Parents How often do you measure...

[meganliz77]

Just verified -- 51 inches and 60 lbs... So 3 inches and 5 lbs (of what can ONLY be pure muscle) in the last year.

All of your kiddos make mine sound tall!! Lol... But given I'm only 5-3 on a generous day, I'm thinking she might top out sooner than later!

 

[B.Gold]

...I measured her again, and she'd grown over 1" in two days.

No way!!! Is that even possible??

I measure often. I'll be throwing a party when my dd hits 5'. My oldest had already stopped growing by my gymmie's current age and My mil is 4'11" and I just think that would be an unfortunate fate for my dd. (No offense to the vertically challenged).

So now, every time she says she's having any sort of challenge on an event I use it as an excuse to measure her.

 

[dani4]

Just when we go to the doctor. My kids are tall. Older daughter is 50 inches, 50 lbs, and turning 7 soon. I guess I could worry that she's skinny if I needed something to worry about, but I know she's fine.

 

[Gymbee06]

Dd was 46 inches 20 months ago and measured last week at 119cm (46 inches and weighs 49lbs is the shortest in her team and at school still wears a size 26 leotard that she's been in since she was 5 I mistakenly bought leos the next size up thinking she would soon grown into them.
Apart from height measurement last week and in 2014 she hasn't been weighed since she was 8 weeks old I know terrible parent my first was weighed week until about 15 months then nothing until school at 11 I guess we just don't track as much over the pond we don't have yearly health checks here either I think our gp would think we were nuts to make an appointment for a yearly check lol

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

Well, dd is now 13 1/2 and is the tallest at gym. I used to measure her about 3 times a year, once at yearly check up and twice a year when I suspected a growth spurt. She'd usually grow once in the fall, about 1-2 inches and once in spring about 1-2 inches. So, since we started gymnastics, I estimate that she grew about 18 inches total and maybe not finished!!!!

 

[catova]

I'd measure once a year at DD's birthday and mark it on the cabinet door...until last July, when she went in for a well check and doc pointed out to me that she'd grown less than 2 inches total in the prior two years and fallen off the growth chart. Yikes! Now I measure monthly and will continue to do so...I use an online calculator to check her % height to see if she's heading back to the percentile where she hovered for the first 10 years of life.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I do wonder if gym "self selects" for smaller girls.

Mine is just shy of the 50th centile, she is 1.45m (57"), she is the second smallest in her class ( mind you two girls are as tall as me 65"), but one of the tallest at gym.

 

[cbifoja]

DD has to visit a doctor every few months for a medical condition and they tell me her stats every time. I can occasionally remember but mostly not. She does a better job than I do, especially in summer because she's still under the height requirement to be able to ride a roller coaster she is dying to get on at our local amusement park.

I really only pay attention at her annual physical since the pediatrician always shares the growth charts with parents. Bu I pretty much know what it's going to say...small, strong, but growing so no alarm.

 

[lovemygymnast]

My dd also had all skills over the summer but started struggling on her BWO on beam as well as squat on. I checked and she had grown 2 inches!! I know this must be the issue because she did the exact thing last year. It's like they get very unsure of themselves until they figure out their balance maybe? I'm ready for her to move past it now!! Lol. But I typically twice a year unless I see an obvious sign, like the fact that my now 8 year old FINALLY grew out of the length of a size 6! Her pants were super short in what seemed like over night but I'm sure her wearing boots all the time for winter, I just hadn't noticed.

 

[MILgymFAM]

We only have official measurements from annual physicals or whenever we move (new doctors always do height and weight). Other than that, clothes are the best yard stick. Pants too short? I'll notice. Shorts or shirt too short? I'll really notice. I also use myself as a yardstick at this point- one DD is my height and one just under. One day they'll be standing next to me and be taller! Ha!

 

[l.c.o]

No way!!! Is that even possible??

It must be! It's completely possible that I'd screwed up the earlier measurement, but not very likely as I'd checked it, thinking no way had she not grown (she's usually a slow and steady grower). My DD continued to grow pretty quickly over some 4-6 or so weeks. Total growth of almost 2".

And I'm only 5'1", so I get not preferring our kids to be tiny. I've wished I was at least 5'3" for most of my life (I hate buying pants!). My DH is 6', so I've hoped they'd end up closer to average height. So far it seems like a pipe dream (so far, DS is pretty little too - around 20%ile for height).

 

[Musicmama]

It's anyone's guess how tall my kids will be. My oldest is around the 40th percentile for her age, my gymmie is at the 12th, and her little sister is at the 80th. They were all average to large when they were born.

On the extremes in the family: My sister is 4'10" and my father in law was 6'2"

 

[l.c.o]

I do wonder if gym "self selects" for smaller girls.

Mine is just shy of the 50th centile, she is 1.45m (57"), she is the second smallest in her class ( mind you two girls are as tall as me 65"), but one of the tallest at gym.

I often think the same, but then sort of giggle. At age 1, my DD was far enough off the charts that her doc joked that she would have been 50%ile in height had she been two.

I'd seriously been a bit worried - first, the doc was concerned, but also, more frivolously - DH is 6ft (though tallest in his fam), so it's not impossible that she could truly end up tall. That said, with solid food introduction, she promptly stopped eating much, and gradually fell down the chart. She's been hovering near 25%ile since age four.

I still wonder which is "accurate", and whether she'll wake up 5'10" one of these mornings. Then so much for all of that self selection!! LOL.

Currently, she's upper-middle-ish for the girls her age at her gym at some 74lbs and ~57".

 

[GymCMLA]

the average growth is 5 cm (about 2.5 " a year until the peripubertal growth spurt)
It does definitely come in big chunks, and not a mm a day LOL
I measure DD when her clear hip looks funny lol...its a sure sign she's grown an inch. She is 5'3" now and is a giant in the gym, but then I go to dance watch week and she is pretty average.
I know last fall she grew 1.5" when we were away from he gym for a week on vacation.

 

[dmbgymnast]

My parents rarely measure me, I am at the 95.4 percentile for height and the 85.4 percentile for weight. I've always been relatively tall, and have grown about 2-3 inches a year until now, where I've slowed down a bit. My mom is 5'8, and my dad is 5'11, so I'm pretty much done growing, at 5'8(ish).

 

[Quadqueen]

At the doctor's once a year, or if she sees a specialist. Honestly, while it's nice to know, it doesn't "fix" anything as far as fears/vestibular. There's nothing you can really do differently to help them get over the "hump" regarding the skill they're having trouble with, whether they have grown or not - they just have to attempt the skills with the body they're dealing with at the moment .

 

[Musicmama]

I don't know. It seems to me as though it might help a young gymnast to realize that their body has gotten bigger more quickly than usual and that's very possibly why things are a bit more difficult now (I'm thinking mainly of skills they previously had and then either lost or found to be more difficult after a big growth spurt).

Also, there's likely some reassurance in the fact that they will get used to the height difference given enough time/practice - that they haven't lost skills because of a lack of ability, but rather because they need to practice and learn to use their current body the way they had been used to using their shorter one.

 

[Peanut]

I'm constantly monitoring J's growth. I've done it since she was a baby diagnosed with failure to thrive. I'm always making sure she's still on HER growth curve. So to answer your question, probably every 3 months or so. She has grown 1/4 in since Christmas! She usually grows that about every 6-8 months so she was pumped! But she still isn't 4 ft tall & turns 10 in a few days!

I hear you. Mine is 7 1/2 and just under 46 in. She wants me to measure about every 2 weeks. "Slow n Steady"

 

[Ali'sMom]

Up until 54", we measured ALL the time. Has nothing to do with rate of growth, or gym, or clothes - we live in Florida Most Florida children know exactly how tall they are, right up until they're tall enough to ride the tallest-required ride

From 54" until current (about 60") once a year at dr, and maybe one more time when visiting grandma (all grandkids are written on the wall). And then lately, she keeps comparing herself to me so that she knows the EXACT day she is taller than me. She doesn't have far to go, as I'm only 5'1".

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

We usually measure every time we visit the dr, which is sometimes only the once/year well child visit, sometimes more. Gymmie asks me to measure her more often because she is eager to get out of her booster seat.... She is one of the shortest on her team but far from the youngest.
I'm not sure what to anticipate with this one. Her older sister (who generally takes after me physically) was always very petite. Her growth spurt hit right around age 11.5, and she grew 9" over the next two year, most of it during the first 18mo. She is now a "towering" 5'2"..! Gymmie is 4'7" and will be 12 in June... I'm tall, DH is tall-ish, my Mom very tall, DHs mom extremely petite. It will be very interesting to see where my girls end up. I believe DD1 is pretty much done growing, perhaps another inch or so but I doubt it. DD2 will surely hit some sort of growth spurt soon, she hasnt grown much more than half an inch here or an inch there for the past few years. DHs mom is 4'10", and I'm hoping for DD2 to reach a bit above that..!