My son hates being short.

Good to read @MacmillanDo . Of course you worry. My adult kids are both tall (very tall genes) but there are other things I wish I could wave a magic wand and alter for them, just to make things a bit easier. I think teenage and young adulthood is definitely the worst time for this. I used to absolutely obsess about the width of my hips, which are very wide compared to the rest of me. I barely give them a second thought nowadays unless I'm trying on jeans (always a delight!)

I hope your ds continues to grow but either way he's lucky to have you in his corner.

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With a marvelous Mum like you, your darling Son will be just fine
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That’s brilliant x good to read,

@MacmillanDo where is he on the growth centiles? Drs would be unlikely to do anything unless he is off the bottom of the chart or falling down centiles ie not actually growing which doesn’t sound like it’s the case.

My DD has a growth delay it’s hard so I feel your ds pain. Although he doesn’t actually sound that short and if you are short it’s likely just genetic.

try not to medicalize it too much and just reassure as much as you can that we are all different

If he does end up being short, please prioritise teaching him that it simply doesn't matter. the main issue short men have is feeling that people, especially women and prospective romantic partners, will judge them for being short. Yes some will. But people are judged for being too thin, fat, pale, dark, ginger, spotty, sporty, geeky, scruffy, smart etc. No one finds everyone attractive. Plenty of women will find him attractive if he can learn to be totally at ease in his own skin. That is the most important thing.

DS (fully grown at 5'5") has really worked on this. He has finally realised there are a lot of women in the world who find slim, boyish men attractive, and it doesn't matter what the rest think. He honestly has had a fantastic love life since he decided to behave confidently and not treat his height as an issue. There are loads of things about him that are very attractive - his features, hair, humour, intelligence, talent, style, confidence. These attract women who don't care about height.

He’ll be fine - but I can understand why it’s upset him and you. If anyone treats him differently because of his height then they are morons. In a couple of years there will be other issues that his peers obsesses over, such as loss of hair etc etc. All you can do is stress how important his character is and how he acts - everything else is cobblers

Being small is actually great ime, i wouldn't know but being tall is probably great as well but you die younger after living less healthy lives with a much higher incidence of cancer so i guess you take the rough with the smooth

I was a shortarse lad (2nd smallest in school year)... I sort of caught up around 15/16, and ended up at 5'8"
Never stopped me getting girlfriends once the hormones kicked in 😀 So hope it works out for your lad. Tbh it never mattered to me, I was quite a tough little cookie, though I did sort of rely on being one of the class clowns to a certain extent 😀

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This Will Help Me Reassure, Comfort & Console My Children Too
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Hey OP, just wanted to let you know that my son was expressing exactly the same as yours last year when he was 14. He was 4'11 and shortest on his class and the banter got him down.
We did (and still do!) our best to encourage him to love himself as you're doing with yours.
I asked him if he wanted to see the doc to rule anything out and he said yes. Thankfully he has a male GP who was super understanding and he had blood tests which showed no testosterone (he was very slow to get developing). He was referred to the endocrinology dept and we went to an appointment where they took mine and dad's heights into consideration, told him he may well end up on the shorter end but the x-ray of his hands showed his bone age was 12.5 with lots of space between his growth plates. That's reassured him massively that he's just a slow grower!
He's 15 now, 5'2.5 and seems to have left the angst behind a bit. He still wishes he was taller but getting those initial appointments was for his own sanity.
Wishing you and him luck x

Yes it's nice & compassionate when we remember respectfully that this lovely Mum is more concerned with how her Beloved Son feels about his height, rather than height itself
Underlying feelings & self consciousness are what us Mums would request could be healed, as opposed to fixing height itself
Because as we mature, we comprehend how unimportant actual heights of someone are
UpSettingly our Beloved Children are not quite there with this amount of confidence or self assurance yet
Hence why this kind caring, Mum, is seeking some guidance regarding building up his self esteem, self confidence, self worth etc instead, you know? 🙏

Height filters sound great to me, saves an awkward conversation and the need to "confess" that you're a smurf.

Thanks @raffegiraffe , id say he has more growing in him.

My youngest hasnt started puberty yet and no signs so I think he is delayed (as I was.) Im waiting until he is 14.5 to bring him to GP. We are doing same with strength building and working on speed and skills for sports. Thats all we can control!

@Rumors1
Hi, he is 5 8 at just turned 16.
I think his puberty wasn't very early compared to some of his friends. He doesn't have much facial hair and only just getting a bit of acne now, so I think he may have more growth in him, but who knows. He's quite stocky so looks short
I've found it quite hard being short, mainly reaching things haha, finding clothes to fit and looking wider because I'm short and hourglass.
I agree with you that it's different for boys where height is sometimes to do with physical power. I think that's why my son has made himself so strong.

@raffegiraffe do you mind me asking what height he is. I am 5ft and DH 5ft10 so same heights as you.

DD is 5ft 2 aged 17, DS is 5ft 4.5 aged 15 3/4 and DS is 4ft 8 aged 14 1/4

I hate being short but I do think its way worse for a boy. My DS eat well, bed early, definitely doing everything to achieve potential height but both our families are small so the odds are against them.

My dad is 5ft 2 and my brother is 5ft 3 :(
My DH dad is 5ft 8

Solidarity with you.
My son at 16 feels the same.
I am very short, at five foot. Husband five ten.
My son focuses on what he can change about himself so sport, gym, skin care, good protein heavy diet, plenty of sleep, vitamins. He looks into what boosts growth hormone and testosterone.
I think he's a good looking boy and hope he can like himself and I do feel sad he so wants to be taller

Jesus OP seriously you are on complaining because your 14 year old is 5ft 2.5in.

My DS is 14 and is 4ft 8in - he is actually the smallest in his class, his sports teams and everywhere he goes. I think he may be the smallest in his school.
I would love if he was 5ft 2.5in.
He struggles all the time because of his height.

My almost 16 year old DS is only 5ft 4.5in.

Obviously, his actual height is not irrelevant because that's the point of thread

Hi OP

My son is the same age as yours and also small. So I sympathise.

I'm 5ft6 and my DH is 6ft3.

DS's little brother is taller than him and clearly looks like his dad - long and lean.

DS is not a fan of being the smallest in his peer group. He's also now starting to grow outwards rather than upwards and getting a little belly which is making him self conscious. He eats the healthiest of all of us, and not that much compared to his brother but his brother keeps growing so I guess is using his food for fuel.

I do often worry , but am also quite reassured by the fact that DS hasn't started puberty yet I don't think. He certainly looks v young and baby faced. He has a few spots appearing on his face, but otherwise not really any signs of puberty. He looks like a pre-teen! So I think his growth will come once puberty has progressed and he actually gets to the point of rapid growth which most boys go through, just at different stages.

Has your DS shown signs of puberty?

Looking at my son's friends, the tallest ones also have moustaches! muscles and look like mini men!! I've told my son that he will end up taller than them because generally speaking once you've gone through puberty your growth slows/stops. He still has loads of growing left to do!

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Every year that goes by it will matter less and less than his personality and how people feel around him. It's not a determinant of his health, his physical fitness, his ability to be interested and interesting to the world around him, his sense of humour, his inherent value as a human being, his ability to love and be loved.
It doesn't affect his ability to get strong, follow his passion and purpose, learn new things, make people laugh, make someone orgasm, make money, travel the world, be an amazing dad, friend, husband, brother.

He doesn't need to convert anyone to this understanding right now, he just needs to remind himself that it's true.

Op - you mentioned that your son hadn't really had any growth in ages until recently?

Now actually while i think its important to accept his height and understand there are happy, successful people out there of all sizes, a long period of very low/no growth should be properly investigated, especially if your son is under the 5th centile or so height wise for his age.

Growth hormone stim tests are the only reliable way to test, they are not actually that awful (one of my DC has had two, its just a cannula and blood draws every half hour for 3-4 hrs). Growth hormone is only prescribed in very specific circumstances so its not likely but its worth checking if he's really not growing - not for height but because it has other effects on the body.

I'm 5', my son's father - 5'7". My son is 5'9". My present spouse is 5' 7 " and an ex-marine who could run further carrying a pack than men taller than he is. Don't worry. Look at all the excellent gymnasts - usually neater build and not so tall. Shorter people can have better core strength and stamina. Don't let him be sucked into the rubbish about tall men being more successful etc.