This week Caspian had his 27-month review. He is doing really well in all areas tested, which looking at how he is thriving in everyday life, didn’t surprise us. Yet it was nice to have it confirmed. Like any parents we want what is best for him and more than anything we want him to be happy.
One thing that kept coming up during the review was how tall he is despite the fact that they normally don’t measure the children at this stage. The health visitor or nurse, I’m not quite sure of her title, pointed this out at least four times during the half an hour we were at the clinic. So even though it’s not standard, we had him measured and sure enough at 96,5 cm, he’s on the 98th percentile.
Considering he was 10.3 pounds at birth and 56 cm and both Daddy Long Legs and I are tall it really is no surprise. Though I’ve always found it peculiar when people state the obvious. Like when they see your bump at seven months and promptly say ‘you are pregnant’. Sherlock Holmes go home.
GROWSPURTS AND CLOTHING SIZES
So what is it like having a taller than average child? Well, firstly it means that he has outgrown clothes and shoes much faster than most children. He more or less started out in 3-6 months and was in size 6-9 months around 4 months. Plus his feet and hands have always been big. Putting scratch mittens on him as a newborn made him look like a boxer. I found that Scandinavian brands work better for us as they are clearly used to cater to bigger babies and so he fits much better in clothes from designers such MOLO, Smafolk, H&M, Lindex and Me&I. Often it is just a matter of sizing up though, so at the moment I buy 3-4 years rather than 2-3 and that sits well on him. Luckily he’s blessed with fantastic proportions and a beautiful physique.
THE REALITIES OF HAVING A TALL CHILD
At 18 month he was still taller than most children of a similar age though the rapid speed he had been growing at seemed to slow down a little. Though only to pick up just after his second birthday back in February. I noticed this in particular when a friend from our NCT group came to visit. Our boys had been the biggest of the group born at the beginning of 2015 and both had been tall from the start and of similar size, though suddenly Caspian had gained at least 4 cm on the other guy. That’s when it became very obvious that he is indeed tall for his age.
With me still breastfeeding he is a long baby to move around especially in the night when he’s having a dream feed and it’s given me an upper body strength like you wouldn’t believe. Though except for this I don’t really think about it much in our day-to-day life at home. Yes, he fills out the stroller and can reach things, other children, his age can’t meaning we’ve had to move a lot of fragile pieces out of the way sooner than expected.
HOW OTHERS REACT
I think the hardest part is the way strangers act with him. Due to his striking looks of big blue eyes and curly blonde hair he draws a lot of attention when we are out and about. He’s often smiling and willing to engage when people start talking to him as long as Mummy and Daddy are nearby. Though I’ve come across a certain look of confusion from them in recent months. This happens because people naturally think he is older than he is and when his reaction is that of a two-year-old they feel embarrassed thinking that maybe he is a bit behind or not very well behaved. Netmums looked at this phenomenon as well and I can relate to a lot of these statements.
When travelling through airports the staff interact with him like he’s a 3 or even 4-year-old. At places like playgroup other parents often shoot me a look when they feel he is being too boisterous not realising he is often younger than their own children. I feel like I have to jump to his defence and often preempt any conversation with a ‘he’s only just turned two’ in order to prevent them judging his behaviour.
WHAT I WANT GOING FORWARD
Growing up this happened to me a lot and even though it might have felt like an advantage when as a young teenager people thought I was 16 or even 18 it also made me mature much faster. It’s therefore important to me that Caspian is allowed to be a toddler and a child for as long as possible. That the demands put on him are no higher (no pun intended!) than those of children of a similar age even if he looks older. To me, he is still my little baby boy.
Is your child taller than average? How do you find others react?
My daughter’s biological father is tall and all his family members. She is 9 and already in size 12 clothes. This was an interesting post and something I can relate to.
I can’t imagine what that’s like but I suppose I have it in the opposite sense. I am very short and therefore my girls have always been small and petite. They often get mistaken for being younger than they are x
Monkey is bang on average which is an achievement in itself since I am only just over 5ft. The jury is a bit out on Kipper although he is a lot bigger physically but broader than tall. Although everyone has an opinion on that too!! I think you are completely right to preserve his toddlerhood for as long as possible. Beautiful boy x
Your boy is so cute! I have never realized there are that kind of issues, others reactions.
Such a beautiful boy!
My eldest was as tall as an average 4 year old when he turned 2. People always thought he was older than he was. Be warned, by the time my son was 12 years old he had adult size 12 feet!
We’re the opposite, my little one is very petite, always the smallest in the class and very conscious of it. But makes up for it in noise!
Not something we have to worry about: we are all short! I am only 5 foot 1 🙂 Judging by the predictive charts all 3 kids will be taller than me…
I dont think ill ever have this issue, im only 5ft tall. my 2 boys are around average, i just hope they dont be small like me!! i would prefer tall boys!! interesting to read your post about the issues and others reactions, i wouldnt even have realised there were such issues. He is a beautiful looking boy!
my eldest was always small but he has since caught up with his peers and is probably average height. I got so fed up of people going on about how teeny he was. 🙁