Measured DD's height this eve and she's extremely short - going slightly mad with worry now

[EagleRay]

Hi - DD is nearly 15mo and doing ok developmentally. Had her weighed for the first time in ages this week and she's around the 50th percentile, and has pretty much followed this line since she was very young. Her head has always been extremely large since she was born, but it's growing consistently and GP confirmed there are no issues.

So tonight we have a tape measure handy and decide to see what height she is - she stands supported so stood her up against the doorframe, made a mark and measured. Then I entered it on the chart and thought I'd made a mistake - the measurement was 68cm, which is pretty much what she was at 8 months

I just don't understand it - as far as I know, we measured fairly accurately but her height isn't even on the bottom of the chart! Surely if she was extremely short for her age, it would have been pointed out by someone at nursery, relatives, friends, GPs, nurse, health visitor etc, who have all seen her several times recently? Unfortunately, DP got really snappy and defensive about it and said well of course she's normal height, so didn't pursue it, but I'm really worried now.

She's in age-appropriate clothes and we're both of average height (actually DP is well over 6').

What on earth is going on? Has anyone else failed to notice their DC have stopped growing? I'm going to try and measure her again tomorrow - if anyone has any advice about how to take a reasonably accurate height I'd be very grateful.

I think my horror and panic stems a little bit from starting full time work in Jan - life is really full-on now and I'm always worried I'm going to miss something fundamental as there's no time in the day to do things properly

Saw this pop back up in Threads I'm on. Hope your DD is doing well Eagle.

DD has now amazingly shot to nearly 50th centile for length - she has slimmed down a lot so I guess she's used all that fat to grow. Happened sometime between 1 yr and 18 months. Just updating because I said I would upthread and in case this is useful for anyone else in future.

youcant best of luck!

It's interest to see this thread. My dd height is no longer a cause for concern. She has had a sudden growth spurt over the summer. I am in shock that she has outgrown her clothes. I have no idea what centile she is now on as she is seven.

I think it must be hard to distinguish between children with a real growth disorder and those whose children seem to have their own growth curve.

Really Tired
I think you are right that it must be hard to distinguish between children with a real growth disorder and those whose children seem to have their own growth curve.
Most people aren't aware that early (say 9-10 years old) puberty in a girl between 0.4th and 2nd centile will result in them not achieving normal (even really short) adult stature.

That's why bone age assessment is crucial for those children and should be assessed by a paediatric radiologist. Those children also need closely monitoring and possible treatment to slow bone maturity to give them the chance of reaching adult height. Sadly, some children are missed if they are discharged before puberty and without bone age assessment, and that is very difficult for an adolescent to deal with.