ds not growing

[linconlass]

My ds is nearly 14 and hasnt grown exept for one cm in two years ,all his school shirts still fit.
He doesnt appear to have hit puberty yet and isnt a typical image of a mood swinging teen either.
He eats really well- and healthy stuff too.
dh wants to take to growth clinic via gp referal which has mortified ds and he says he wont go.think dh will force the issue- thinks if misses groth spurt may remian v samll and may regret not doing anything in latter years.Any experiences of small ds please....

No experience to offer, sorry, but has your GP recommended growth clinic or is this just DH hoping?

Gp has suggested this a s possibility following an apptwith him - this week- so i guess im anticipating this a a poss route............

My 10 yr old ds is very small for his age. His bone age is 2-3 years younger than his actual age.

He gets charted every 6 months but as he's growing between 2 and 4 cm a year (apparently 4cm is the least they'd expect a year) the Dr isn't considering any further treatment such as growth hormones.

Ds's projected height is about 5'7" but he won't reach this until 18 or 19, about 2 years after his peers finish growing. Puberty will also be delayed by 2-3 years.

Btw, he eats very heathily and is very active too. Just the way he is. It's hard for him though as ds2 is just about the same height now, and he gets bullied because he's so much smaller than his peers

I think if your ds has only grown 1cm is 2 years they will definitely refer him. They can check there's no underlying causes and explain any options to you.

Thanks theinvisiblemandidit- can i just ask -how you got to know info re bone age and delayed puberty info - my boy sounds similar.thanks!!

The pediatrician we first saw sent DS for blood tests and a bone age scan- they basically x-ray his wrist and can tell from that what his bone age is. Very quick and non-invasive.

We now see an endocrinologist. He's reviewed Ds's whole history (we were referred to the childrens hospital when ds's were almost 4 & 2). DS has Constitutional growth delay(this is a good website to explain it). Dh and I have asked the Dr about growth hormones, but in DS's case, although it would give him a boost in height just now and bring on puberty at the 'correct' age, it could have the side affect of actually lowering his adult height but a couple of inches. So there's pro's and con's to that.

It's a hard situation- I feel so helpless, but Ds knows we're doing all we can for him. The other great thing our current Dr has done is reassure our Ds that he is not alone in this- he see's hundreds of children in the same or alot worse circumstances. We tell Ds this all the time, but I think it sank in a bit more when the Dr said it.

Good luck with the referral.

I started a thread I think almost a year ago about ds and a few posters gave some good advise about other things to look at that may be affecting your ds. While none applied in my Ds's case it may be helpful for you. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_health/863369-growth-delay

advice (need to learn to preview!)

My brother only grew 1cm in a year when he was a child and it turned out he has thyroid problems. He has medication and although he was always shorter than his peers, hes a fairly average sized adult now.

Definately get it checked out and I hope its something simple.