Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Hopefully this will make you feel a little better.  I have been for
    almost a year now, handing down my son's clothes.  He's 4.5 and
    generally the size coordinates with his age (i.e. he's 4 wears a 4 etc)
    to a friend of mine's grandson.  This little one was 2 a month ago, and
    has been in 4's and 5's since June!
    
    He's wide, not exceptionally tall, but perhaps the height of a 3+ year
    old.  And much like yours, he a holy terror on wheels!
    
    It has actually come to the point now that I can't hand anything down
    to her, because this little guy is just about the same size as my 4.5
    year old.  And he's not really fat at all, just extremely SOLID!!
    
    His mother, and grandmother are large boned and slightly tall (for
    women, about 5'6 to 5'8) Grandmother claims its the Scandenavian blood
    in them!?!?!?!
    
    Lyn

    re.0
    How tall/large are the children's parents?  I know a couple who are
    very tall and large (big-boned, you might say).  Their 3 month old
    child was comparable in size to my child at 1 year of age!  The little
    (big) guy is now about 7 months old, and looks like a 2 year old. 
    Seems funny to see a toddler drinking formula, being burped and carried
    around, and not talking yet...then I have to remind myself that he's
    still only an infant!!!  There is nothing wrong physiologically with
    this child, no hormonal imbalance, he's just plain big.  
    

    
    RE: Giant Toddlers...
    
    Both of my sister's kids have been 'off the charts'since a very early
    age. Her 14 month old son has been wearing 4T clothes since he was
    about 1 year old. Although he's tall, he's not fat...just has very
    sturdy legs and a broad chest. Her older daughter (now 5 yrs) was also 
    very tall (from my sister's recollection, her daughter followed the 
    same growth patterns as her son is now, albeit a little more slowly).
    Seems like her growth slowed down abit around the age of 2 (however,
    she still towers over most of her kindergarten class.
    
    As my brother was always big for his age, he, too, was always being
    expected to be able to do things that were more developmentally
    appropriate for an older child.  I think that's the hardest burden for
    the kid. For the parents, I agree that it's definitely the backache of
    lugging around such a big baby! 
     
    By the way, my sister is about 5'9" and her husband is 6'3".
                                    

These notes have been "condensed" and rathole notes have been moved
to their own topic.

     Carol duBois, PARENTING co-moderator

    My Polish babysitter says that Polish babies run really large. 
    For what that's worth.  

    I have hear several pediatritions say that a child is approximately
    half his/her adult height at age two. If this holds true for those
    twins it looks like they will be 6'10" and 7'6" respectively. This is
    certainly very large, but if they have very large parents certainly
    possible.
    
    Bill
    

    My mother knew that half-height at two theory, and when my brother was
    2, she measured him. She was very concerned that he would be a 4'11"
    adult! 
    
    Lucky she was wrong. He was a late bloomer, and now at 26 stands
    just a little over 6' ! (my mom is 5' and my dad 6' -- we both took
    after Dad's family; I am 5'7").
    
    Monica
    
    P.S. I think that comment about Polish babies being large could be
    mostly national pride ;-)
    

    That 1/2 height therory is: For a girl age 2 and a boy 2 1/2 is when
    they are at half height of their adult age.  I used to think it was
    a wives tale til I read it in my Psycology book last year as fact!
    (Do we believe everything we see and read?)
    
    Well, for my daughter who will be 14 in November, it looks as if it
    is close enough. I estimated her to be 5'2" as an adult and she's
    been 5'1" for over a year now and I don't think she'll grow much more
    because she hit puberty at 11.2.
    
    It will be interesting to see what happens with my son who is 5 and
    according to the above is supposed to be 6'.
    
    

	Actually, I heard half their adult height at 18 months for a girl 
and 2 years for a boy.

	The last checkup that Katie had (at 2 years old) was the first one 
that she was measured standing up and and weighed on the big people scale.  It's
not at all uncommon for kids to level out or even "shrink" a bit when they are
measured this way for the first time.  The pedi, charted Katie's height and 
weight and said basicaly "look's good" and pointed out that although she is 
currently in the 10th percentile  that does not mean that she will always be 
there.  (Reassuring us, I guess, as if short was bad... ;-) )  I added "But,
with me as a mother, it's quite likely, huh?"  He kind of started and said, 
"How tall are you?"  (we were sitting at the time...)  I said 5'1".  He grinned
kind of sheepishly and said, "yep, that's about 10th percentile."  He went on to 
add that she *may* pass me in height by an inch or two.  This prediction fits 
what we came up with when we apllied the double the 18month height.  I guess
we'll see....
   

Tracey

    re .2
    
    The parents are above average in height, but not unusually large. I
    would guestimate them to be about 5'9" and 6'1".
    
    re .6
    
    Are Polish babies very large?  Maybe.  I'm 100% Polish, I was 8.5lbs,
    my son was 9.5lbs.  
    
    re half adult height rule
    
    My Mom calculated the adult heights of her 4 children according to
    one of these formulas, laughed at the results, and threw the formula
    away.  She laughed because while she is 5'4" and my Dad is 5'9", her
    daughter (me) was predicted to be 5'8", and her sons were to be all 
    over 6' tall.  She couldn't believe we'd all be that big.  Lo and
    behold, I'm 5'8", and my brothers range from 6'2" to 6'4".  Now if
    I only has the formula!

    I also heard the 18 mos. for a girl and 24 mos. for a boy double height
    rule.  At 18 mos., my daughter was 36" tall.  This would make her 6' 
    at maturity.  Double her height at 24 mos. and she would end up being
    much taller!  I am 5' 10.5" and her mother is 5' 2".  She is eight now 
    and is a full head taller than her classmates.  We have always had to 
    remind ourselves to equate our expectations of her maturity with 
    her age, not her size.                 

    My mother told me the two years for girls, two and a half for boys
    rule.  It worked for her three children and the niece she raised.
    At first, she didn't believe it because my cousin, who was a preemie,
    would be 5'2" according to the rule.  By four, Judy towered over 
    everyone else her age.  By the fourth grade, she reached 5'2" and
    stoped growing!
    
    Using this rule, my daughters will be 5'7" and 5'8"; that seems likely
    since I'm 5'6" and my husband is 6' and they were both longer than me
    at birth.  We'll see...
    
    -Tracy
    
    

    When Steven was measured to be 35.5 inches tall at his 19 mos
    checkup, his pedi commented that it looks like he'll be over 
    6 ft tall as an adult.  Then he went on to explain that the
    height at 2 - 2 1/2 years is doubled to arrive at what the
    child's adult height will be.
    
    It's hard to imagine that my little baby will be towering over
    me someday (I'm 5'6")
    
    Linda

    I have a rather small toddler - but this seems like a good place for my
    question:
    
    My 13 month old daughter wears size 2 clothing.  She weighs about 18
    pounds and is proportional in height and weight.
    
    Here's the question:  If I buy her a size 2 snowsuit ($$$$ - groan)
    will she outgrow it quickly?  I don't know how fast kids grow at this
    age.  Maybe I should get a size 3.  ?  I hope to get her through
    February in the same snowsuit,
    
    She is in the 25th percentile, and probably will remain there, with
    short parents.
    
    What do you think?
    
    Thanks,
    Laura

    I think that after their first birthday, kids growth slows down a lot. 
    Marc's birthday is about the same as Ilona's, yes, Laura?  He wore a
    24-month snowsuit all last winter, and he's been in the 90th height
    percentile since he was an infant.  If a size 2 is comfortable now (not
    extremely tight), it should last thru the winter.

    Steven wore a size 2 snowsuit last year (at age 1), he's still
    wearing the winter jacket (haven't needed the pants yet).  The
    jacket is alittle on the small side, but will do until Christmas
    when he gets his new one from his grandparents.
    
    Steven by the way is now wearing size 4T, and weighs 32 lbs, 
    and is 3 feet tall at age 2.
    
    Hope this helps.  I think Ilona will make it through the winter
    with the size 2.
    
    Linda

   I think .15 is right - kids growth is supposed to level off around a year.
   Unfortunately my daughter wasn't aware of that rule.  She shot up like
   a weed right around 13 months.  She went from the 35th percentile at her
   12 month checkup to the 80th percentile at her 15 month checkup, and she's
   still growing so fast I swear you can see the change from day to day.

   Try picking a snow suit that is roomy enough for a couple extra layers,
   but not so large that she is tripping over the pants and can't find her
   hands.  Chances are she's not going to hit a grown spurt like my daughter,
   but it sure wouldn't hurt to have a little extra room in the snow suit just
   in case.

    
    Could somebody please explain what is meant by being in the 35th
    percentile. 
    
    In .18 I understood the 35th percentile @ 12 months to mean that
    she was in the same class as 35% of all 1 year olds. But then it
    indicates a drastic growth spurt putting her in the 80th percentile
    @ 15 months. Following previous the previous logic that would indicate
    a more normal comparison (i.e. the same as 80% of 15 month old babies).
    
    What am I missing?
    

The percentile on a growth chart means the percentage of the population that 
age that are smaller than a given weight.

35th percentile means that 35% of all children that age are smaller (and 
therefore that 65% are bigger).  80th percentile means that 80% of all 
children are smaller (and therefore 20% are bigger).  Theoretically, 100th 
percentile would mean the there are no babies that age larger.

Thus, the baby in the prior note went from being larger than 35% of the 
population at age 12 months to being larger than 80% of the population at age 
15 months.

Clay

    I once asked for the difference in the weights and heights based on the
    percentile rankings.  When you do, you find that as little as a pound
    or an inch has a vastly different rating.  My son was at the 90th
    percentile for both weight and height at age 9 and I was concerned.
    But the difference is only a few pounds and an inch between 50th and 
    90th and my concern disappeared.

    Speaking as a sometimes-sewer here: The measurements that
    determine what size clothes somebody needs aren't directly
    connected to size, percentiles, or age:  
    
    shoulder width
    length of torso
    length of arms and legs
    how big around the chest and waist are
    
    David is a bit over two, a bit taller than average and a bit
    slimmer.  He wears size 2 or 3 pants, but he wears a size 4
    sweater because he has wide sturdy shoulders and a round barrel
    chest.  He's long through the torso as well, so he also takes a
    larger size in blanket sleepers and such.  
    
    So if your child's been outgrowing clothing through the middle, or
    because the legs get too short, then the size two is probably
    fine.  But if she's been outgrowing things because they get too
    tight through the crotch, or won't fasten over her chest, or tug
    at her shoulders, then go for a size larger. 
    
    --bonnie

Over here, we size clothes by height in centimeters.  Now, I know this isn't the
only factor but it is at least something that makes a bit of sense.

I always get humorous looks from U.S. sales people when I go to buy jeans for
my boys.  I ask my boys to write down all the dimensions (waist, length, inseam,
width of upper leg, width of lower leg, etc.) and any special requirements.
Then I take out my handy dandy tape measure in the shop and measure the jeans.
It's never failed me yet.

ccb

re .19

you aren;t missing anything.  Michelle did go through an incredible growth
spurt shortly after her first birthday.  My point was that while most babies
growth slows down around 1 year, mine shot up like a weed.

I agree with all the previous replies - you can't determine what size clothing
a child will wear based on percentiles or weight.  I simply wanted to warn the
person in note .15 to buy a snowsuit with a little extra room just in case
her daughter decided to have an unpredicted growth spurt.

My appologies for precipitating a tangent.

- Carol

    I was always told, and it worked (works) for me, buy the snow suit a
    size bigger than what he/she is currently in, or just getting into.
    
    i.e., his first need of a real snowsuit was when he was about 9 months,
    I bought a 15 month size.  He got that winter, and half of the
    following winter in it.  For what it's worth for those of you with
    "high percentiles" in height, I always got less use out of the one
    piece snowsuits, his torso will outgrow the thing before the legs
    become too short.  Like the one piece snowsuit with vest my inlaws
    bought him for his second birthday, he wore the entire suit maybe a
    half dozen times, then he outgrew it, the vest he wore over a jacket on
    a regular basis. Plus as they get to the "toddler stages", they won't
    sit still long enough to put a one-piece on.
    
    Happy Thanksgiving, just remember that a month from now, Christmas will
    be HISTORY!!
    
    Lyn

    re: .25
    
    Lyn,
    
    Where did you get a size 15 months?  I've never heard of it before. 
    Has anyone else?
    
    Lori B.

    Bradlee's and K-Mart often have them. 
    
    --bonnie

I agree with Lyn about the one-piece vs. 2-piece snowsuits.

Last year I bought one of each for my daughter not knowing which type I would 
like.  They were both size 12 month.

Although we live in Arizona and the suits were worn only a couple of times when
we went on ski trips, the one-piece outfit did not even last the winter.  The
2-piece outfit was very big  on her last year but it did the job.  I just
recently tried it on her again and IT STILL FITS. Unless she has a tremendous
growth spurt, it should get us through the couple of ski trips we have planned.

BTW My daughter is now at 18 months 32" and 23# (tall and thin).

    Here's what we did:
    
    Grandma and I bought Ilona a size 3 snowsuit at Decelle, a local chain
    department store.  I paid $29, which I consider a big bargain.  It is a
    2-piece suit with a hooded jacket and overall-type pants.  
    
    In that style, the size 2 snowsuit was a just-fit, although long in the
    arms like the rest of her clothing.  The size 3 leaves room to spare,
    especially for heavy sweaters.  Tomorrow I will try on the size 3
    again.  If I think it is really too large I will exchange it for a size
    2.  I don't want to have to buy another snowsuit in late winter.  They
    wear them here through March, even into April or May if it is cold.
    
    Thanks for everyone's advice.  Thanks to Deb for her kind offer of a
    loaner.  
    
    Laura