Boys puberty question

[Dontbestupidagain]

Ds is 13 years 9 months. He is showing no real signs of puberty yet. He has filled out slightly but not much and hasn't really had a growth spurt (he is a slow grower anyway). He is on the 6th centile for BMI. I have read that delayed puberty is considered after 14 which is fast approaching. There does however seem to be a range of boys development in his year with some that look like fully grown men and others who look similar to ds.
What are/were your nearly 14 year olds like in terms of development. I'm just trying to gauge what is normal and whether this is something we need to look investigate. Thanks

The first stage involves growth of the genitals so it depends if he's started to develop in this area. Google Tanner stages as that details what happens at each stage of puberty:

Penis and Testicle Growth

The first sign of puberty actually begins with the growth of your son's testicles and scrotum, which will eventually nearly double in size. His penis and testicles will begin to grow as he enters puberty too, as will his pubic hair. The penis begins by growing in length, followed by width

I have a 15 year old year 11. He is 6 foot tall and has broad shoulders . He is shaving now and is well developed in every area. (Ahem)

He had friends in the same year who are like little boys still. Short, slight, high voices etc
It varies so much, I would really try not to worry.

My DS is 4 months younger than yours and no signs of puberty yet. I would say that more than half of his friends haven't started either (although some have), so no need to worry yet.

I agree about the genital changes - a diagnosis of delayed puberty in an older boy would be if the genitals were also still pre-pubertal, not just body growth and voice changes which are a later sign.

My children had relatively early puberty, and my first "heads up" with my son was when I saw him in the bath age barely 11 and thought "oops he's a bit further on than I thought". (I think he'd hurt his knee or something and wanted me to look at it) He managed to keep singing treble for another 18 months after that, admittedly it was a bit of a push at the end! A friend of his, about a year older than your son, is still singing treble, though probably not for much longer.

At this age my dad was like little boy still and his best mate was like man, heading on and starting to shave! Ds then spent the next year shooting up and growing and is now taller than his mate

**ds not dad