyroid problem, when he was around 5. No one else in the family has it. So worth getting it checked out. FWIW my brother is fine now

that's interesting - both maternal granny and great granny have thyroid problems.

just hate going to the gp (4 kids, seem to live there, prefer to go with concrete, visible problem!)

my DS would be jealous of the 'fake genius' aspect - he has the opposite problem - age 8 but in age 12-13 clothes, and looks about 11. Strangers often don't believe him when he tells them his age, which really annoys him. I am fully expecting him to stop growing and for his peers to catch up sometime soon.

I would have it checked out. What height are your DCs' four grandparents? Your doctor should ask you about ancestors when taking your DS2's history.

both grannies are tallish; my dad (dead) was a tall, strapping rugby player type, and dh's dad is probably on the short side for a bloke (but not in a noticeable way). Every other relative is taller than me, or my height (aunts, uncles, great grandparents).

I am really overthinking this aren't i?

off to work now, but really grateful for all the responses