Help her find a sport in which her height will help her excel.

My daughter was 6' tall at age 14. Through sheer luck, someone introduced her to rowing. She loved that sport and excelled in it. She has always said that her sport helped her survive high school - where she was taller than almost everyone else and where she didn't have a single date. (She grew to 6'4" in high school and became a national champion in rowing).

Rowing, basketball, volleyball -- all tall girl's sports. Swimming too. Not soccer!!!

I am 6'2" and have been that tall since I was 13. I now have three daughters, the oldest is only 11 and not feeling too tall compared to her friends at this point, but this is a concern that I have thought a great deal about. I was lucky enough to have a tall mom at 5'10" who always made me feel special and beautiful at my height. My mom always told me to stand tall, shoulders back, boobs out and let everone else enjoy the view. Her words were very kind and supportive, but it was not until I had confidence in myself that they really hit home. Like a couple other posts advised - sports helped me and I have encouraged my girls to play sports as well. I excelled at Basketball and Volleyball and my girls have participated in everything from soccer to volleyball to basketball to their latest - gymnastics. I do not think that they have much of a future in gymnastics , but hey it is fun and a good workout . My advise for dealing with piers who think there is such a thing as too tall is to just have fun with it and think about all of the awesome things that you can do when you are tall (your daughter can remind her piers of this - in a fun way of course) - There tons of cool clothes that tall girls can wear that just do not look good on short people, you always stand out in a croud and people remember you - this is especially helpful in the business world, if the need arises - you can intimidate people, the list goes on and on!!!! Good luck to you and your daughter. If you find anything that works particularly well - let me know as i will need it in a couple years.

I'm 5'11'' and though I didn't hit my full height until about 16, but 12 I was already 5'10''. my mom is a good three inches shorter than me and lamented all the time that I hated sports because she could have used my height in her youth. I used to get stressed out and worried about being taller than my friends and all the boys. She told me one day that it didn't matter how tall I was, and if people couldn't get over that then ef them. I know that's easier said than done but honestly it's the only thing she could have said. Now I'm dating a short man (he's lucky to hit 5'4'') and get a lot of stares but what does it matter, really?

Being a young teen is hard. Height is just another thing. So one person is too tall, someone else has bad skin, someone else is anxious, it goes on and on.

I have been 5'11 since the 7th grade. I felt awkward about it too, but now I love it. It is a HUGE asset, professionally - I was just telling someone yesterday that as a brand new attorney at 25, I had a tough climb getting people to respect me professionally, but the fact that I stood taller than a lot of my adversaries really helped. It is harder to treat a woman like a little girl when she is a head taller than you. (And yes, I always wore heels to court!) I am really thankful to be tall. (Though I think people should stop treating grown women like little girls, but that's for another thread)

My husband and I are both 6'1" and our three-year-old is already tall for her age. I was never into sports but had a coach hound me incessantly in high school to play basketball. I didn't want to and my parents did not encourage me at all--they wanted me to focus on academics.

Our little girl is tall. The women in my husband's family are average to short, so I don't think she'll be quite as tall as me. My husband encourages her in athletics (he regularly throws a ball with her) and I'm OK with that as long as she likes it. I also plan to teach her how to sew as my mom did so that she can make her own well-fitting clothes

My mom is 5'11" and always encouraged me to stand up straight and not slouch. Even now I still have good posture.

I was an unathletic 5'11'' at 13 years old. My mom was shorter and so was my older sister.

Encourage her and don't necessarily push sports. Leave it up to her. Thankfully now there are a lot of tall clothing stores and she can hopefully feel good in her clothing. I also used to get very annoyed when people would push modeling or say that to me. I was not very confident and comments like that embarrassed me.

I guess my advice it to just listen to her, be there and encourage her based on the person she is and not just because of her height. It doesn't define her and every time someone asked me (or asks me) if I play basketball it would make me cringe.

Someday she will be more comfortable in her own skin, it may just take a while. It is a tough age no matter what.

This is a great bit of advice! :-)

My mom and dad always told us that tall people were lucky...we can weigh more and look skinny...reach things, see over other people, and look confident. They both wore their height with pride which helped me.

I grew up in a super small Texas town. The boys all liked the tiny petite cheerleaders. It was depressing. I excelled at volleyball (was all State even!) but I was still totally left out of the dating scene. I will always remember the first time I walked across a college campus and someone whistled at my long legs. I was shocked!! Some men LIKE long legs...a whole new world!

If she is 13 and hasn't ever played volleyball, life will be rough. Girls start playing high dollar club volleyball at a very very early age at least in this state. It would be doubtful she could catch up unless she is uber competitive, athletic and you are willing to put in the $$ for private lessons and clinics.

As for how to encourage her, help her find brands that fit her body good. Some of the stores for teenagers around here are made for teeny tiny girls and it's just depressing to be tall and not able to fit into those clothes. Help her find the longer shirts and then the jean and short styles that emphasize her leanness and her legs...it will go a long way towards helping her self-confidence.

My daughter is 5'8 or so at 14. Im 5'10 so thinking she will pass me. I have always embraced my height no matter what shape. I wear heels and sometimes I hit 6'+. I encourage her to be confident in her height as well. Properly fitting clothes as someone said. I don't push her towards sports though, I was pushed into basketball and track by coaches and teachers and I enjoyed them but they weren't my passion and I resented being forced just because I was taller. I let her pick the activities she likes and just try to instill some pride in her and her size. :-) boys are always asking her how old she is or for her phone number but so far so good, she is more interested in music and modeling so we haven't had any trouble but I know its coming lol

Yes, I have been stessing the model thing. Even thought of actually taking her but I know how cruel that profession can be. Thanks for the feedback!

As a former runway model . . . I can honestly say that if I had a daughter, the runway is the last place I would want her to be! I never did print work, so perhaps that is different.

I was 5'9" tall by grade six, and another inch had crept on by grade 8. Grade 8 was miserable. I did start runway work in grade 8, but that certainly didn't make it any easier on me. In addition to the constant teasing from my peers about my height, and about being a "clothes hanger" (my runway work wasn't appreciated by my peers, but was belittled), I was being pressured by my agent to get my weight down to unhealthy levels.

Tell her to stand tall, at 5'9 at 12/13 I slouched a lot to look closer to my friends heights, and now I am struggling to remember to stop slouching. One thing I hated at that height and age (with a mom who is less than 5'5) all my pants were far too short because my mom didn't know where to get me longer pants. Nothing makes you feel even more awkwardly tall than walking around in flood pants. I agree with a lot of the people here, sports were great! Most of my height is leg so I loved soccer.

I definitely agree with helping her find something she excels at, especially if its something that utilizes her height. For me that was playing the trombone. I'm 6' and my mum is 5'4", so she didn't have much to offer as far as advice goes. I've come to find that while I saw my height as a drawback around her age (I was bullied a lot) and people still can be rude, being a tall woman also commands a certain sense of respect that many shorter women don't receive. I don't think it's right, but it's a definite benefit I am afforded with my height - when we're tall, it's almost as if people assume we're the leader. Height plays such a big role in how others perceive us, and often taller folks seem to be expected to step up, even if they don't want to. As long as she realizes this, she can control how she reacts to it.

As far as socializing goes, I found my niche in late middle school with the metalheads and haven't looked back. If she finds an activity she loves and can connect with her peers there, all the better. I would be careful about pushing the modelling thing too much. I've been heavy since before I was 10, yet people would always comment that I could be a model. Although people meant it as a compliment, I always felt self-conscious when hearing it because I wasn't built like models (or basketball players, or anything people tend to associate with being a tall woman) and I didn't want my height to be the focus of conversation about my future. I'd be careful about how you boost her confidence/address any of her insecurities. I was told a lot about how "lots of guys like tall women", etc., and I really didn't like having my insecurities boiled down to whether guys would find me attractive! Middle school was the worst, and the only time the bullying stopped for me is when I stepped up for myself and told my bullies to shove it.

Lastly, I'd recommend you help her continue healthy eating habits. Being "naturally skinny" is due based on her current eating and activity levels - she's lucky to be maintaining a good balance without having to try. I know first-hand how easy it is to let height hide weight gain, and she is likely to hit a point where her eating/activity levels change and she needs to re-evaluate her habits. I guess what I'm saying is to not assume she's "safe" from having difficulty with her weight in the future simply because of how she is now. She's so lucky to have a mum who is thinking about how to best guide her through this difficult time!

Hear, hear to the well fitting clothes part!! I reached my present height of 5'10" by the end of middle school, and I always felt a bit awkward looking at pics of me and my 5'2"-5'6" friends because I stuck out so much. But worse than that for me *was* the clothes thing. Pants that came in petite/average/tall lengths didn't start to become widely available until I was in late high school/early college. Sleeve lengths are still a struggle.

My mom is around 5'6"ish, and is unfortunately of a rather poor self body image, so I couldn't really follow her example on appreciating my body. My stepmom, however, is very petite and has always complimented my Amazon statuesque-ness. Be her example. Celebrate your tallness and never disparage your appearance, even if you're not feeling your best. She's looking to you for that more than she'll ever say.