Two Year Toddler Review- shocked by loss of height percentile. Please help

[bluebabydinosaur]

My son son who is two years and three months had his two year development review yesterday. All was fine except for his height. He was tracking between the 50th and 75th percentile pre two years which I was delighted with but now he’s dropped right down to the 25th percentile for height. I was shocked and mentioned it to the HV but she said not to worry. He is between the 75th and 91st percentile for weight but is not fat or even podgy but she says I needed to keep an eye on his weight. This is incredibly shallow but I had in my head that my son was going to be tall and now it turns out he is going to be short. I can’t voice my concerns with any friends or acquaintances because I am aware how awful that sounds. He is healthy and happy which I know is the main thing. My question is really, is this a normal feeling for a mother? I just want the best for him. Why do I feel like this? Do the height percentiles tend to be correct when they get to two or could he get back up to the higher percentiles again? I’m feeling very ashamed to feel like this but it’s how I feel and I can’t help it. Any words of advice or criticism would be really welcome. I feel very alone and guilty for feeling like this.

I'm pretty sure his height at 2 has very little indication of how tall he will be post puberty. He might have a growth spurt in a few months and catch up to his previous centile anyway.

The difference between those two bits on the chart is only 3cm.

They may have measured him wrong, he could be due a growth spurt etc...

I don't think you can draw any conclusions from 1 measurement.

Under 2 they measure them lying down. Over 2 I believe they do it standing up. It is common they 'lose' height due to the difference in how they measure. Try not ro worry, but equally yes it is normal as a parent to worry!

Peopke do say that they are 50%of final height at 2.
But I think age of puberty has a big effect. They hardly grow after puberty so the earlier they finish puberty the shorter they are

I agree with PPs that this may have no bearing on his eventual height.

However, in case he does end up relatively short, it's a good idea to stop thinking of his height as such an important thing.

My brother was one of those boys who grew young and then got overtaken and ended up around 5'10" - so not short, but definitely not tall either. My mum told me they used to make lots of positive comments about what a lovely tall boy he was, and she later regretted it in case it had made him feel that not being tall was a negative thing iyswim.

I completely get you..... DS (now 8) was short all through toddlerhood. My family’s TALL. That’s pretty much our defining feature. My brother is 6ft 7, my mum is 6 foot. DH is tall. The idea of having a son of 5ft7..... I love him fiercely and wanted him to be a tall shining golden boy.... for his benefit, not mine. I was upset inside for a long time at the thought of having a short son, mainly because I was carrying round a lot of toxic ideas about what makes a “real man”.

Anyway, he’s now 8. He went from the 9th centile for height to now around the 50th in the last two years. He will probably be around 5’9” ish. He is gorgeous, really handsome, very sporty and muscly, incredibly clever, kind, polite, funny, full of confidence. He’s wonderful. At some point over the last few years I have just stopped caring about his height. He will have a wonderful life because he’s just all kinds of fabulous and he has a stable loving family behind him. It’s doesn’t matter now at all, and it never did really.

I now have DS2 who is enormous. 98th height centile. He’s brilliant in his own way but it’s re-emphasised how much it really doesn’t matter.

Pretty sure they change a lot. I have twins who are now 17. He was forever dinky compared to his sister until months ago..... now there is almost 7 inches between them with him being a lanky 6ft 3. They are both awesome in their own ways and he is still refered to as the baby

@bluebabydinosaur my 12month old’s height has dropped down his chart. Just curious if your DS continued to follow the 25th centile or whether he’s jumped back up? X

I can't talk for the OP but my daughter followed the 25th percentile for length until 1 and then between 1 and 2 she stopped to the 1-2nd percentile for height. She is just over 3 now and still following this line. Her paediatrician isn't concerned
Weight wise she bounces between the 25th and 50th percentiles.

My DD was 50th ish centile for length as a baby then just under 9th at her two year check. I was really worried (anxious mum, she had some food allergies). Anyway, she’s now an 8 year old and growing like a weed- easily one of the tallest in her class!