No signs of puberty in 13 year old boy

[Maybeshesbornwithitmaybeitssertraline]

Is it still normal at this age?

Tbh if he was my youngest or only child I wouldn't be worried but he has a 12 year old brother who has got taller, has hairs, a couple of spots and his voice is breaking. 13 year old has always been tall for his age and has been quite a bit taller than my 12 year old but they have been the same height for a while now and when I did the back to school photo this morning I noticed that my 12 year old is now taller. Is this normal?

Nothing to worry about. It is quite normal in Year 7 - 9 to see boys that are still pre-puberty and some that are clearly not.

Nothing to worry about, my DS was the same although he's short for his age. Shortly after his 14th birthday his shoulder's broadened, and he got a mustache (though it was quite hard to see at first as he has fair hair) and hair in other places.

No advice OP sorry but had to say I love your username!

One thing I have also noticed is while most of the rest of year 9 have turned into Kevin the teenager, ds4 hasn't. He's still very happy and innocent if that makes sense with no stroppy behaviour at all.

I watch a lot of kids running and the U15 boys is an almost comedy race of some tiny kids racing against ones that look like full grown men. There is a lot that counts as normal at ages 13/14.

I wouldn’t worry too much at the moment, when does he turn 14?

I have 4 DS’s (3 now adult) and they all started puberty at different times/ages, Eldest DS was fairly tall by year 8 and his voice had very much broken which he was self conscious about for a while as the other boys looked like children but they all caught up to him by about y10.

Another was a very late which again he was also self conscious about as he was tiny, this was also during lockdown when gp appointments weren’t easy to get hold of for something not “urgent”, by the time he left year 11 he was in puberty but was still only around 5’7 in height which at the time he hated, he also had a baby face so people assumed he was younger. He’s now nearly 21 and in uni and you wouldn’t tell he hit puberty much later than his peers, he overtook some of them and now actually misses being mistaken for younger as he got cheaper bus tickets, hair cuts etc just from feeling awkward about correcting someone and now has to pay full price

Youngest is 14 and in year 10 (if born a day or so later would still be in year 9, so is the youngest in his year) and only began puberty a few months ago and he is also quite “young” but he’s also autistic so it’s hard to tell if that’s the cause

Thank you. He will be 14 in June.

Please ask your GP for a referral to paediatric endocrinology. The most likely thing is that he is just a later developer BUT, if he does turn out to have hypogonadism of some sort and needs medical help to induce puberty, the sooner he begins it, the better.

My son was a later developer and still looked like a child at 14. I read a lot about hypogonadism at the time and insisted upon referral. He had blood tests which showed that his hormone levels were normal and that puberty was gearing up to start soon. I was told (prior to the tests) that timing of puberty very much runs in families and the fact that both his parents were later developers was encouraging. A younger sibling of the same sex starting puberty earlier, can be a red flag.

There is a set window when medication to induce puberty will be effective. Once it closes, options are far more limited and will lead to unusually small genital size and infertility. Height is not relevant - kids can grow tall without going through puberty.

I'm not trying to worry you - statistically your son is likely to be totally normal. But don't underestimate how long a referral to paediatric endocrinology can take, and get in the system now, just in case.

Thankyou. I didn't realise there was a time limit on this, that's really good to know. I was reluctant to seek medical advice until later to avoid any embarrassing examinations for him if it turns out he is just later than average. But I will talk to the GP.

Just to warn you, the paediatric endocrinologist did examine my son (behind a curtain) as she needed to check testis size. He was a bit shocked but agreed to it, bless him!

Hope it all turns out to be normal for your son - highly likely that it will.

Did you end up going to the GP?