Originally Posted by
Green_Tea
I wonder how dropping in percentiles effects final adult height. When I put DS's 2 year old stats into the calculator, it predicts that he will be 5'10" - which would be a miracle considering how short DH and I are. When I put his 3 year old stats in, they predict his height will be 5'7", which I think is far more likely (though even that's a bit tall based on the gene pool!).
The most accurate way to know how big they will be as an adult is to wait Realistically, it's easier to tell the closer to puberty they are.
I'm not really sure where the old wive's tale about their 2yo height vs their 3yo height comes from. As one of my old growth-clinic doctors pointed out, if you ask 20 people (medical and non medical), you will get 20 different ways of guessing adult height... and they are all just as (in-)accurate as the next!
It can take some kids a while to fall into their curve as well. DD was a BIG girl when she was younger--90% for weight and 75% for height. She's now eating healthy, and is at the 10% for weight, and 25-50% for height (can't remember exactly). There was a chance of her being large (her birth father is 350+lbs and 6'4", and several of his cousins are taller than that), but there was also a fair chance of her being short (her birth mom wears tall shoes to get to 5'). I think DD's fallen into her curve, finally... but, it's taken her heading into 5-8 years old to settle into where we think she's really going to be. In our case, we thought she was going to be a tall one, but looking at her curve now, I think she's going to be an average/shorter gal.
As long as growth is good, it just takes some kids longer to hit their curve, and to be able to (accurately) predict their height.
I think we (as a culture), want to know that what we're doing now is the "correct" thing to do, and what better way than to see it on the growth curve.... "Look! Janie is going to be tall and thin! Wow!" or "Yep, that's my Jeffy! He's going to be 6'4"! Quarterback, here we come!" Realistically, their height at birth, or even in the toddler years, doesn't accurately account for what happens when a child becomes in charge of their own health/eating, kwim? Would I have expected my chunky 3yo to be a skinny 8yo who has to wear belts on "slim" jeans? Oh heck no! But, it's who she is now that she's in charge of her eating... She's full, she's not asking for 2nds, and she's a skinny kid. Since I'm giving her healthy foods (well, usually!), I'm okay with her slow-down in growth, since she's still growing, just on healthier foods!
--Mimi
Mom to Lala (2004), Bonus Mom to Big Sis 1 (1991) and Big Sis 2 (1992)
Grammy to Big Kindy Kid (2011), Big Pre-K Kid (2012),
Grandbaby Appendage (2014), and New Baby Grandboy (summer 2017)