I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but is there anything at all I can do to help DS grow?

[Virgil]

He's very small compared to all his school friends and he's very conscious of it. I know it's broadly the fact that he is what he is but in terms of nutrition etc is there anything i can do that is thought to make a difference?

I don't think there's anything that can make him grow beyond his basic nature, but not having a good varied diet could certainly stop him reaching his potential. But nothing beyond that, so if you're making sure he gets plenty of vitamins and minerals, and enough protein etc overall (which is rarely a problem in the West these days) then I doubt there's anything else you can do.

well, there is one possible avenue you could explore, there is a strong link b/w gluten and suppressed growth hormone
www.celiac.com/categories/Celiac-Disease-Research%3A-Associated-Diseases-and-Disorders/Growth-Hormone-Deficiency-and-Celiac-Disease
I am not suggesting that your ds has celiac, only that balanced nutrition is v important and tbh too much wheat can have adverse effect even if not celiac.

Hi nightcat - thank you for that link. My ds is short too. He is six. he has no symptoms of celiac in that his stools are fine and he does not have tummy ache - hwowver I have noticed when he has too much bread he itches and sometimes hives. Could that be celiac?

Is it a myth that more sleep helps?
They do grow in their sleep.

I was going to suggest a coeliac blood test - since being diagnosed and go

Its worth a gp trip to talk about his height, get them to calculate his expected height, and maybe ask for a thyroid and coeliac blood test just to rule them out.

You can't make a child grow beyond what they are intended to at their final height, but I think its important if they will be shorter to have that as an expectation. One of my nephews takes after his mothers side of the family (all short), rather than his fathers (tall men, all well over 6ft), and all his life theres been things said that 'oh, he'll catch up' 'he's shooting up now' etc, but at 18 he's 5'5, and a stark contrast to his cousins who are 6'2-6'7, but he still thinks he might catch up

There is a very wide range of symptoms associated with gluten and celiac is just the tip of the iceberg when it only affects the gut, whilst others can affect virtually any part of the body. SOme symptoms are allergy-like, others can be quite severe. The symptoms can also build-up and change over time.

One of the problems with gluten is that it prevents absorption of nutrients, one of them is zinc, which is needed for a lot of enzymes in the body and Zn deficiency can result in poor growth. With gluten in the picture, intake of vits/minerals doesn't equal absorption, that's why supplements with a diet that has a lot of gluten may not help as much as expected.

just saw that my post was strangely abbreviated. Was just going to say that my DS, whose growth rate had really slowed (he was down to 9th percentile from 50th) when he was diagnosed coeliac age 4, has now been gluten free for 9 months and has grown 7.5 cm in that time (having grown about 2cm in the previous 18 months).

Coeliac can present in many different ways from no symptoms at all, to only one of the possible symptoms, to the whole lot. Tummy troubles don't always present.

Definitely have a test. If the test is negative, you could give the gf diet a go anyway, to see if it makes a difference. But test first and don't go gf before testing as it will prevent the test from working.

Oh, and many GPs are sceptical about coeliac (they are out of date with the way it presents) - don't be afraid to insist. I wish I had known about it and insisted on a test a lot earlier (though all is well now, thankfully).

They say that our bodies do most of the growing during sleep. DD has been much more amenable to going to bed since that was reported! (She's 13 and the smallest in her class.)

Personally as a very short person myself I would recommend working on his self consciousness about it. I would also try to make sure he has good posture as that helps with how people view you, sounds daft but many people often don't seem to realise quite how small I am til I'm having a bad day and don't hold my head up high.
I know the world views small men differently from small women but my whole family are on the small side (& I'm even smaller than them ) and my brothers have ended up with quite loud personalities which counteract their size. They also shyed away from traditional sports where size often helped and have developed a passion (& talent) for ones where it doesn't matter (mountainbiking & judo) I think the judo helped with confidence too especially when they realised it was about strategy when my minuscule (at the time) little sister managed to throw a massive bloke in competition and win