Does anyone know a site where you can find an average height and weight for children?

My dd is 3 and she wears a bigger size in shoes and clothes than my 4 and a half year old neice.

The doctor always said she was 90% on her chart and I guess I should have asked what that meant (good or bad). Anyway, thanks for any helpful sites.

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 04:39 pm:

Here's the site at pediatrics.about.com.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/growthcharts2/l/blboysbirth.htm

Looks like charts for boys and girls from birth to age 20. Also looks like you click on the appropriate gender/age and get a chart on your screen and can get a full-size printer friendly page. There is also a link to click for calculating percentiles, Understanding Growth Charts, and a bunch of other stuff.

kidshealth.org also appears to have a number of links to charts and other material related to growth.

And, talk to your pediatrician - don't try to do the charting yourself without understanding what it means. What is most important is whether your child steadily progresses within his/her percentile range, and what you want to watch for is progression or lack of progression as your child grows, within your child's percentile range. If, for example, your child starts out in the 50th percentile, you want to be seeing your child grows according to the 50th percentile range as s/he gets older, not whether s/he moves "up" to a "higher" percentile. Basic body type, bone structure, and where one fits in the "percentiles" is not something that is easily changed and as long as your child is within the ranges for "normal", it is nothing to worry about.

I typed child height weight chart into Google to get my results.

By My2cuties on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 04:48 pm:

Thanks Ginny, this is only temporary to settle my curiousity until I can call her doctor to get her chart info, I am not doing the charting myself. She has always been in the 90- 95% and I know he has never said anything negative, I guess I was just wondering. I will check out these sites.

By Tink on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 06:50 pm:

I wanted to see where my dks were falling on the height and weight charts and one of the sites has a height predictor that will calculate how tall your children will be. Oh my, 2 of my dks are going to be so tall! My oldest dd will, supposedly, be 5'10" and my ds will be 6'5"! My dh is 6'6" so it doesn't completely surprise me but I can't imagine being surrounded by all these tall people when they grow up. Oh well, my youngest is going to be 5'5 1/2" so she can keep me company. There must be something in the water!

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 07:14 pm:

Tink, as someone who has been 5'2" since age 13, and with three sons (5'9", 5'11" and 5"11-1/2 (to hear him say it), I started early on to train them to understand that taller isn't "bigger", and as the mom I am alays "bigger". I suggest you do the same.

By Unschoolmom on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 08:00 pm:

My 3 yr old son's in the 90th percentile too. Remember that the chart is a measure of the range of normal growth so that my son is in the 90th percentile for the range of growth in normal children. My neice is down in the 5th percentile but as long as she's on the chart, she's normal. This is something even a lot of doctors don't get and may get concerned if a child is on the low end.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 08:37 pm:

CDC Growth Charts

Not bad. There is a wide range of "normal". It means she is bigger than 90% of her peers. DS (8) was in the 95th% as an infant and toddler but is now in the 50th%. DD (6.5) has always been on the small end of normal. 10% as an infant/toddler and 20% last I checked. My 3.5 yr. old niece, Syd, is now wearing clothes B *just* grew out of. They're all different. As long as your doctor doesn't express concerns I wouldn't be worried.