AIBU to worry my 15-year-old son will stay short?

Absolutely. I have no idea why so many posters advised going to the G.P! 5 foot 6 isn't particularly short for a 15 year old, plus he hasn't got armpit hair yet so clearly has more of puberty to come, which means more growing yet to come.

NB facial hair comes quite a bit later, I believe, and that varies a lot depending on colouring (ie dark or fair haired people, and heritage).

Girls generally stop growing earlier than boys, as they tend to reach puberty earlier. In that way, boys who reach puberty early have that early height but then their peers often overtake them.

OP, I hope your son can stop worrying about this, and find his inner confidence, which will be the most valuable and attractive thing.

x

You've had some good advice on here about the things you CAN do to optimize height and you seem to have ignored all of them.

Diet, nutrition, sleep, and certain exercises can all sway odds more in his favour and maximize his height. Do some research. There are plenty of scientific papers plus forums of "short kings" all sharing tips on what has made a difference.

Stop indulging in hand wringing and help your son. Even if he grows no taller you will have the peace of mind that your tried your best.

And yes it's unfair that shorter men don't get a fair break but that is the way it is.

Yes because that was your genetic destiny. If you hadn’t done that you may have ended up being 4’10

I drank loads of milk and ate loads of cheese as a child but still only managed to get to 5ft 1.5.

kindly, 5'6" isn't really very short.
My late husband was around that height, and my middle son (now 18) is about that. If your son is currently 14, it's prob a bit late for growth hormones, and he may yet grow a bit more, growth doesn't stop until he's about 18 or so I would think.
my youngest is 13 and feels a bit short (he is currently about 5'2"), but really, with a dad who was 5'6" or so, and a mum who is 5'3", none of my kids were ever going to be super tall.
Neither of my older two have seemed to struggle in finding very lovely partners, who aren't bothered that they are less than 6' or whatever because they are lovely people and height really, really doesn't matter.

She sounds lovely…

He is probably still growing, normal for boys to grow until 18 or even older.
My DD is 15 and only about 5’2” but some of the boys in her year are still only a little taller than her so obviously still growing.
But as you and his Dad are below average height he’s probably not destined to be very tall.
Also 5’6” isn’t super short anyway, a woman would be very shallow to reject a man she likes just because of that. Work on boosting his confidence

My DS25 is 5ft 8 has been since he was 14 I'm 5ft 5 and his dad is 5ft 7

As you are 5ft3 and chisel dad 5ft 8 it's reasonable to assume this is the height he will stay with maybe another inch growth.

Although DS18 is 6ft 2 but his dad is 5ft 11, my dad was 6ft 1 and my mum 5ft7.5 so it a throw back height he been this height since he was 15 .

If you had taller parents there is a chance he could still grow a little but not significantly.

If he's already 5'6" and doesn't have facial hair I think reminding him it's a waiting game is key. There were some guys who even grew a couple more inches while they were at uni amongst my friends, and there were plenty still shooting up from 15-18. I can understand the anxiety but I think you just have to shelve it.

In the real world short men don’t have any particular difficulty finding partners - we have several in our social circle and they’re all happily married. Your son is still likely several years away from his growth plates fusing, so chances are he’ll end up a few inches taller than he is now. But either way, he’s already grown past the height at which he’d stand out as being unusually short.

My sister had 3 sons, she was 5ft 1 and her husband was 5ft 5, they had a son that grew to 5ft 6 and 2 sons that were over 6ft. The two tall ones got the height gene from their great grandfather. it is a lottery.

My adult sons are short at around 5ft6/7. I'm sure they would like to have been taller but genetics being what they are, that was unlikely to ever be the case. I'd quite fancy being average height myself, but que sera sera.
It's quite likely that your son still has some growing to do @Peonytimeguys but given parental heights it is unlikely he is ever going to be tall.To be honest I'd say it is some disadvantage. For example, my DS is a pretty good sportsman but his physique has without doubt influenced his progress. He was on his sport's talent programme and the coaches were up front that ultimately he wasn't tall enough for his position. And yes, they have both been teased about their height and it probably has reduced the dating pool. But I think it's one of those situations where it is not worth dwelling on things you can't change. Better to focus on developing positive attributes rather than dwell on physical things that can't be changed.
5ft6 is at the shorter end of the normal range it is true, but it is normal, particularly in the context of parental heights. If you were both six footers and had a short mid teenage son then it would be of more concern of course. But I wouldn't think that given that neither you nor his Dad are tall his height alone would be a red flag for any kind of medical condition. However, it does sound like puberty may be delayed. I think it probably would be worth seeking medical advice about that.

Im 5" 6 dh 5"7 ,ds is 6" 1 .massive growth spurt when he turned 17-18 .Surprised us all .

Go to doc to get him checked.

In the corporate world, many, many of the most successful executives are short. They compensate. They tend to have lovely wives. Once people get older they look beyond height, but very tough at this age.

And yet they’re not wrong. Milk contains calcium and vitamin D both needed to build and grow the skeleton. Hence why being deficient in either leads to stunting.

My son was the same at his age and I can remember having this same worry seeing all his friends who were so much taller than him. He's 21 now and nearly 6 foot. Please try not to worry!

Good point!

Please note @Peonytimeguys I was not suggesting reversing time and overfeeding your son so he might grown a bit taller. 😃

Poor lad, teenage years are tough enough with something you can control causing you upset.

My DH was 5ft6 until 17, then in 18 months grew to 6ft2! Has the stretch marks to prove it!

Did you use private healthcare or can you recommend a clinic with direct access? 🙏

My son got testosterone injections to kick start his puberty as he was very late bloomer. 30cm shorter than most of his class at age 14. So it might be worth testing testosterone levels. He was seen by an endocrinologist. He might have started on his own anyway but it helped him immensely from an psychological point of view. We went private.

The male femural growth plates don’t ossify until 21. Many boys are late developers. I have one like yours, too and feel your pain 💐

DS is 5ft 6 at almost 18, which is just a fraction taller than me. His projection in red book was about 5ft 7, so maybe he’ll squeeze out that final inch over the next year. His height does bother him a bit, but he is resigned to it now, and will make the odd joke about it. I probably worry about it more (secretly, I don’t mention it to him), because he was on a year group filled with tall boys, and beat myself up a bit about whether we fed him properly (which is stupid, he had a healthy diet, but ate like a sparrow till he was around 16) every time I come across a reference to nutrition and height, but I know I am being ridiculous. Plenty of successful happy fulfilled men who are shorter than average height. But tbh, your DS has a few years of growth to go OP.

I have never understood any issue with being short. I have a thing for short men - I’m 5 ft 8 and some of my best looking, hottest boyfriends were shorter than me. They also liked me slightly towering over them in heels.

It’s just not an issue! I don’t see being tall as better.

It's natural to worry about our DC's happiness bit it's very likely you son hasn't finished growing. Shorter kids do tend to develop later (I was a tall girl with the opposite problem).

My brother shot up 6 inches in a year when he was 14 and then stopped growing for a couple of years. He grew another 3 inches, slowly, in his late teens.