It's more than height, looking at kids health - A Sponsored Post.
This week I had the privilege of taking part in a Live Facebook panel with Mumsnet and ITV Health Editor Dr Hilary Jones in an effort to discuss the importance of childhood growth.
As a mother and parent, I've always wanted the best for my daughter and luckily Sylvia has never had any major health issues during her primary school years.
Monitoring my child's health is something I've naturally done as a parent, however, I never quite realised just how important it is was to keep track of my daughter's height.
Through talking with Dr Hilary Jones and visiting the MoreThanHeight website I've learnt a lot about the importance of tracking children's growth.
Today I'm sharing what I've learnt along with some fantastic resources that parents can use to keep track of the growth of your children.
How Often Should I Check My Child's Height?
By attending the Mumsnet Panel, I learnt a lot about the importance of measuring your child regularly. Dr Hilary Jones talked about the importance of measuring the height of babies and young children as well as older kids. He recommended that parents check their child's height every three months between the ages of two to eighteen.
When your little one is an infant or toddler, they will naturally have their height measured on a regular basis by a health professional such as your health visitor. As a child get's older you can keep track of your kids height in the home and if there are any concerns this can be discussed during a GP visit or next time you visit your health professional.
What I Learnt About Childhood Growth
I learnt that while genetics play a role in the height of our kids, every child should grow each year at a predictable rate.
Whether your child has an average height, is on a lower percentile or a higher percentile, the most important thing is that they are growing at a steady rate. As parents, we can actively pay attention to our children's growth by measuring their height on a regular basis.
Another important message that I took away from the discussion with Dr Hilary Jones is the importance of giving your children a variety of wholesome foods. Ensuring our kids have a good variety of foods can help them to get the right nutrition, vitamins and goodness which is needed to grow at a healthy rate.
Is It Normal for a Child to Have Growth Spurts?
The answer is yes, children will have growth spurts and then take a break, followed by more growth spurts. During the Mumsnet discussion, we talked about puberty and the fact tweens and young teenagers will all start to grow at different rates and that the key thing is not when they begin to grow but ensuring they are growing at a steady rate.
If you visit the MoreThanHeight website you can actually place your child's measurements into an online calculator to check and track their height. I found this to be a really useful tool. The website is full of helpful information and is a great place to visit for guidance on keeping track of your kids health and height.
How Do I Measure My Child's Height Correctly?
Measuring your child's height correctly is super important. The MoreThanHeight website recommends
- Removing your child's shoes and any hair ties or clips that might add extra height to your children.
- Ensure your child is positioned correctly against a wall.
- Have feet flat against the ground.
- Make sure legs straight with bottoms and shoulders against the wall.
- Keep kids arms loose by their sides.
- Ensure your child's head is back against the wall.
- Draw a line on the wall or wall chart at the top of your child's head.
- Measure the height using a measuring tape and track.
You can get more information on measuring your child correctly over on the MoreThanHeight website.
What Do I Do if I Have Concerns About My Child's Height?
If you have concerns or worries about your child's height there are a number of things you can do. Firstly you can visit the MoreThanHeight website which is full of information and guidance for parents. Secondly, if you have concerns be sure to discuss this with your child's health visitor, your GP or Paediatrician.
As parents, it is important to measure and track our children's growth and height. It is important that we feel comfortable and empowered to discuss our kid's health and height with a health care professional. It is equally as important to keep track of our kids growth on a regular basis.
I hope this information has been useful to you. I sure learnt a lot this week. I'll be monitoring my daughter's height more regular now. For more information why not head on over to the MoreThanHeight Website. You can also visit the Mumsnet Questions and Answers Page to see Dr Hilary's answers to some of the questions asked by parents during our live Q&A.
*This is a collaborative post and all thought and opinions are my own*
About Angela Milnes
Angela Milnes is a Qualified Early Years Teacher who has specialised in Preschool and Kindergarten teaching. She has a wealth of experience teaching young children and is passionate about kids crafts and having fun as a family. Angela has also taught cooking skills and loves to share both family recipes and easy instant pot recipes here on The Inspiration Edit. Follow her on Pinterest!
Is that your kid in the photo? Very cute! I don't have any kids but I'll be sharing this with my sister.
I'm not a mother myself but I always find it so interesting the amount of stuff you didn't realise your parents did for you, such as keeping an eye on your height etc. Some really fab tips here and I'm sure you would have alleviated a lot of parents concerns too.
Thanks Emily, I'm glad you found this educational.
My nephew has just gone through a growth spurt and as I don't see him that often, I've really noticed it. I am convinced during the Summer holidays from school, this is when it happens more and more, kids are more relaxed and active x
Maybe! Summer is a busy time and yes they are very active. I think every child is different.
I've naturally always looked after my kids health and have measured their height before but never realised how important measuring their height actually was.
Yes I was the same. I have measured Sylvia's height regular but didn't quite realise how important it was.
I really need to know it because i am also worried about my baby boy's height. Bookmarked this.Thanks for sharing!
I'm glad you found this useful Nigar!
These are great tips for measuring your child’s height. It’s important to keep track of their growth.
It sure is. Very important.
keeping track of kid's growth is both necessary and sad. I will do this more often in future.
This is very helpful for mothers and fathers who want to make sure their kids are growing correctly. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hhhhhmmmm....you have got me thinking. So many parents and care-givers always look at the outer aspects of a child...like height, size, skin colour. Its not that they bad but they only give you a fraction of what you are actually looking for. There is so much more than what meets the eye!
I measure my daughters height on the side of our door lol more as a memory piece but I didn’t realize the importance of tracking her growth! She is growing like a weed!!
They grow so fast and yes... the same... we do it on the side of the door too!
That is news to me because I could swear it was only genetic, my nephew is growing too fast which makes him look older than his age
I guess each child grows at a different rate. It's more than just genes, there are a lot of factors that can affect how a child grows in height.
I must admit that I rarely measure my children's heights. I've never thought about the wider things associated with their height other than them needing yet another wardrobe full of clothes
Yes, I used to focus on clothes too...but now I see it's more than just height.
Our kitchen door has marks which indicate my children's growth. Now there are new marks in there as I keep track of my grandson's growth. If it seems that he is not meeting the growth rate standard, I raise the issue with my daughter so she can talk it over with their pediatrician.
Ha ha! So cute!
I think its so important to be aware and acknowledge that all kids grow in different ways and a different times. MY kid recently when from a size 9 shoe to a 12 almost overnight. Kid is 14 and 6'2.
Wow that is tall! Every child is different!
Thanks for this information. I remember back then I used to measure my height every year, on my birthday!
Oh cool! I've never done that but it's a great idea!
Wow how interesting is this, I never knew that height was such an important factor when tracking a childs health xx
Yes, it is super important.