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Children's health

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Original poster

this thing about your child being half their adult height at age 2 - is it accurate / true?

29 replies

BocciBalls · 11/03/2009 20:58

Just wondering... DH very tall, (6'4") I'm short (5'3") so DS (now 22mo) should be average of the two plus a bit, so about 5'10" - 6'.

I have heard / read that you can estimate adult height as at age 2 a child will be half their adult height ... but on ds's current height I reckon he's headed for around 5'6" unless he grows by 3" in the next few weeks.

Does anyone know if this is an accurate indicator - and if so does it mean on 2nd birthday or eg at 2.5?

Not bothered particularly, just curious as everyone goes on about how he must be going to be tall like his dad ...

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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divedaisy · 11/03/2009 21:16

I asked my health visitor about this at my sons 2 year assessment as I'd heard this too. My DH is 6'2" and I'm 5'6". The HV used the growth charts to estimate his continued growth. Because he was constantly in the upper centile she was able to tell me that if he continues in this centile he should be around 6'6" when he reaches 17/18 years!! Have a look at your sons growth records and see if he's stable within a centile range - then ask your HV!!

From what I observe generally in society boys are usually taller than their fathers and girls taller than their mums! My sis & I are both taller (by about 3-5 inches) than our mum and my bro is about 3" taller than my dad was. THe same for my dh - he's about 2" taller than his dad, however his brother is about 5" shorter!!

Original poster

BocciBalls · 11/03/2009 21:18

thanks divedaisy. for some reason ds's height has never been measured at HV checks, just weight. so no record to look at. will ask at his 2 year check though, good idea.

OP posts:

charlie1000 · 11/03/2009 21:21

I was told this theory too, but was told 2 and a half which you may find makes all th difference. According to this I'm going to have 2 very tall boys......DS1 measures up at 6ft 5 and DS2 will be 6ft 3!!! My husband is 6ft 1 and the shortest male in his family (so hardly surprising really) I, on the other hand, am a very average 5ft 5

hester · 11/03/2009 21:22

I think that formula is very rule of thumb and can't be relied on. Some children grow very irregularly - are small till their teens, then shoot up. I have a friend who was freakishly tall throughout her childhood - was 5'9" at the age of 10 - but then stopped growing and is still 5'9" today.

It's also not true that children end up at an average of their parents' heights - or you wouldn't get height disparity between siblings. I have two brothers, one short and one really tall. I have two sibling nephews: one is on the 100th centile, the other on the 5th.

I also have a dd who, if she is to double her current height, will end up as tall as a giraffe, so I have every incentive to diss the red book formula

vonsudenfed · 11/03/2009 21:24

I'm much shorter than my mother - she's 5'7" and I'm 5'2"!

I'd heard only that boys are always taller than their mothers, that's all you can say.

But I don't think it's set in stone - I was absolutely average height until I was 11 or so, then everyone else grew and I didn't, so he may well get a later growth spurt and overtake his peers.

MsBeauregarde · 11/03/2009 21:25

My son was only 85cm at exactly two, which doubled would be less than I calculated using the mum's height + dad's height divided by 2 + 7cm (for a boy).

He had a growth spurt at about 2 and 4 - 6 months I think.

there's another calculation. something like you're 75% of your full height at 12. Anybody heard that one? I can't remember it exactly. Anyone heard of that one?

MsBeauregarde · 11/03/2009 21:27

Vonsudenfed, I'm also shorter than my mum. It doesn't seem fair does it!?

ShowOfHands · 11/03/2009 21:32

Gosh my 22 month old is already 3 feet tall...

vonsudenfed · 11/03/2009 21:38

My father is 6' too, I am very hard done by at 5'2". But I have two short dumpy grandmothers, whose genes clearly skipped a generation...

beansontoast · 11/03/2009 21:43

what is three feet in cm?

ShowOfHands · 11/03/2009 21:47

90cm ish?

beansontoast · 11/03/2009 21:48

gosh and golly

Bluestocking · 11/03/2009 21:53

My sisters and I are all shorter than my mum too - she's 5'8" and we're all between 5'4" and 5'5". I thought the red book formula was really vague as it gives you two heights between which your child will end up - apparently my son will be between 5'6" and 6'1"!
In truth, I don't think anyone has any idea - it's like the complete rubbish that midwives and OBs spout while you're pregnant about how big/small your baby is likely to be!

kiddiz · 11/03/2009 22:08

I was told this double their height at 2 thing as well when ds2 was that age as he was a very tall two year old. Not correct for him as double his height would have made him 6ft 8"!! He's now 18 and while he is tall (over 6ft) he is no where near 6ft 8".

kiddiz · 11/03/2009 22:11

And also a friend's son, who was alot shorter than my ds at two, now, at 18, has to duck to get through my doorways. (normal size doorways in a standard house too!)

kennythekangaroo · 11/03/2009 22:13

I thought it was boys are always taller than their mothers and girls are shorter than their fathers.

newcareer4me · 11/03/2009 22:14

It is stated in ds's health book so it must be pretty accurate. It is 2 years for a boy but 18 months for a girl.

SlightlyMadScotland · 11/03/2009 22:15

My nearly 3 year old barely comes to mid thigh so I hope she will be a bit more than double her height at 2!

Niecie · 11/03/2009 22:20

I think there may be some truth in it. My two are both supposed to end up around 6ft 2"

There are several methods of estimating height - adding parents heights together dividing by 2 and adding 4" is one.

Another one is that boys are supposed to be 72% of their final height at 8yrs. (Girls are 76%)

And you can always look at the baby book chart and just follow the line to age 20.

DS1 (who is 8) comes out the same on whatever measure you use.

DS2 is not 8 yrs yet but seems to getting similar estimates on the other methods.

But then they could end up like DH who was apparently the tallest in his class until he got to 13 and then everybody over took him and left him at a very average 5'9". I suppose lifestyle and nutrition have some part to play too.

EsmeWeatherwax · 11/03/2009 22:26

My mum heard this from her doctor when I was wee, and it turned out to be right in my case. If its true for my dd she'll be just over 6' which sounds about right to me, since I'm 6' and dh is 6'5".

MsBeauregarde · 12/03/2009 10:41

Niece that's it. I'm going to write it down this time!

ta!

MsBeauregarde · 12/03/2009 10:43

My hv never measured height. she obviously glanced at children and thought (within the normal range, no nutritional deprivation) and didn't measure height. So i just have blank pages at the back of the red book. The weight pages only filled in.

MrsJoeMcIntyre · 12/03/2009 10:46

Can't wait to measure dd when I get in now! Dh is 6'5'' and I am 5'5''. There is a height predictor chart in the red book though, which said she would be 5'9'', which would be nice for her!

I always wished I was tall. I wanted to stand on the back row in school photos, rather than sitting down at the front with my hands in my lap.

MsBeauregarde · 12/03/2009 10:49

I only wish it now when I'm clothes-shopping! But it used to take up a lot of my time when I was younger. Wishing I could be taller! so pointless i know.

I think my son's going to be less than the formula and my daughter more. RATS. (well, for my son, not that it matters, he's gorgeous luckily). I sound really shallow. Obviously it doesn't matter, they're healthy.

duchesse · 12/03/2009 10:51

Nope. My bro was little at 2 (as were we all) at 2, and he reached 6ft (my father is 5ft11 and my mother 5ft3). His sisters (4 of them) range between 5ft2 and 5ft7, and we were all tiddly at 2. My daughters were very small at 2 (short and light- about 22 lbs/10 kg at 2 yrs) and although still small at 11 and 13, are still merrily growing and shouldn't be anything less than average height (ie at least 5ft6).

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