Worried about son's height

[vitDsunshine]

12.5 DS is 143cm. Always been small. His dad is 5 ft 8, I'm 5ft 2. His dad was also v small until about 15, then shot up (well, relatively!) so quite likely, DS's trajectory is similar.

I'm just worried. What if he's tiny? Far shorter than he's dad? He's already very conscious of it and as his friends start to go through puberty, I've no doubt his self-consciousness will increase. Obviously I tell him he's amazing etc, and that we all have to love and be kind to the bodies we are given...

But I've seen some awful posts on mumsnet about women's feelings about short men - there's prejudice.

I guess I worry it will affect his happiness in life.

Please, no nasty judgments. I'm just expressing fears I can't share IRL.

That is literally the most unscientific, irritating post ever!

How is his diet @vitDsunshine ?
Lifestyle ( exercise, sleep, …) and diet have an impact on height. High milk consumption, high protein intake, calcium , a few vitamin … all play a role in height.

he likes to eat rubbish - fizzy drinks, sugar etc. it drives me mad but I try to balance it out with him having a home cooked meal almost every night and lots of protein and greens etc. I am very direct with him that if he wants to thrive and grow, good nutrition is key.

he sleeps well, he’s very sporty and we try to ensure he has a positive lifestyle. Of course we are soon to enter teen years, and he’s very keen to lap that up, so who knows what sort of influence I will be able to maintain?

If I was a short guy I'd smash the weights for sure. You'd think people would see it as 'compensating' but in reality the short beefy guy is usually regarded as 'bigger' than than the taller spindlier guy.

I train at a proper muscle gym and there are some short guys who are stocky as hell.

He loves the idea of the gym and weights and he already (gently) uses mine (I powerlift and can go pretty heavy for my height). So I suspect this will be on the cards.

At his age , he can start lifting. This will certainly boost his growth hormones levels. If you have the stuff at home , let him use it, if not, consider a membership at a gym near your home.

This stepping out of childhood can be combined with a stepping out of junk food. Instead of a soda, a glass of milk and a whole food diet void of processed foods.

even if it doesn’t make any difference in his height, it will make a difference on his palate and well-being.

When my sons have their “ bulking “ phase usually before we go to Europe in July, I leave in the fridge yogurt, hard boiled eggs, sliced meatloaf, cooked tuna steaks and other things like that that can be eaten cold straight from fridge to plate.
I buy bags of frozen berries for their shakes and sit back looking at them wondering when it all happened the going from boys to young men.

Oh and sauna! But only if done twice a week and not more. Increases growth hormones as it is a stressor. You don’t have a Scandinavian husband by any chance and a sauna in the backyard?

Please don’t have boys doing any real lifting until their own testosterone levels are fully in ie puberty is obvious. It won’t increase their muscle mass (it will increase the number of existing muscle fibres recruited for the activity) and can cause damage.

I’ve never heard that lifting promotes increased “growth hormone” production, but maybe it does?

Yes, I agree that he won't be doing any proper lifting for some time. He's nowhere near puberty and it will be harmful.

@vitDsunshine My 15 year old DS is very small still as he has been diagnosed with delayed puberty. We are under the care of an endocrinologist at the moment & at the next visit in oct will decide if to give testosterone or not although for him, puberty is progressing, just very very slowly. His bone age is 2 years behind at the moment which means growth is coming.

If you are worried, I would recommend getting in the system soon as it takes a while to get seen. It’s been really difficult for DS as his mates are all very tall & he feels like a freak at times compared to them as he’s still like a little kid at 15.

We have health insurance, so I'm less concerned about the wait - but I am going to have chat with our GP in the next couple of months. I suspect DS is literally at the mercy of delayed puberty too - DH was late. I want to resist giving testoerone as it will fix the final height, but I guess we'd have to see what any doctor involvement brings.

I don't think 9th to 25th centile would be flagged as unusual or worrying though?

If he's short he will probably find a nice short girlfriend! Like your DH did He won't have much luck on dating apps if he needs them when he's older but should be fine in real life!

A dinky dot ☺️☺️☺️