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

[Peonytimeguys]

I know it matters to him. He will say something (about how the girls tell him
height is the most important thing for them!) and then clam up but he internalises it, I know- he keeps expecting another growth spurt but who can say that will happen.

i know all the right things to say and I say them. I reflect on how it doesn’t matter, that it’s important build a life on better, less shallow values than how we look. Equally (yes I know therein lies contradictions) I tell him how gorgeous (he is, genuinely) looking, smart, funny and a good person he is. And kids are cruel and school is brutal yada yada

But inside I do think the world is brutal, harsh re what women go for (even the dating apps have height filters) and as much as I try to reject the nonsense, my heart hurts that he will be judged and rejected in love etc - even though I fully realise there are many reasons we get judged, height is just one of them!

He is 15.5yrs, 5ft 6. He shot up about 6 inches in a year - was always on the v short side now less so. Late developer? No facial or underarm hair. Dad is 5ft 8, im 5ft 3. His feet aren’t big

OP I knew a kid in senior school who was 5’4 at 17. Had summer holidays away and came back and had grown 8 inches. I kid you not. It was shocking actually. Mega growth spurt in three-four months.

Your son isn’t through puberty yet it isn’t worth worrying about yet.

My DS 26 is 5’ 6”. His first girlfriend, who he was with for 2 and a half years, was taller than him. His dad is 5’ 7” and I’m 4’ 9”. This height business seems to be a UK / US thing; it doesn’t seem to be an issue in Europe. OLD in particular seems to have fostered this “6 foot 3 or a friend” bollocks. Tell him that as long as he’s himself and gets on with friends of both sexes he’ll be fine.

I don't think there's much you can do to help him with his feelings about this, other than acknowledging them but also being calm and positive about it. I'm not sure all the 'some kids shoot up' anecdotes are necessarily helpful, because he might not (especially given his parents' heights). On the other hand, he's still quite young and has a fair bit of puberty to go, so he may well grow some more.

I have a short-ish son (17 and 5ft8). We talk quite a bit about how much more he will grow (when he brings it up!). I think he probably will grow more (various reasons, including how late and long his dad grew for, he still hasn't really grown into his feet, late to start puberty as many of the men in our family are etc), but he might not (he's nearly 18, I'm tiny!). He'd like to be taller than he is, but he knows it might not happen and he's OK with that too - it's only a tiny, tiny part of the person he is.

Anecdotally, we have 6 boys/men in that generation of the family aged 16-19. Only the 19 year old is taller than his dad at the moment, but I really doubt it'll end up that way.

As long as he’s Happy

Take him on holiday to Portugal where there are lots of hot short coupled up men.