Short DS

[Amber4242]

Hi after a bit of advice if possible. DS is 12 and by far the smallest in his friend group- although a decent height in terms of centiles. He’s between 25 and 50th. The concern is that he has only grown about 2cm in the last year and his feet haven’t grown at all.

I am taller than average (175cm) and his dad is 189 cm. DD is 15 and is taller than average - taller than me at around 176cm.

DS is starting to get teased by his mates and I really feel for him. I called the GP to discuss the stalled growth but they want to leave it till he’s 12 years 6 months before they see him.

I’m not sure what I’m asking really.. I guess has anyone gone through similar in that he’s not really small for his age, but he is definitely much smaller than the rest of us in his immediate family. He eats like a horse but never puts weight on.

it’s two months till the GP will see us and just advised to push smoothies and milkshakes in the meantime!

anyone been through similar?

I think it's good that he has grown 2cm?

That's growth.
My dd was one of the tallest (I understand it's not the same) at age 11 and then stopped. She then grew another 4 cm about age 13.
Just thinking about growth and it varying.

Oh my friends ds was was not very tall at 12 prob about 5ft.
I met him again, he's 15 and about 6ft.
It's remarkable!

Just some examples xxx

DS was average height until about 13 and a half when he sprouted like a weed. He's now not far off 6 foot at 15.
I've taught for 20 years and at the school 'reunions' I'm often staggered by how much some of the boys have grown; literally unrecognisable in just a couple of years.
As you and your partner are above average height, it's very probable your DS will very too.

be too

My DD is 11 and her feet haven’t grown in the last 12 months (although she has grown height wise and is tall for her age) so I don’t think that’s necessarily a cause for concern. My dad’s side of the family were all over 6 foot and tall as children and myself and my female cousins were always tall as children but my younger brother was tiny and had periods where he didn’t grow at all. Then when he was 15/16 he shot up and overtook us all! So don’t worry. It’s not too long til you go to the GP and if there is an issue, I’m sure they will help your DS but he may just need to be patient.

@Amber4242 He is quite upset about being the shortest of all his friends. His sister (2 years younger) is his height and tease him about it - we are telling her off for it. Luckily he has a good groups of friends and they like him for who he is.

I have maintained the growth charts for 2 years now (quarterly not to worry myself too much) and have debated with myself about when to see the GP. I will check when we are back in terms of progress.

We do talk about puberty though and how much you grow in puberty (hoping not to give him too high expectations, but it is hard). Some of his friends are more obviously in puberty with a lot more muscles and spots. Looking at them next to DS, they are just so much more substantial, like so obviously quite strong boys. My DS is a little skinny boy no sign at all of puberty.

I am trying to focus on lots of food, exercise and sleep. Not sure what else I can do. Might book a GP appointment when I have looked at the charts again.

I'm just curious why the doctor suggested milkshakes/smoothies. Was it because of the calories or the kalcium?

My son is on the short side as well, that is why I am asking...

Hi @Soffana i think it was to boost his calories mainly as he is very slight

Ok thanks!

I could have written this. DS is tiny compared to his friends. They are all 14. We took him to see a paediatrician privately. They X-rayed his hands and said he had "growth potential" - something to do with had the bones in his hands fused or not - but he's only grown 1cm in about a year. We're now looking at another visit.

He's not started puberty at all as far as I can see. I know as a pp says by upper sixth they're all roughly the same height so fingers crossed.

@hopeishere are you and your DH tall? We aren’t sure what treatment DS will get, the GP just mentioned blood tests initially but didn’t say what they would be looking at exactly. I’ll ask when we have the appointment. Maybe hormones?

I'm 5.5 and DH is 5.8 so not massively tall.

Ds2 was one of the smallest boys in his year (out of about 160) until he got to about 14 and he suddenly shot up. He's 16 now and about 5'10".

He reminded me of Bambi when he suddenly grew.

Follow up with the doc at the time the doctor suggests, but I also wouldn’t worry until then.

The variation in height for boys at age 12 is huge, with a few having already hit puberty and some still tiny little boys. They tend to stall in growing before they hit puberty (I’ve got a 12 year old at this stage and enjoying that I am unexpectedly still taller than him).

Ds was small, and a summer birthday so always looked tiny in his year. He started to grow in year 9, and, although he wasn't tall in year 10 I remember the day he came out chatting to another lad a good bit smaller than him. I asked which year he was in expecting year 7 or 8 and found he was the same as ds. It really hit me then that I'd never seen ds with someone noticeably smaller than him in his year ever.
But he's grown a reasonable amount now. I don't think he's going to be tall (my brother's over 6') but I don't think he's going to be noticeably small for a man, which I thought he was going to be at one point.

Hi @YourUserNameMustBeAtLeast3Characters I didn’t know that about stalling pre puberty. Maybe he’s in that stage-hopefully it’s just that.

DS2 was small at that age. One of the shortest in his year despite being one of the oldest.
He grew about 3 inches in the first lockdown!
Hes about 5ft 8 now at 15, but still has relatively small feet.

As others have said, boys' heights are all over the place at 12/13/14 depending on when they hit puberty. A cousin was 5'6" and shaving aged 12 but barely grew from then. Got to just over 5'7" by 14 and that was that. His fresh faced tiny little friend didn't hit puberty until 14/15 and started sprouting like a beanpole until he was 6'2 at 17

OP it doesn't sound like your son is especially small it's more likely that his friends are just starting their growth spurts a little earlier.

My son is similar, he’s 13 almost 14 and no sign of any growth. He’s not the skinniest person ever but by no means big so we’ve gone through the eating more route and are hoping for the best. Although recently I’ve been thinking about seeing a GP (but he’s pretty anxious about this)

My DS is 16 nearly 17 and only 5ft 3. All his peers are towering above him. But I think at 17 that's his growing all done

My youngest son was always tiny ( a resistant eater) and I was concerned about the height he would reach. If you measure boys at 2 1/2 and double it it gives quite an accurate forecast apparently ( age 2 for girls I think) In adulthood he has reached a height of 5’7” which he’s perfectly happy with
i do recall when he started secondary school he still had all of his baby teeth! The growth came around 16 if I recall.

I wouldn't worry too much. DS has always been between the 2nd and 9th centile. I can remember him coming home at the start of year 10 bawling his eyes out as he was the second smallest in the year. All of a sudden things started happening around his 17th birthday and around his 18th he had to start shaving. He's now 18.5 and is between the 9th and 25th centile, having grown 7 cms in 18 months. (Now 5 foot 7). He's spotty as hell though and all his friends have been through that stage. DH and I are average height.

Are you and his dad small? Could just be that he’s naturally that tall unless he hasn’t developed in other parts

So if you still have his health records have a look at his height around 2-3 years and see if that gives a height predictioN
That might all be discredited now of course as this was back in the 80’s and early 90”s.
Im recalling now that this son didn’t go through puberty until about 14/15

Be patient op. Ds at 12 was a small boy in every way.
At 13 he was def not!! 14 in November he is same size as dd 15 and very much not a boy in all the right places....
His df is short. As am I.
We are the same height now - 5.4...he is size 5.5 shoe after being a 4 at 12..
He has 2 huge stretch marks across his back. Like he has been literally pulled taller!

DH's younger brothers were absolutely tiny until the age of 16/17. About 5ft3 and size 5 feet. By 18/19 they were both 5ft10 with size 10 feet. Those 2 years of growing were very expensive for MIL!