Delayed puberty teenage boy

[Blueberry400]

DS (14.5 years) has yet to show any signs of puberty at all. He is also much shorter and slighter than his peers, which is making him very self conscious.

He is currently 151 cm in height, and 5 stone 11. I hadn’t really thought too much of his height or weight up to now, but after looking at centile charts this evening I can see that he is low down on the charts. He was always on the 75th centile on the growth charts at a baby/toddler.

I have done an e-consult with the GP to ask for an appointment to see if there is anything going on with him medically, and hopefully the GP will get back to me tomorrow with an appointment.

I was hoping someone might have experienced similar with their child’s growth, and could give me some advice as to whether I should be concerned.

DS is 14 and a bit. He's 5ft 4 ISH. He's one of the smallest in his year. I'm not worried yet because his Dad was a late bloomer but I do empathize. I am getting a bit twitchy.

I'm sure I saw a thread not too long ago and it was quite reassuring.

My DS, now 18, was late in his puberty. His voice didn't break until he was past 16 and he was by far the shortest of his peers. He's now a hairy, deep voiced, man who is still growing. Some keep growing up until around 21. At least the 'eating us out of house and home' phase was delayed because boy, it's expensive keeping him full!

My husband was slightly shorter than this height and slightly lower in weight on his 14th birthday. He is now a bit over 6 foot. He was 5’11 when he left school at 18. By 15 (his mum only recorded once a year) he was having a growth spurt, but I can’t remember exactly how much he’d grown.

Is there a family history of late puberty? Definitely a good idea to get things checked out at the GP but, given that it’s almost certainly just slow to start, I wouldn’t talk about it too much with him. DH still (somewhat unfairly!) resents his DM for trying to prepare him for the idea that he was going to be a very short adult man, shorter than her, etc.

No history of late puberty in the family as far I’m aware. My 2 older children (sons) started puberty at the usual time and are 5 foot 11 and 6 foot 3.

I’ve not been discussing it with him other than when he brings it up himself, which is often. He keeps mentioning it, and saying that he is so small and wants to have protein shakes to get bigger. It really is affecting his self esteem, and he is constantly comparing himself to his friends.

I’ve told him that he will probably experience a growth spurt soon and not to worry, but that we can see a GP for peace of mind …I certainly wouldn’t start to prepare him for being a very short man!

Very reassuring to hear about other late bloomers reaching a typical height!

I think you're doing absolutely the right thing. 4'11" is very small for a 14 year old. Puberty aside it's small anyway for that age.

I hadn’t thought his height or weight much until very recently when the difference became more apparent due to friends growth spurts. But now after looking into slowed growth, I’m questioning whether he could have celiacs disease because he also has enamel hypoplasia. I’m sure this is probably coincidental and he likely doesn’t and is just a late bloomer, but I definitely think the GP is the right call to rule out any medical issues.

We had the same concerns with our eldest son. As he was also suffering from migraines we took him to see the doctor who did a bone scan as he also felt he was behind his peers in growth. It transpired that the bone scan showed he was about 18 months behind his peers and he didn’t really hit any signs of puberty until 16. He is now in his mid twenties and 5 ft 11. We just reassured our son that everyone grows at a different rate and his father was also a late bloomer.

It is a good idea to get your son checked out, just in case although hopefully he is just a late bloomer.

I was in your position a few years back and went through consultant appointments with my son because he was so much shorter than his peers, had no facial hair etc and he was feeling so deflated so he had blood tests to rule out any medical issues and then was monitored for a couple of years by the hospital. The consultant explained a few things such as family history of parents being late bloomers will often pass down to the children, ethnicity plays a part too (with BAME teens reaching puberty earlier). My son had 6 monthly check ups and as the consultant had no concerns my DS was discharged and this upset my son as he felt there was something wrong and he hated it and he was losing his confidence but then all of a sudden, we noticed my DS shooting up in height and he now towers above his peers - he is well over 6 foot. It seems that the early bloomers who shot up in year 6 and 7 stopped growing and weren’t that tall whereas the late bloomers ended up being much taller. I read somewhere that once puberty hits, the boy will carry on growing for another 2-3 years and for girls, after hitting puberty she will continue growing for approx 18 months. Both my DS and DD were the shortest pupils in their year group and by the end of year 13 were one of the tallest in their year but both were late bloomers as were my husband and I when we were teens. Saying that, my DC doesn’t need to shave and has no facial hair and I think that’s just how it will be for him.

This happened to a friend of ours young boy, he was 5ft nothing and would be blown over in a heavy breeze, then over one summer holiday he shot up to nearly 7ft and hairy. He has to go to one of those special shops for his shoes now.

Our son is similar, 14 and a half and small for age. I went to the GP just after he was 14 and was told to wait and see and go back after 6 months if no signs of puberty. We went back after 4 months as he had dropped a centile for weight and height (both are less than your own own OP, he’s around 2nd centile).

the GP was great, did a general checkup and also did a tanner stage assessment after which he referred to hospital. The hospital have said they want to see our son in their endocrine unit. I’m pretty apprehensive especially as he has a severe needle phobia (about fainting not about pain of injection) and also pretty pissed off as I have been to GP about his growth on several occasions since he was a toddler.

I’m keen that he is seen quickly in case help is needed in some form, and also because looking like a child when everyone around you has had growth spurt, facial hair etc can’t be very nice for him.

it’s a worry isn’t it.

We saw the GP on Tuesday. He took his height and weight - 4 foot 11 and 38 kg and he examined him, much to DS’s disgust!
Had bloods took on Saturday for growth hormone, celiac, thyroid, full bloods and diabetes and he’s referred him to paediatrics.
Will have blood results by Wednesday.

Hopefully he’s just a late bloomer and there’s not a medical issue. The bloods will rule things out at least!

It is a worry! Hope all is well with your DS 😊

Hopefully just a late bloomer as you said. My DS was. We were just looking back at photos from 2 years ago and he looked so young and tiny compared to his friends back then. Now, at nearly 17 he's just started shaving, is taller than me (mum), and his voice has dropped. For quite a while he was smaller than his younger sisters, which he hated, but he's taller than them now too.

He's still a slight person, but doesn't stand out as tiny any more and certainly no longer looks like he's years younger than his friends.

does he have any puberty signs other than not grown, voice not deep? Does he have underarm hair, leg hair, pubic hair? (If he would tell you) if he does then it’s probably just a very slow start, if he doesn’t then you would start to think something hormonal is going on.

Hi, im a bit late to this thread but If you still have concerns please contact the child growth foundation, they are a fab charity that support growth conditions 😊

@Blueberry400 hey do you have an update? Currently going through the same with my ds

Hi, no update really.

DS had bloods taken in November which came back normal. Then a couple of days ago (Tuesday) we had an appointment with a paediatrician, who seemed confident that DS was purely experiencing a delay in puberty, and would be a late bloomer.

No further growth in height, he’s 155 centimetres and almost 15 years old.

DS had bloods taken again at the appointment on Tuesday and an X-ray of his wrist and it was agreed that we would return in 4 months for a follow up appointment.

Today I missed 3 phone calls from the paediatrician. He left a voicemail saying that he was calling as a follow up of our appointment and asked me to call his secretary to arrange for us to discuss, but when I called back, his secretary had finished work for the day.

I have no idea why he was calling me, and I’m feeling a bit anxious about it! It was arranged that we would go back for
a further appointment in 4 months, so I can only imagine that either the bloods or X-ray have raised concerns, but obviously I don’t know this for sure!

I will ring again in the morning.

No visible signs of puberty whatsoever. No changes to voice.

However, the paediatrician measured his testicles and said that they were in the early puberty stage which is reassuring.

My db was like this, as was I. Both of us were pretty much the shortest in our year at 14, we then each grew around eight inches more between 14 and 20 He is six foot one now, I went from around five foot and five and a half stone at 14, to five foot eight at 20.

You are describing my brother. He has a hole in the septum of his heart and we are told this is why he was a 'poor doer'.

Yes, hopefully this is the case with DS too.

Spoke to the paediatrician this morning. He said that DS’s bloods show that his hormone levels are not where they should be at this stage and he’s being referred to endocrinology at Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Also, his bone age is only 13 years which is apparently good news for growth potential.

@Blueberry400 thanks so much for your update. Hope you get some answers when he’s seen at Manchester, good luck and do check back in if possible