from 5th percentile to 28th in 6 months (height)

[CloudBee]

I'm just now looking over his online records and digesting Spencer's stats from his 2.5 yr well visit. I remember the pedi making a big deal about how much he had grown, and we're seeing it in his pants now that we've brought them back out for the season. (So we know it wasn't a mistake with measurements.) But WOW! He was consistently tiny for the first 2 yrs of his life, and shot up this summer.

I don't think he's ever been above the 7th percentile in height. I'm pretty short. (Always thought I was 5' 1" as an adult, but twice recently have been measured with bare feet as 5' 2" by 2 different doctors.) My husband is a hair over 6'. His side of the family is fairly tall. My side of the family is pretty short.

Anyway. The pediatrician made a comment about how healthy DS has been for the past year since his ear tubes went in. And it's true. Not only is he no longer getting ear infections, but he's overall SO much healthier and less ornery. This past winter he hardly had more than a light cough or runny nose. He's thriving! She said that sometimes with kids like this, after they overcome a chronic course of illnesses, they shoot up and start growing like a weed. He also had a few terrible stomach bugs before tubes went in, had reflux during his first year, and wore 2 helmets. It was a rough start, but there were no major issues. 

Has anyone else seen a similar correlation with chronic illness like ear infections and growth?

I'm wondering if he'll stay steady around the 28th percentile going forward, or if this was a one time growth spurt and he'll drop back down?

[hermione]

I can't answer your questions but yay for thriving!

[mrssandro]

It's awesome news with he is thriving. I hope we get a growth spurt like that. Our pedi says they have a few times this can happen. Especially when they go through puberty.

[CloudBee]

Oct 12, 2015 8:43:59 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

It's awesome news with he is thriving. I hope we get a growth spurt like that. Our pedi says they have a few times this can happen. Especially when they go through puberty.

Do you know what the other times are?

I haven't been concerned. Honestly, I like having a petite kiddo because he's easier for my small self to carry! But DH has always been concerned since he started dropping on the charts shortly after birth. Concerned enough that he has openly talked about doing a year of private K to give us time to decide if we want to hold off on standard school enrollment by a year, and repeat K due to height!

[djc315]

I think it makes a lot of sense that he's growing at a faster weight when he's consistently healthy since his body isn't having to fight illness.

My pedi had brought up illness/weight gain correlation when N was younger and his weight was being tracked closely.

[mrssandro]

Oct 12, 2015 8:49:33 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Oct 12, 2015 8:43:59 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

It's awesome news with he is thriving. I hope we get a growth spurt like that. Our pedi says they have a few times this can happen. Especially when they go through puberty.

Do you know what the other times are?

I haven't been concerned. Honestly, I like having a petite kiddo because he's easier for my small self to carry! But DH has always been concerned since he started dropping on the charts shortly after birth. Concerned enough that he has openly talked about doing a year of private K to give us time to decide if we want to hold off on standard school enrollment by a year, and repeat K due to height!

She wasn't specific on the other times. She says it just happens sometimes. 

DD#2 is <4% currently up from <2% but her head is normal size. She has a hard first year but is recovering slowly and following her own curve. I hope she has a growth spurt with her weight/height soon. 

Me personally I would not hold back on public K if DD is meeting her milestones. Our first daughter is in K this year and she has some small kids in her class. She is a foot taller (she looks like she is 8 or 9) They are all different heights at that age and doesn't really matter. They still all play together and learn together. 

[CloudBee]

Oct 12, 2015 9:36:04 GMT -5 @choco said:

Both of my boys were born in the 10th percentile in weight and jumped tremendously at each follow-up visit. It sounds like he's doing really well and may take after your H's side of the family re height. Either way, I would not worry too much. I also know of many boys who were short even throughout high school and had ridiculous growth spurts in college (i.e. one guy was 5'7 at high school graduation and was 6'2 at college graduation). Boys don't stop growing for a long while, so I would not use height as a factor to hold him back a year if he is meeting all other milestones. He will be bored, especially in a state where the cutoff is 12/31.

Great to hear!

I also grew in college! And my feet grew well into my 20's, too!

I think I must have also kept growing a little in height into my 20's because I was really blown away to recently be measured at 5' 2" this year. I don't know when I was last measured, but it may have been high college.

[CloudBee]

Oct 12, 2015 10:15:47 GMT -5 @bluesky said:

Silly question but I always read a big shot up in height percentile could be a red flag and indicate hormone issues in children. My DD was always under 30 percentile for height when younger and now she is over 80 percentile. I was wondering if I should even question the pedi about this. So a quick growth spurt is generally a good thing in your opinion?

Based on her unsolicited feedback about illness possibly holding him back in gains early on, I'm thinking hormonal issues aren't a concern of hers at this point in time.

So I think it's really situational. Case by case.

[halfpint]

B had a really big growth spurt after his first year. Up until 9 mos, he was always below the chart for weight - then he crept up into the teens. He was always tall (70-80%), and his head measured large (poor little orange-on-a-toothpick baby), but he was a slim baby.

At his two year appointment, he was 98th for height and 95th for weight.

He didn't really have any chronic or major illness, he was pretty healthy overall, but did have a small heart murmur - it closed by his first birthday, so I'm not sure that would have a major impact on his size, but who knows?

[chedifuen]

Yes, my littlest improved so much after he got his tubes. He was like a different kid, he grew, gained weight and his personality even changed.

[mandapanda18]

We didn't have ear issues, but we had a lot of lung-related illnesses (bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchialitis, etc), C was 60th percentile at birth, but just kept petering down from there. His weight was always right at 50% but his height got all the way down to the 5th percentile. At his 2 year check I thought they measured him wrong since they said he had grown 2 inches (in two months from his last sick check). Nope, took out pants this weekend and he did grow a ton! His percentiles are now reversed, 40% height/20% weight (he eats and eats and eats, but plays hard and has not gained weight in forever),

[CloudBee]

Oct 12, 2015 10:48:39 GMT -5 mandapanda18 said:

We didn't have ear issues, but we had a lot of lung-related illnesses (bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchialitis, etc), C was 60th percentile at birth, but just kept petering down from there. His weight was always right at 50% but his height got all the way down to the 5th percentile. At his 2 year check I thought they measured him wrong since they said he had grown 2 inches (in two months from his last sick check). Nope, took out pants this weekend and he did grow a ton! His percentiles are now reversed, 40% height/20% weight (he eats and eats and eats, but plays hard and has not gained weight in forever),

Sounds JUST like us!

3 inches in 6 months. Taking out his pants from last year showed it wasn't a mistake! lol

[Marmee]

Semi related but DD4 had reflux and HORRIBLE sleeper...not only did her development improve but she grew (up the charts) after she started sleeping. I've made very tall kids (80%+ at least, often 95%) but DD4 was 20% for a long while. I think now at 2.5 she's up to over 50%.