My poor little daughter...?

Question

My daughter is only 3 1/2 and she is alrady as big as a 4 1/2 almost 5 year old. I am predicting that she is going to be between 5'11" and 6'1" by the time she stops growing. Every girl I know that is taller than 5'7" hates it, and wishes they were shorter. Is there any way that I can start teaching my daughter now that being a tall girl is not a bad thing??? At the moment she want to be "tall like daddy", I am 6'4". How can I help her keep that mentality, since I know she will be taller than average girls, AND taller than a lot of guys.

It is not something that I am worried about. If she is tall, or short, whatever. But in MY experiances girls who are taller than most have always wanted to be shorter. I am just looking for ways to teach her that being tall isn't a bad thing. That she should be proud if it. She does come by the heigth honestly, on both sides of the family. I just want to be there for her come Jr. High and H.S. when she will be taller than most girls and at least half of the boys, when she will be teased for being tall.

Answer 1

Every girl wants to be what they aren't. Tall girls want to be short and Short girls want to be tall. She will probably hate it in her teens, but as long as you don't think it is a bad thing she will probably come around when she grows up. Just try to make sure she knows how great being tall is. Having a great dad like you who is also tall will help her through the tough times

Answer 2

My oldest daughter was very tall for her age back then too and she has recently stopped growing at 5 foot 6 inches tall. My son is taller than most 6 year olds we know and he is only 4. Some kids just grow faster earlier and there is a possibility that your daughter fits into this category. Don't worry about it just yet, she has a long way to go.

I was 5 foot 8 in 6th grade, taller than all of my teachers and every other student. It was uncomfortable for awhile but I never grew any taller than that and everyone else caught up to me rather quickly. And, for the record, I don't hate being 5 foot 8, I like it. Every girl that is tall wishes she was short and every girl that is short wishes she was tall (well most of them), it's the same with curly hair and straight hair.....

Let her come into her own, who knows, if she is tall she might be an awesome basketball player! Tell her, if she has issues with it now, that being taller than other kids means that she can see over them in movies and stuff!

Answer 3

I completely understand where you are comin from! I'm 5'9 and my husband is 6'4 and our 4 year old is wearing size 6/6x! It's hard because I know what it's like to be taller than, not only, all of your girlfriends but all the boys as well until later on in high school. Try not to make a big deal of her height. Just reassure her that she is smart and fun to be around. Remind her of how tall you are and that there will be one day when she won't be taller than all the boys and it will all even out. That's all you can do. Try not to transfer your fears and worries onto her. That's something I have to remind myself of every week when we go to ballet class and all the other little girls in the room look to be a least a foot shorter than my child, hahahahaa!

Answer 4

Taller people have many advantages. It's more likely for celebrities such as actresses and models to be tall. Also, people who are tall are more likely elected to leadership positions and are more likely to be promoted to positions of leadership. Being tall can also be an advantage in many sports, and being good at sports can help someone to be more accepted socially. So...you may find that being tall helps your daughter more than it hurts her.

I think the first thing you should do is to stop worrying. Your daughter is only 3 1/2. You have no clue how tall she is going to be (I was tiny as a kid, absolutely tiny, and i'm now average height--some people go the other way around). In general it's more difficult for kids to be too small than too big.

You don't want to talk too much about appearances or body image, just because you don't want to place too much of an emphasis on this--it's probably most healthy for people, especially girls, to not think about their appearance that much. However, it's good that you're aware of some of these issues because there are a lot of negative messages about body image out there, especially for girls.

I think you don't need to do anything, just relax...be there for her if she asks you questions or if she seems unhappy, but don't worry!

Answer 5

It's really not a big deal. Believe me, being short is worse. It causes you to stand out even more! (That sounds backwards, I know, but I'm barely 5'0" and shorter than most of my 8th Grade students! They ragg on me all the time! I tell them I'm "vertically challenged."

Tall often equals thin and beautiful. You can see everything coming before everyone else. And she'll even save money! Yes! She'll never have to get any pants or skirts shortened/hemmed in her life! (If I had back the $$$ I've spent on just that over the course of my 32 years, I know I could take a nice vacation).

And the other night, a very beautiful 5'11" Miss America (from Tennesee) was crowed the winner! So tell her to be proud of herself, no matter how tall, short, fat, thin, tanned, fair, etc. she is. Somebody upstairs wanted us to be that way! HIS purpose may not be understood now, but someday, you/she will realize just what all that height is really intended for.

Answer 6

I am 5'9 and a woman and I really never had any problem with being tall going through K-12 grade. Even when I met my husband he was shorter then me and he is taller now but it never was a issue. I think you should not stress about the height issue if she is not I would not worry. She is going to grow up a be a tall beautiful girl =)

Answer 7

My sister (now 60), at 5'11" always liked her height.

I'm a shrimp of 5' 8" -- actually, tall among my peers, though not tallest.

Mostly, not a problem, and less so now than then.

I disagree with those who encourage you to harp on it -- pointing out how good it is, how many important women are tall, etc.

It may never be a problem for her at all, it may be a source of pride.

Are you sure all the tall girls you know hate it? Maybe you're just hearing complaints; have you asked them all?

I know a lot more short women who hate THAT than tall women.

Women of my mother's generation (now 80) hated it, but that's because of the times.

Do not, repeat NOT pity her.

Answer 8

I wouldn't worry about it just yet. She's still very young and it's possible that even tho' she's taller than most girls her age now, it doesn't mean that her classmates won't catch up to her! She may peak at 14 and that be it. If she's interested in runway modelling, most agencies require girls to be at least 5'7". I used to get teased a lot b/c I was always on the shorter side. During the summer of 8th grade going into 9th, I ended up growing 4" and far surpassed all my friends that used to tease me for being short! (My friends all stopped growing at 5'2"!) I was 5'6" for a while, but pregnancy and scoliosis has caused me to shrink another 2" down to 5'4". At least you're daughter won't be like my husband who's only 5'5"!!!

Answer 9

Both my sister and I are over 5'8" and the majority of the women on my dad's side of the family are about 6' tall. We never really struggled with self esteem problems in relation to our height. Our parent's were always very positive about our tall stature :) They would say things like "you have such pretty ballerina legs!" or "there's my long-steamed American beauty!!" or other references to how we were "tall enough to be a super model" things like that. All positive feedback.

The only time is was hard was Junior high...ALL the boys were shorter than us! However...it was more of a problem for the boys! lol oddly enough they were the ones who got teased for being short!

One annoying part about being a tall girl...everyone will ask you if you play basketball lol...I mean seriously...what is that about!

Don't worry about your daughter. She will be tall, and beautiful and proud of it!

*By the way...every one of my 6' tall aunts married a short man! (we're talking like, 5'6") weird isn't it?? :)

Answer 10

are you my ex husband?? lol my ex is 6'4 i think 6'5 but he has back probs...as you might have too. my 9yr old is very tall and very leggy. and i'm not sure what society you've been in but they fare very well. my 3yr old was at a cub scout field trip with me and the boys and she was playing with a little girl that she was taller than. i asked the mother how old her daughter is and she said, 5! and that her 5yr old is in the 80% of her age group! so my 3yr old is a giant lol but i dont say anything, why bother. dont address this, the only one who can make this an issue is YOU. so don't. i'm 5' even!! so my kids are so excited about towering over me. lol and if my girls can't find a tall man, we'll pack our bags to the land of giants, the netherlands (where their dad is from!!lol) and find a good guy there. i'm more than positive their father would support that decision! lol