Height Prediction: Vital parenting information from Eyewitness News

You can see which family member your baby is starting to take after in the "looks" department. But how will they measure up when they grow up? And baby's grow up so quickly it's only natural to wonder how tall they are going to be. It boils down to math and genetics. Pediatrician Dr. Joe Matusic says during an office visit like this... he measure's the length of your baby.

Dr. Joe Matusic, MD, Pediatrician
It's just more accurate to do length because then you stand up you shrink a little.

Children over the age of three get measured by height. Dr. Matusic says there are a couple of ways to predict how tall they'll be, but he prefers the mid-parental height calculation.

Dr. Joe Matusic, MD
If we're talking about a boy, take the mom and add six inches. Because generally women are six inches shorter than men. so add six inches to mother and average with the fathers height.
So, if the woman is 5 feet tall, and the man is 6 feet tall. Take 5 feet and add six inches and average with 6 feet and you get 5 feet 9 inches.

For calculations for girls, the doctor says subtract six inches from the father's height and average it with the mother's. It's usually plus or minus 2 inches. But the doctor stresses this isn't foolproof.

Dr. Joe Matusic, MD
It's usually fairly accurate or totally off. And it sounds funny, but sometimes it'll skip a generation. Like grandpa could be 6 feet 6 inches and dad is 5 feet 10 inches and mom is 5 feet 2 inches and the child ends up being 6 feet 2 inches. So that happens at times.

There are other factors that could alter the final height calculation prediction. We'll explore that next week.