13 year old very small. Anyone's child have grown issues?

[Shufflebumnessie]

Apologies for the clunky title, I wasn't really sure what to put.
DS is 13, he's always been one of the smallest in the class and his height has generally tracked close to the 2nd percentile since he was about 7 (using the height graph in the red book).
He is currently 138.5cm and his last 2 height measuments have been below the 2nd percentile.
I took him to the GP aged 11 but my concerns were dismissed. However I took him back again a few weeks ago and he's off for blood tests at the hospital later this week and the GP has referred his case to the paediatric hub (& we're awaiting contact to establish the next step).
His feet haven't grown in nearly 2 years (since Aug 2023), & he's still wearing the same age 10-11 school uniform that he started Y7 in (he'll be going into Y9 in September).
He's constantly subjected to nasty comments at school about his height, and his mental health is really struggling.
He had Meningitis when he was younger and I'm concerned it's caused damage to the Pituitary gland.
I'm not really too sure about the point of this post other than to ask if anyone has any experience of dealing with child growth issues? And what's your experience been?
Thanks in advance.

Sorry, title should say growth, not grown.

My daughter is only 4 but her height is below the 0.4 centile, paeds were monitoring for a few years (it was almost an accident we ended up in the system) and we are now waiting on a referral to the growth clinic

Check our the Child Growth Foundation on Facebook for loads of advice

If there is an issue age 11 should give them some time to do something about it

Have you worked out your mid parental height?

We are in the beginning stages of investigating DD’s height. She has gradually fallen from 50th centile to the 1st. She has dropped 2 centile this year and her feet haven’t grown in 3 years. she’s been referred to the endocrinologists ? Growth hormone deficiency. The GP said they may well offer growth hormone even if not deficient but that is for consideration another day.

As pp said have you calculated mid parental height? Difficult in our case as my grandmother and aunties are 4ft 11 but DD should be growing regardless of ending up 4 ft 11 in the end

OP listen carefully. You have no time to lose. Can you see a private paediatric endocrinologist ? They can put you on their NHS list. you need a left hand xray and a stim test which gets done in a hospital setting. Once your boy is through puberty the growth plates close and nothing can be done so you really need to see someone asap. Where are you based ?

Has he been tested for coeliac?

Have they checked his pubertal growth? Or done bloods to check his FSH, or seen an endocrinologist. My middle DS was and is always underweight or on the border of normal and under. He was the smallest in his class and in a booster seat in the car till age 11

Thank you all so much for your very quick & helpful replies.

@Exactfare thanks, I did a lot of reading on the Child Growth Foundation prior to the GP appointment.
Unfortunately the GP fobbed us off when he was aged 11, he's now 13 and I'm getting increasingly worried.

@LashesZ can I ask how old your DD is? I'm hoping we'll get a referral to an Endocrinologist as my gut feeling is he'll need growth hormones.
I've done the mid parental height and it says he should be 6ft at age 18.

@Iamfree that's exactly what I'm frightened about. We're in Hampshire. I'm going to chase the GP referral tomorrow. I'm not sure we'd be able to afford private. Do you have any idea of what the cost may be please?

@ThePussy no, he'snot been. Please can I ask why you think that could be a possibility as it's not something I've realised/considered?

@Ruby41 no tests have been done yet. He's going for his first blood tests on Thursday. Has your DS been diagnosed with a growth concern? Any advice would be gratefully received.

I'm really hoping things start moving soon as right now I just want to cry with the worry if it. I'm so angry with myself for not pushing it after the first time the GP dismissed my concerns, although to be honest I don't think they'd have taken it seriously this time either if he'd not fallen below the 2nd percentile.

My brother was tiny and still a small boy at 17 he grew when he was older and is now in his 60’s and almost 6 foot. I didn’t start my periods until I was 16 coming on 17 I know I was in the sixth form yet my Mother started her periods at 14. Then I don’t think anything was done.

Yes, endocrinologist, quickly. One of my dd's friends was found to be making almost no testosterone. He grew a foot, genuinely, in about 2 yrs, once he was supplemented. Very tall and buff now.

@Shufflebumnessiethere is a paediatric endocrinologist called assunta albanese who sees people in Surrey. Then prof Dattani at great ormond street private patients or Dr Helen spoudeas. Call them tomorrow and ask for an appointment. Beg steal but go and see one of them. Coeliac can cause growth issues but often it’s simply growth hormone deficiency. Good luck and keep posting (also blood test results)

I’m of a similar situation it it helps my daughter was 12 in April and she is only 134cm so similar to yours, they have assured that because she hasn’t started periods etc she has plenty of time to catch up, o mean I’m only 152cm so she won’t ever be tall.. but my concerns are similar to yours and also im Hampshire

My DS was similar. He was under 2nd percentile at 15 and hadn’t yet started puberty. He had bone scans and was identified as having a 3 year growth delay. One of the reasons was that he has never been interested in food and can take it or leave it so he was quite underweight (his father has the same sort of appetite but I’m sure the GP thought I was withholding food).

The consultant asked us to feed him high calorie meals and he had to get 5kilos on in 6 months. We’ve done that and have seen significant growth. He has also started puberty. He will never be a giant but he’s my height now at 5’4” and there’s at least another couple of inches in him.

My ds10 has growth problems, it was a symptom of his coeliacs disease which he wasn't diagnosed with until last year. Does your son have any stomach pain, reflux, bowel issues, dizziness, fatigue, pale skin, eye issues - it creates so many symptoms.

OP, my dd has been on growth hormone since age 4. But she was always way below the 0.4th percentile. Now she's in secondary, although she is v tiny (People are shocked she's 12 until they see her attitude 🤦🏻‍♀️) she isn't the smallest in her year anymore. I think she's now about the 9th percentile.

I agree you need to be seen quickly. I know the time on growth hormone is limited to reaching puberty (and DD has so I'm waiting for them to stop it really).

There are very small children in the years above. I feel we were lucky that her growth was spotted as she was 11 weeks premature. She has every test going (genetic, CF) and they couldn't find a reason for her failure to show catch up growth. She started reception in ages 2 clothes and the kids used to pick her up like a doll and put her in the toy pram 🫣. Her first shoes were made by NHS as nowhere did such a small size.

She is a feisty madam now and I'm sure this is all down to it.

You need his growth plates checked via x-ray or UV scan. I'd be pushing and pushing to be seen. Whereabouts are you? We don't live close but we are under bham children's hospital. I presume you need specialists which is why we aren't at a local hospital. Good luck

Can I ask how tall
she was at 11

My partner was the smallest in his year until puberty and ended up 5ft11.

I was always 2nd percentile and often could share clothes with my sister over 3 years younger, as adults I'm 5ft2 and she's 5ft3!

My daughter has been on the 1st-2nd percentile since 2 she's nearly 5 at the moment and one of the smallest in her class, not helped by being August born. She started school in an aged 2 uniform which was too big on her. Some of her t shirts are still 18-24 months!

My dad's family are all small he is 5ft5 and his sister is 4ft11 it's likely she'll take after us and will be 4ft11-5ft2 but we are also hoping that she'll take after her dad and shoot up over secondary school. She was food allergies and has had tested for coeliacs and to test if she's properly absorbing nutrition from food. She's been under paeds and dietician since being 4 months and because of the size of my family they haven't been concerned

My ds had undiagnosed coeliac's and we were backwards and forwards to the GP and then a pediatrician trying to work out what was going on because he didn't have classic symptoms with his stomach. He was easily the smallest kid in his class though in junior school.

Five years later and he dwarfs me. If he has any other signs of malabsorption - even if isn't stomach trouble - I'd bring it up with the doctor and ask them how they are ruling it out.

Similar problems with my son. He was born early and had feeding problems. Grew up to have ARFID. I tried my best to get protein into him (fed him all the "wrong" foods like protein fortified milkshakes, chocolate protein cereal and chicken nuggets just to get him to eat something. he is 21 now and still very small.

@ThePussy Does being Coeliac have an impact on growth?

Yes

I would alter that to being an undiagnosed and untreated coeliac can impact growth. My daughter was diagnosed with coeliac disease she 4. Currently 14 and pushing 5' 10". She's also clearly still growing!

I would definitely ask them to look at coeliac. My DD was diagnosed age 6 but her symptoms (to begin with) were very small stature and digestive issues. She started school when she could still fit in age 2 clothing. My son was then tested for coeliac (we didn’t realise at the time that it was prevalent in my dad’s side of the family!) and, despite having ZERO symptoms, he was indeed coeliac. He has now grown a lot also since being GF. Coeliac is an evil disease with many “hidden” symptoms; the doc was convinced my Dd had cancer as she was so poorly, so to hear she had coeliac was a relief, but going forwards, with so little understanding of it in the food sectors / general public knowledge, it’s horrible as coeliacs have to miss out on so much (general party food / eat anywhere they want) due to the high risk of cross contamination and all the effects that comes with being “glutened”.

Thank you so much for all the replies & for sharingyour experiences, and to those of you who have sent me a PM. It's very much appreciated.
DS is off for blood tests this evening (although the GP had forgotten to actually send the referral through to the hospital so I had to chase that. Thankfully it went through this morning).
Very interesting re the potential link to Coeliac. I'm also wondering if he's Anemic as he's so pale.
Hopefully today will be the start of getting to the bottom of it & pinpointing the issue (if there is one, although I'll be very surprised if they say there's not!!).
Thanks again.

Being pale is another sign of coeliacs. My ds also had raised lymph nodes and had a permacold.

Best of luck getting to the bottom of all this.

My daughyer is also 13 and around second percentile or below. She has had various tests and scans and growth hormone testing all
normal! she is much smaller than her 5 sister and the same height as my 9 year old. She also is delayed startijg puberty (no signs yet) whereas my other girls started periods and 10 or 11. No idea why!