Growing up but not out

[Fuschia]

Had my almost 4 yo weighed the other day

In a year she has grown by 10cm and 1 kg

75% centile for height, 25th for weight, prev 50th and 25th

She isn't ridiculously skinny or anything and she eats very well ... But I can't quite get my head around how she could have shot up by 10cm but weight hardly increased ... Do children usually do that?

Never weighed ds1 so can't compare

[The Nappy Lady]

F - my eldest was like that - now at 7 she is finally heavy - ie I struggle to lift her, but for a long time she was such a string bean. I think to some extent it's a 'girl thing' where boys are often much chunkier - though there are always exceptions to the rule of course.

[Fuschia]

But how can you get taller but not put on weight?

I suppose if she wasn't growing, she would actually have lost weight?

[minder]

The act of getting taller probably uses a lot more energy so that's why your daughter doesn't put on any extra weight. Wait until they get to their lanky teenage years!

[sophiechristophy]

my daughter's feet are growing longer but not wider, so her width fitting is decreasing.... the weird world of children!

[minder]

Also, I know it's hard when your children are young and I wish I'd know this then, but don't go by the centile scales so much.

My eldest (now 19) was born 4.5 weeks early. He is now 6 foot 2 inches!

[Fuschia]

I don't really worry about charts (never get my babies weighed after 6w check!)

But it's just because the asthma clinic weighed her and being a statistical sort of girl, it set my mind wandering where the extra inches have come from, you know!

I guess she has actually slimmed down, lOst the cute toddler chub

[Saffron]

I've noticed that children often grow in spurts that alternate between upward growth and outward growth. We've definitely seen it in our child too, and GP confirmed it's normal. Minder's idea about the energy requirements for upward growth is very interesting. I would imagine that bone growth is highly energy consuming.

[bluesuperted]

I was just thinking about this thread and along the lines of Saffron's post - my son always grows out and then up. And at the moment, he is eating like a horse and his tummy is going back to his pre-12month level of chubb, so thinking a few cms may be around the corner! It would make sense that other babies go the other way, prioritising height over weight. We are a family of fairly short people so not holding my breath for a 6-footer...

[sunbob]

We have found this pattern in our 3 yr old so far. She got chubby, growing out of clothes round the middle, then got taller and skimmed down, actually fitting back in to some things, sometimes a pair of shoes would fit for 3 months, then the next be grown out of in 6 weeks. New baby seems to be the same, if not more so, recently going down to just above the 9th centile for weight whilst shooting up to the 98th for length! I think it makes perfect sense that getting longer uses up a lot of energy, especially when you are happy t hat your child is healthy, so not worried that it might be down to something else.