Any other tall children out there?

[Bearhut]

Hi,

My DD is 26 months old and 38" tall. She seems to tower over the other children her age. In gymnastics today I noticed she was at least a head taller than the rest of the class (including the 4 year old siblings) and wasn't able to do some of the activities because her feet hit the ground. I was so sad for her because she wanted to hang from the bars and kept going back to try, but couldn't because of the height issue.

She's always been tall, but I never really noticed a big difference until the last few weeks. The older children keep trying to play with her and they don't understand why she won't sit and play with them. Next week we start a class for 2 and 3 year olds so hopefully that will help.

Does anyone else have taller children and have any advice? I'd love to keep her with the older children, but since she's a fall baby I'd also like to keep her with her school class as much as possible.

Thanks.

H

[bcky2]

my older ds is tall, at his 3rd birthday party he was pretty much the same height as the 5 and 6 year olds. that was almost a year ago. i am 5'7" and he come to right under my chest. my younger ds at 19 months was 35 inches so he will be another tall one. i tend to treat them like they are older because they are bigger and i have to keep reminding myself of their age. i would keep her with children around her age as you dont want her to feel like she cant keep up or do what some of the older kids are. no need to cause frustration on her part :)

[kristy]

Both of my boys are tall. They are not only tall, they look a little older than they really are. When I drop my oldest son off at the elementary school, I've been asked if my youngest (3 yrs old) is also in Kindergarten. I really love it when my 3 year old throws tantrums in public - if he looks 5 what must people be thinking?

But one thing their height has not affected is their overall maturity level. In our situation, they are better off with their agemates even if they could pass for being older than they really are.

[hez]

Payton's on the tall end (90%). We haven't noticed anything awry with how he plays or interacts with other kids for height reasons. The older kids he plays with from church (4, 5, 6) know that he's younger and actually play pretty well with him when they're in the mood ;) He plays really well, of course, with kids his own age, regardless of their size. I like that he plays with a variety of ages-- I think he's learning some maturity from the older kids, and some patience/kindness with the younger kids (he's the kiddo who will take a toy to someone else who's crying, or pick up a binky for an infant-- we'll see how long that lasts!).

I dunno-- we just haven't run into any obstacles due to height yet, other than having to buy clothes in sizes I didn't think we'd see for a couple years! He wore clothes at the end of this summer that our friend's 5 year old (admittedly a peanut) wore at the beginning of this summer! At this rate, they'll be sharing clothes next summer...

[Toba]

Noah's tall too ... 36" at 20-1/2 months (last check). His pedi did some kind of calculations with his growth rate and mine and my husband's adult height and said our son will be at least 6'3". I get all the time how BIG my son is, which makes me defensive, because I feel there is a difference between BIG and TALL. Silly, I know. He's in the 97th percentile for height and the 53rd percentile for weight. Long and skinny, just like his father (thank God).

I'm sure there will be tall kids in her class too!!


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[sdjeppa]

I have the same issues - my son was 38" (over 100%) at his 2 yr checkup, and is on the thin side (30%). But maturity-wise, I know he's definitely a 2 yr old, so I treat him as such...I do get tired of hearing "he's so TALL!" Yes, I know. YOU try to find pants that stay up on his skinny waist and are long enough.

Jenny, Mommy to Zachary, 9-27-03

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Me me! Avi was 29 lbs and 33.8 inches at his 15 month appt on friday! He can already reach way higher onto the table than you would expect for a child. Since his 1 year appt he has gained 2 lbs and grown 3 inches! It seems to be more legs right now versus torso but with a mom who is 5'10" and a dad who is 6'3" what could you expect?

Ilana

[essnce629]

I personally don't think Conner is all that tall, but people are always surprised when I say he's only 2. They seem to think he's 3 or 4. I think he's around 38" tall and is 28 months old. I'm 5'7 and my bf is only 5'10, but my dad is 6'2, my grandpa is 6'1, my cousin is 6'5, and I just found out my 13 year old half-brother is 6'3 :o! Conner speaks very well too and has a very large vocabulary which also makes people assume he's older.

***Latia
Conner, my homebirthed water baby, 8/19/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months! http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/9870.gif

[lizajane]

schuyler gets a lot of funny looks when people ask him how old he is. recently, some asked his age and he replied, "i am 2. i will be 3 in march." and the person looked at dh and said, "4 in march??" and dh told him that schuyler did tell him the right age.

it has gotten to the point that SCHUYLER now says, "i am really tall."

he is 40 inches and not yet 3. his best friend is 41 or 42 inches and not yet 3!!!! she is the tallest child i know.

schuyler also wears a size 11 shoe. so we are pretty sure the height will last. his ped estimates his adult height at 6'5".

schuyler never notices that he is taller than his friends. i wouldn't make a big deal out of it. at this age, the kids don't notice things like that. just keep her around kids her age and don't worry too much about it. if she wants to play with older kids, let her! the older kids will get it that she is younger eventually. maybe they will teach her new things when they realize that she isn't doing everything they are doing.

[Momof3Labs]

DS was 42" by his third birthday, so is also quite tall (100th percentile). The good news is that they do slow down a bit after 2yo, but tall is tall! It hasn't been a problem with other kids, but parents (and other adults) who don't know us do sometimes expect him to act like a 5 year old since that's what he looks like.

As far as older kids trying to play with your DD and getting frustrated - that likely has absolutely nothing to do with her height; IMO 3-5yo kids can't judge the age of other kids very well. They just know an age-appropriate way to play with other children, and she's so much younger than them that she's not playing in the same manner.

IMO, she's better off with her school class in general, although certainly needs exposure to kids of all ages. You'll notice a huge difference in her ability to play with kids of a variety of ages within the next year; DS and the 5 year old girl across the street just can't get enough playtime together!

[kedss]

My DS is 37" and just turned 2 in December. I've had people ask how old he is and be shocked that he's just 2. But he is definitely a 2 year old! If he was in class, I would probably keep him in his age group rather than move him up simply because of his height. If I felt he could get more out of an older class, I would move him up.

[ribbit1019]

DD isn't tall, as far as standards go, she is above average though 32 1/2" at 18 mos. At only 19.5 lbs I have difficutly finding pants that are long and slim enough. TG for knit tights.
We should petition clothing makers to make longer pants for kids.

Osh Kosh's 1T are the only pants that fit her correctly, and I get the strangest looks when I ask elsewhere if they sell 1T.

Christy
Maddy born 6/09/04
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png

Little Man due 3/02/06
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Co-Owner Ribbit Baby

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