Concerned about 2yr old DS physical development, height and teeth!

[Pegglebot]

Hello, I'm wondering if any of you wise folks can give me some advice regarding my DS2.

I recently measured my 23 month old to compare him to his brother at the same age. I was fairly shocked to discover after plotting his height on the WHO growth charts that he is on the 9th centile for height. Now I wouldn't be so concerned except for the fact that his brother, who is 3, was on the 95th centile at the same age and infact was the same height and weight as DS2 at the age of 1! DH is 6'3 so I assumed both boys would be fairly tall. I should add he is and always has been a very, very fussy eater, it's a constant battle.

I don't know if this is connected but he also is missing a fair few teeth (canines and lower later inscisors) and they seem to be showing no sign of coming.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or has experienced anything similar, should I contact a HV or doctor? I can't help but worry about it. Thanks

*lower lateral incisors!

So are you very tall as well?

Has he dropped centiles? It's not clear from your post whether he has always been smaller for his age or if this is new.

I wouldn't conclude that just because your DH is tall all your children will be tall. I knew a family of 4 boys when I was a teenager - 2 of them were about 5 ft 4 inches, 2 of them were 6 ft 2 plus. They had a very tall mother & a very short father!

I'm 5'6 so not particularly tall. He has dropped centiles on height yes he started on the 95th although not on weight. That's reassuring to know that same sex siblings can be different heights I can only think of brothers I know that are roughly the same height!

It's not that I mind if he is shorter than his brother (obviously) as long as it is not an indicator that something is wrong with him.

How tall is he? I'm 5'8 and DP is 6'1. Our DD is exactly 25mo and is 82cm tall, so not really of giant proportions! Her cousin by contrast was wearing age 4 clothes at her age - she wears 12-18mo.

She is also missing teeth. She didn't get her first one til 12mo. BUT my God is she strong. So I'm not worried. If she looked as if she's blow over in a puff of wind then yes, I'd be a lot more concerned.

FWIW, my twin sis and I were the tallest kids in class until I hit 12. I'm now fairly average, though twin sis is almost 6ft.

I think you really need to ask the health visitor what she thinks. Of course they don't grow to a linear line they have spurts and you may have under measured him anyway. I remember a friend's dd being measured by the hv as 9th centile at one point, probably 9 months and she is about the same height at 4 as my dd who is 75th centile.

MoelFammau he's 83cm at 23 months, my freinds 17 month old DD is rapidly catching up with him. He can still fit his 12-18 month sleep suits actually which is cute but doesn't exactly help my worries!

Brettgirl2 his height has been on a steady decline since he was about 8 weeks old, which I guess is better than a sudden dip...?. I'm pretty sure I did it accurately as I was so suprised at the low centile I had to check about
3 times! I think I will see the HV.

Thanks for your replies.

Go straight to your GP as that is probably what your HV tell you to do anyway and ask for a referral to a pediatrician.

There's probably nothing to worry about, but you are worried and that won't go away until you get him thoroughly checked over. If he's just destined to be short then thats fine but if there is an underlying problem then you've got the ball rolling.

A girl in my DS1's class had a problem with growth hormone production and when she started school she was wearing 18-24 month clothes (they had to have uniform made for her). She had treatment and is now one of the tallest in her class - try not to worry because that's such an easy thing to do.

Thanks wahla I was thinking of going to the doctor as the HV's round here tend to be difficult to get hold of for some reason.

I always worry about wasting their time but I guess this could be a genuine problem and I won't know until I go. Now to try and stay off Google...

Step away from google!

It's never a waste of HCP's time. Their job is to assess our health concerns and treat appropriately. Therefore, if you're concerned then you have, by definition, a legitimate reason to see them even if it turns out that there is nothing wrong. Fingers crossed that that is what they'll say.

Thanks, going to book an appointment on monday and hope that will put my mind at rest!