Very short 13.5 year old son - any stories of short teenage boys catching up?

[applebananas]

My son is getting very anxious and upset about his height. He is approx 148cms and is 13 years and 5 months. All his friends are several inches taller than him and he is the smallest boy in his year (out of approx 150 boys!). I am only 5'1 and dad is 5'8, so I not expecting him to be a giant but he is worried he is going to be tiny. He's hoping he will be at least his dad's height. His bone age is apparently normal (but measured about 3 or 4 years ago) and according to dr he has started puberty. He grew about 5cms last year so cannot get growth hormone as apparently this is normal growth. Could he still grow a lot? Anyone have a tiny son who grew a lot in later teenage years?

Any encouraging stories would be helpful!

I can't "think" in cm, and even if I converted, I wouldn't remember what ds was at what age, BUT my ds was one of the smallest going in to secondary, and didn't really have a big growth spurt until just after his 15th birthday. He is 6'1 now.

A bigger determination of his adult height is going to be his parents' height though, and, as neither of you are tall, then it is unlikely he will be either.

This may or may not help. DH and his best friend were the shortest in their class. At about 13 - 14 DH had a growth spurt and is now about 5 ft 11. Best friend is about 5 ft 6.

I know Messi was small as a child and teenager if that's any help ?

I was just today commenting to a colleague (we're teachers) about a boy who was always noticeably the smallest in the Year and has come back into Year 11 after lockdown and is suddenly average height and certainly taller than several of his friends! Puberty seems to be the key, and if it hasn't hit yet, your DS won't have had his growth spurt. I can also think of boys whose voices broke in year 7, who were taller than all their peers, who have ended up somewhat on the shorter side once everyone else grew past them! My 15 year old only really hit puberty and shot up around Christmas of Year 10, and my younger DS who is 13.5 is only a little bit taller than your DS and showing no signs of sprouting imminently - but I am reassured that he will, given his brother's experience!