Short son

[Sailingovertheedge]

Hi all, I’m wondering what to do, if anything. My son is in y5 and really short. He’s the shortest in a year of 120 (4 form). I’m wondering if I should take him to the doctors - realistically is there anything they could do? Sorry for the clueless post.

Fret not. My husband was 'short' once. He's a gorgeous 6ft 2. Started to 'grow' at 16. BTW there is nothing wrong with a smaller stature. Not in my book.

Squeaky can I ask why your GP recommended this? I mean how short was your son or what issues did he have? I'm asking because my GP is saying that there's nothing else to be done or checked and DD is just naturally short (which is very possible but I'm just wondering if there's a clinical issue because both dh and me are above average height).

Again can I ask how you escalated this to get the doctors to look into growth hormones (ie what made them think your DD needs them?)

@WhatTheHeckShrek he was 8 years old and about 5th percentile. GP just ordered a scan of his hand and referred him to the paediatrician.

Paediatrician saw him a few times over a year or two to monitor his growth and was happy that although slow, it was steady increases.

@WhatTheHeckShrek try a different gp. There could be reasons for short stature and they need to rule them out.

I know this sounds a bit strange but I have read that not having enough sleep can affect a child’s height. So children who get up very early in the morning for a long journey to school may be affected. Don’t take my word for it though perhaps look into it.

We’re all short too, DH & DS 5ft 7, DD 5ft 2, I’m average at 5ft 4 and a half,

boiled eggs didn’t help my kids’ heights 😂

My ds is year 2 and is 130 and he's not the tallest in his class. I'd go doctor just to rule out any health issues.

They must have had the genetics to grow that tall though.

Ds2 (16) was really tiny until he put on weight in Y9 (I thought it was because he had to stop his tri training because of lockdown). He then shot up in Y10 and is still shooting up. He's v slim with spindly arms and legs and eats like a horse. He's now about 5'10" and showing no sign of slowing down.

Have you seen the bullying and sneering on Mumsnet about short men (and the pride in having super tall male family members (as if it’s something that can be 'earned' through cleverness and hard work). Imagine getting that in real life. The bullying of short makes can be relentless.

*males not makes

😂 four boiled eggs a day. I think this is the funniest thing I’ve ever read on mumsnet.

On a centile chart there has to be someone on the 1st centile who is still normal.

His family is short. It's expected, by the sounds of it.

With those parents he willl likely be short .. surely that's just obvious !

Boys often do have a spurt around 12/13 though . Our neighbours son was super short and now over 6 foot.

So, eat four boiled eggs a day and avoid reading Mumsnet.

I have 2 small sons.
DS1 is now average height and growing fast (years later than many of his friends).
DS2 is smaller and I took him to gp when he was your son's age. Basically if he is on the centile chart (not dropped off the bottom) they won't refer you.
A friend's child was referred (he is a twin and his twin is much taller) and has to have hormone injections.
He has grown but not a lot.
There is no harm in going to gp, but chances are they won't do anything.

You can have short parents and your child can still be too small and need checking.

@Sailingovertheedge all the men in his family are short. I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about. It would be more worrying if his dad and granddads were 6ft and above and he was still tiny.

I do wonder about parents who put their dc through hormone treatment. How old and tall were they? Some people are just short (myself included even though my dad's side of the family is tall and my mum’s is a mixture).

No need to take the piss...

Savemysoul21 that was quite funny though, to be fair