DC's on 3rd percentile for height...

[onamissiontomakeithappen]

Should I worry? OK DH and I not tall so won't expect them to be 6 footers, but they do seem to be the shortest in their classes. Looking at their height chart these past couple of years their growth has been very slow and working it out they are both on the 3rd percentile, they are 6.9 and 4.3 years old.

Is it worth me taking them to GP to be checked out or will take one look at me (shorty 5ft) and send me away? DH is 5'8.

Thanks

well, by definition, 3 in 100 healthy children need to be on or below the 3rd centile.
What is their weight like? About 3rd centile? or use the NHS childs BMI calculator to see if they are a healthy weight for their height. I wouldn't worry unless the 2 are very different.

Yes, exactly, it's the relationship between the height and weight centiles that's important not to centile it's self. All centiles are 'normal'.

Your heights sound like mine and my partner's. DD2 is a notorious shortarse. Frankly I'm not surprised - I'm more surprised that DD1 is quite tall at the moment!

My dd is on a v low centile (used to be 0.2 but think it might be v slightly higher now). My other two are boys and one is 50th and one probably a bit below 50th for height. I am quite short 5ft 3 but DH is 6ft 2. My dd is the smallest in her class apart from her friend who has a condition that makes him a bit smaller.

When dd was 6 months old she was checked out by a paediatrician as her twin brother was approx a third bigger. She was judged to be fine, just naturally petite.

Ooh, that reminds me, a lady with BG twins, around 15 months I think when I met them. Boy was huge, like 97th percentile for everything. Girl was wee tiny thing, about 2nd percentile. Both cute as buttons and on-target developmentally. Which I think are the important factors to keep in mind. Very funny to look at together, though.

Hello lljkk we were on Feb 08 thread together! Yes my twins looked a bit like that. Both completely "normal" just very non identical. Twin boy weighs about 9lb more than twin girl now I think and is 10cm taller.

It's not an exact science and I think that the DCs may fluctuate markedly as they grow older. DS was always on the 9th Centile for height but is more like the 50th now (he's 12) and DD was always on the 90th and now has gone down to the 75th (she's 7).

FWIW, DW and I were both very small as children (like the smallest in the class) and up to mid-teens and I'm pretty sure would have been on 25th centile for height (or lower). We are above average height as adults, both of us!

Thanks all, DC1 weight is on 35 percentile and DC2 is 75 centile in weight (he's a good eater, DC2 rubbish!) although he does not look overweight iykwim..

So both height and weight are very different percentile? for DC2 to be on 3% weight he'd have to be 2st 2 at 6.5 years! nextphase why should I worry? Being short myself I would hate to miss anything now to give them a chance of being taller...

Thanks appreciate any information..

Happy birthday to your Feb08 DC, Egg :).

Weight & height percentiles didn't match well with mine, Onamission. Mine always a fair bit taller than weight %tile. They seem alright for it.

ps: about your short worries:
well as you know it's hardly a major disability.

DS was always one of the runts & then one day when he was 10 I discovered he ad turned into one of the taller ones in his year group. I don't know when that happened.

If height and weight are way out it suggests that they MIGHT be over/under weight.
What did the NHS calculator say?

What the doctors will look at is whether they have lost centiles over the years. Have they roughly followed the same lines since birth or has there been a marked drop off, more than 2 centiles for example?

Both my boys are on the 2-3rd percentile for height ( and not much more for weight) When they were younger , I took them to the hv who said that aslong as they are following their percentile line, not to worry - they are now 5 and 7, still following their line, still small, but no worries here .

Both dd and her cousin on the 0.4th centile for height. They are both bright, healthy and confident little girls.

We found it a real challenge buying school uniform when dd started nursery.

uhm DC2 healthy DC1 obese! but seriously he hardly looks obese!! I don't get how that makes a difference to their height at the 3rd percentile if they are heavier or lighter? sorry not getting it! thanks again..

Not sure, but my ds2 ( who is on 2nd percentile ) has come up on the 43rd percentile on that calculator, yet ds1 who is ( or was last time I checked) on 3rd percentile is on 13th on that calculator- maybe worth a trip to gp, I think we can sometimes see our children through diff eyes ( as we are so used to them) that an outside opinion is v useful .

You can work out mid parental height by adding yours and dh's height in cms together, then divide by 2 and add 7cm for a boy or subtract 7cn for a girl. You can then plot that on the centile chart in the red book which goes up to age 20 (so plot at 20 yrs). That is a good predictor of adult height although your dcs are unlikely to be exactly on it but they will most often be around the centiles to either side. I would think the 3rd centile sounds about right in view of your heights. Hope that all makes sense.

thanks missmapp yes makes sense, although no-one has told me my son looks overweight or obese! close family included! there are no rolls of fat around middle, chubby legs or arms etc.. which is what I would class as obese! will see what GP says, but thanks everyone for input...

Gosh don't worry! If they are healthy then what's the problem. You are both on the short side too! I'm teeny tiny. My parents are the same as you and your DH. It doesn't bother me. Well, finding jeans to fit is a problem though!