DD still v short for her age

[Billi77]

My DD is the smallest in her class and has v short legs and an (adorable) baby face and voice. She is neurotypical but something doesn’t feel quite right and never has about her body shape and size. Her father and I are both 5’10”. She’s on 8th centile for height and 50th for weight. She’s chubby but not obese. The dr says she’s not short enough for a blood test and she’s still on centile chart but to come back in a few months. I wouldn’t be concerned if the rest of us weren’t tall. Does anyone have any similar experience? I’ve been waiting for her to ‘stretch’ but it just isn’t happening and she’s starting to gain a complex about it. She’s a head smaller than her best friends in reception. I’d feel like a terrible mother if something were up and I didn’t do anything about it on time

How tall is she OP? You could see another Dr and get a second opinion...there's a lot to be said for a Mother's instinct.

She’s the same height as her 2.5 yo cousin, so about 106 cm. Pretty short for her age but only concerning because of her shape (still has a young toddler body) and the fact that we are all tall.

My 7 year old is 106 cm and has only recently gone up into age 5-6 clothes (and to be honest it's still on the large side for her) She sits on the 0.4th percentile and sometimes falls off the chart. (Her weight is the 9th centile which is a bit of a jump up compared to the height but not massively)

She is under a consultant but currently as she does grow, albeit it incredibly slowly, nothing is being actively done but rather waiting to see over the next couple of years. I think the blood test your dr is talking about would be taken to check for the growth hormone but again if she is growing they will know that it is present.

As far as I can tell we may have the option to try growth hormone injections but they are not pleasant for the child and also may not have any impact on the height achieved.

I was surprised by how large a buffer there is in terms of height expected for a child to reach so if my daughter was between the 5th and the 95th percentile that would be considered within normal. However if parental height markers are a concern for you or other developmental features do push the dr on it.or ask for a second opinion.

Certainly I can appreciate the frustrations and difficulties that being a small child has. DD does find it difficult that most children several years younger than her are taller, particularly children the same age or older can be unkind and see her as babyish as she is so small, and even adults can be unhelpful in questioning her actual she etc. Also our consultant keeps an eye on how she deals with it emotionally so it is totally ok to go back on the basis that it is causing distress to your daughter.

It s whether she following the centile
Dd stopped growing. Literally. And was under tge charts.
Turned out to be coeliac
So measure now an d in 3 months. Check growth rate.

My Reception age child (4 years 5 months old) is only 105cm and still has some toddler chub. It has never occurred to me to worry about it - she has always been small. She eats, sleeps and is doing well at school. I have no idea what percentile she is as I've never worried about her. She is not the smallest in her class either.

I have two older DC, one is 98th percentile for height and weight, I worry more about her. Not sure about my middle one as I haven't measured her for years, but she was 50th percentile last time I checked. I am 5'8" and my DH is 5'11".

I mean this in the nicest way and as someone with three children who can always find something to worry about - please be careful how you think of and speak about her height, if she really is developing a complex then she could be picking up on your concern.

I am 5'8", DH is 5'11". You could be describing my DD at 5 or 6.

Now 16, she is about 5'2" and perfectly in proportion. We did mention the height but no one was overly concerned.

Do you have any grandparents or great aunts on either side who were short? That's what we put it down to. I think she is a throwback

My DD is 6 (year 2) and 104cm

She's under a consultant because she fell off the centile chart - I don't think they tend to worry until they go below 0.04!

Equally consultant thinks it likely she's just small and a bit behind so try not to worry

Have you considered growth hormone deficiency? They tend to have sweet cherub faces and may be a bit chubby too.

It’s probably all completely normal. They do tend to shoot up in uneven spurts, often getting a little chubby before a really big spurt.

I only know of one child who didn’t catch up naturally and it was thought to be linked to her juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Two tall parents aren’t a guarantee of tall children, my 4DCs are DS6’4, DD5’8, DD5’6, DD5’6 with parents of 6’2,5’9, we come in all shapes and sizes and grow at different rates.
My eldest DD was tiny at primary school and is now a respectable 5’6, try not to worry 🙂

@BingoGo

Have you considered growth hormone deficiency? They tend to have sweet cherub faces and may be a bit chubby too.

This is mostly what I’m worried about. Not her height or her ending up shorter than average, more that something is up with development given the toddler body and atypical proportions. She also has a hairy back, which I’m not sure is related. Her paternal grandmother is pretty short. I’ve told myself to wait a couple of years so she can guide any decision about things more. But recently question if I should investigate GHD more. Am keen to avoid painful daily injections

My DS is 4 years 5 months and he is 105cm. He is quite short for his age but there are a number of children in his reception class that are either around his height or smaller. So I don't think his height is of concern.

Have you looked at symptoms of turner syndrome?

But her grandmother being short may just mean hereditary

tss.org.uk/ts/what

Thanks for that. I have but at a glance the signs don’t seem to match up. I will ask the GP what he thinks next time though.

I got a paediatric referral for my very small DD. They did a blood test and found that there was nothing wrong but it was nice to be reassured.

Was it v hard to get the referral?

If it's GHD it's better to know right away, so she can get the injections and obtain a normal height. Eventually she will be able to do them herself but obviously being a child she would need supervision.

My best friend is 5 ft, her dad 6ft, her mum 5ft 8, her two brothers 6ft 2 and 6ft 4. She is just like her little tiny granny who was 4’10.

My DD is 5ft at 15, I am 5ft 2 and I don’t think she is going to grow anymore. Her dad is 5 ft 10 and brother is 5 ft 9. But most of my family are small so DD is small. In primary she was the smallest at least half a head smaller than the next smallest. She grew really slowly until year 6 where (for her), she shot up. Sadly she seems to have stopped growing but she was early fur puberty so is probably her adult height now.

Just because you are tall doesn’t mean she will be.

@Billi77 I had to insist on the referral. GP didn’t seem to think it was a problem but gave in eventually.

I just looked at the percentiles online, if your DD carries on she'll be around my height as an adult. Not much over 5ft. I can honestly say it hasn't ever been a problem for me.

Having said that, I follow my family genes in height and naturally small (size 4 feet).

I was convinced my dd had mosaic turner syndrome for years because of being short and other soft markers (most people with mosaic TS go undiagnosed as children as it's not obvious). But she's 7 now and seems to have caught up, is in the right size clothes for her age. I used to measure her and look up TS symptoms all the time! My research said to keep percentile and insist on blood tests if they drop off their line rather than if they are consistently short.

Do get a referral to an endocrine consultant. If her growth has slowed stopped this needs investigating.

My son has GHD caused by pituitary issues and although he started it in his teens, the daily injections aren’t painful. He has achieved really good growth plus other wellbeing benefits from GH. I know of many very young children who totally take the jabs in their stride as part of the daily routine.

Check out the Child Growth Foundation website and FB group as they are great if you have any questions. Persevere for the referral and don’t be fobbed off with ‘wait and see’.

You can get referral if growth is slowed or stopped. Not for being consistently following her centile . Someone has to be short and on 8th centile she not at bottom . Dd was on 0.4 then dropped below the lines. So measure now and again in 3 months. Maybs take photo next to a measure?
If you do get referral they will take basic bloods measure accurately then again in 6 months.

Thanks for this. I have another gp appt in a few days so will try and push for a referral