Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Y7 - Son’s Height Worry

50 replies

F1REFL1ES · 10/03/2018 09:32

I’m an average height (5’6”) mum of four (3 x girls, 1 x boy) and married to a tall (6’7”) man. Our girls (20, 17, 14) measure 5’ 10”, 5’8” and 5’11” respectfully. Our Y6 boy measures just 4’6” and is starting Secondary School in September. I’m beyond worry, he is the smallest, by far, in his class and looks so young. He’s asked when I think he’ll start growing. I have tried reassure him it’ll be soon. Please help!!
How can I man him up? Secondary Ready?

OP posts:
BrownTurkey · 10/03/2018 09:39

I am Mum of a very small dd, and I have noticed there are plenty of equally small boys when you start year 7. Its important that you don’t overfocus on it, which you might as a tall family. Make sure he knows that hitting puberty happens at different times and so does growing. Other than that, growth potential will be met eventually anyway, in the absence of poor diet, underweight or other factors - and can be maximised by decent intake of dairy and meat and veg and carbs.

BrownTurkey · 10/03/2018 09:40

By the way, my husbands family are all tall, mine are all short, but with more powerful genes, clearly.

BossWitch · 10/03/2018 09:46

There are lots of small boys in yr7, I'd say overall boys tend to be smaller than girls at this point. I'd maybe speak to the gp if you are really concerned though.

How has his height / weight been on the red book centiles up to now? I have a nephew whose dad is 6'2", but mum is 5'2" and her whole family is small. Nephew is only 3 but he has always been on the very small side according to the centiles, so it's unlikely he will get his dad's height I think. Luck of the genetic draw I guess.

spacecadet48 · 10/03/2018 09:51

F1 go to your GP. My DS has an abnormality in his pituitary and looked young and was tiny compared with his peers. This was picked up quickly as he was already being monitored for something else. So he was referred to an endocrinologist and had tests which confirmed the abnormality and he now has daily growth hormone injections. He has caught up now with his peers. We had the 'oh two tall parents ( 6ft 4 D and I am 6Ft) your DS just hasn't picked up the tall gene'. That argument didn't go down well with my genetist OH! My three other children are in the 99th centile for height and my DS was -4 centile. Anyway it may be nothing but from what you have described especially with him also looking young for his age I would be going to the GP.

BerkInBag · 10/03/2018 09:53

Y7 is the year when they all go in to high school in September looking tiny and by June have all shot up. It's a year of growth spurts as I remember. They really do all of their growing in high schools.

Zoflorabore · 10/03/2018 11:52

My ds is in year 10 now and has always been ridiculously tall but when he started in year 7 some of his friends were tiny.

Every single one of them has had a major growth spurt. Ds is not the tallest in his friendship group and all of his friends are still growing, as is he.

If you look any year 7 group there is absolutely no "normal"

Original poster
F1REFL1ES · 10/03/2018 12:18

Thank you!

I’ve worked out the ‘formula’ for predicted height (adding father and mother’s height + 14cms divide by 2) and it works out he should be around 6’2”.

Thank you for all your advice. I am very appreciative of all advice.

I’m aware of passing my own anxiety on to him so never discuss with him, only there to reassure when he mentions it. I’ll ring my GP and will try to get an appointment, that’s if I can he through the bombardment of questioning by the secretary.

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 10/03/2018 12:20

If you look at a growth chart, his height doesn't seem to be particularly small.
Girls shoot up earlier than boys.
Lots of y7 boys are tiny.

Roomba · 10/03/2018 12:44

Honestly, there are loads of smaller boys in Y7. DS1 is in Y7. He is particularly tall at 5'5" so I've noticed the height range more, if that makes sense. He is about a foot taller than some boys and looks older as a result, but his dad is 6' 6" and he started his big growth spurt early. His best friend was born August 31st and is your son's height. He's certainly not alone and no one has passed comment on it as far as I know. I've noticed a lot of the Y7's at the girl's school down the road are taller and look much older generally at this point (though the hair and makeup accentuate this even more).

Habanero · 10/03/2018 13:06

Don’t worry - we went for ds’s blazer fitting for Y7 and he was in the teeniest size. The lady from the school said not to worry as she’d fitted the same size blazer on 4 other kids and they all have a growth spurt in the first couple of years.

spacecadet48 · 10/03/2018 14:36

F1REFL1ES definitely see your GP given your concerns and your DS. Others are right that DC have growth spurts around now but not all. It would be useful for you to ask your DH if he was small at that age. Based on your DS height and age he is around 30th centile which based on his predicted height is small for his age and the fact he looks younger too would make me concerned. However if your DH was the same and shot up in yr 7 then wouldn't worry!

Original poster
F1REFL1ES · 10/03/2018 14:52

Thank you for your replies, I do feel a little relieved that there are so many other small boys out there. x

I will make an appointment. Obviously I’ll have to take him with me so I’ll neeed to be careful, I may say it’s a Y7 height and weight check - not that he is stupid, he’ll know. His recent Y6 in-school check said ‘normal’. Although I’m sceptical and regard a twenty second assessment slightly worrying, proved by a very over weight child in my daughter’s Y6 group who boasted, letter in hand, she was the right weight for her height.

Thanks again to all.

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 10/03/2018 15:53

What percentile is he on for height?
Has it dropped significantly from a few years back?

Witchend · 10/03/2018 16:03

Rather than talking about it in front of him, what I would do is ask the surgery to phone me and talk about it over the phone. They then can ask him to come in if they want to see him, or refer him on if they think that's better.

NorbertTheDragon · 10/03/2018 16:15

My DS is also y6 and he's 4ft 7. He was always the smallest in his class from reception. He's still shorter than most of his friends but not noticeably so, it's not a huge difference.

If my DS is anything like his brothers he's due a massive growth spurt over the next 6 months, they all shot up before starting year 7. It's why I left uniform shopping till the last minute! His brothers are now 5ft 10 (age 19) 5ft 9 (age 15) and 5ft 6 (age 13)

Frogletmamma · 10/03/2018 16:51

I am the tall mother of a yr 6 DD who is the second shortest in the year. Doesnt normally cause many problems except for people assuming she is much younger than she is. And therefore shouldn't be doing . Also she gets in a bit of a hiss at places like Zip world and Alton towers. Bit worried next year as she will be getting bus to secondary (different one to friends) in case people think she is an easy target. Think we will be ok though as what she lacks in size she more than makes up for attitude!

Theworldisfullofidiots · 10/03/2018 16:54

I'm 5' 6'' , dh is 6' 4". Ds is in year 7 and is 4' 9". He's fed up too. I have to keep reassuring him he'll grow.

My dbro was one of the tallest in his class in year 7 and has ended up a not v tall 5' 8" (our parents were shorties).

cantkeepawayforever · 10/03/2018 16:55

Interestingly, DS's best friend, who has been noticeably tiny since they first met in Y1 and remained the shortest in the year up to and including Y11, has continued to grow after others have reached their final height. He's gradually overtaking others as he moves through 6th form, and i think will eventually be of at least average height.

Iceweasel · 10/03/2018 16:58

My Y7 boy is 4'10", he is at the smaller end of average for his year but there are quite a few boys who are smaller than him. I wouldn't worry.

Tiddlywinks63 · 10/03/2018 17:09

Ds's best friend at that age was tiny (as was his sister and his parents). He's now 6'2" and his sister's 5'11", dwarfing both their parents (who are both 5'3")
Hopefully there's really nothing to worry about, just wait for the growth spurt (DS grew 8" and four shoe sizes in one year!)

brownelephant · 10/03/2018 17:15

what was the growth pattern of you dh or other male relatives?
if they grew late (often boys start late, 12/13 with really big bursts) your ds is likely to have his spurts late as well.
has he always been small?
what's his diet like?
obviously you are worried, so maybe seeing a gp is not a bad idea.

zenasfuck · 10/03/2018 17:15

My DS was always small for his age and one of the very smallest starting year 7. He is now 14 and almost 5’10 and towers over me

Just needed puberty to catch up with him

hmcAsWas · 10/03/2018 17:50

I am 5ft 8.5 and Dh is 6ft. On that basis I would anticipate that ds should grow to be around 6ft or at the very least a bit taller than me.....

However, Ds was about 5th from smallest in Y7 across the year group of around 120 boys (boys school)

He is now 13 (14 next month) and in Y9, and has grown a fair amount since last summer. He is now around average height for his age. Prior to summer 2017 he barely grew but it has changed now. This seems to have coincided with him having whiffy armpits (for circa 6-12 months now), growing a few pubic hairs (or so he tells me - its not like I've checked!) and his voice has broken in the last 3 months. I would say he has only just started puberty (still nothing resembling facial hair, still hitting a few high notes when he speaks) whereas a lot of his classmates are a good 12 months ahead of him. It may be the same for your ds - a later puberty? Growth really does get going with puberty

When did your dh begin puberty (your MIL might know better than him or that score) as that might have a bearing

Original poster
F1REFL1ES · 10/03/2018 19:31

Thank you all so, so much. I didn’t sleep much last night and I feel so much better.

Thank you for replying and reassuring me. Good advice ringing the doctor rather than taking him.

My husband was always taller, as was our 14 yr old daughter, than his/her peers.

I’m really looking forward to buying our son cocoa butter stretch mark cream for his growing spurt.

Thank you all again! 😘

OP posts:
spacecadet48 · 10/03/2018 21:31

F1REFL1ES my advice if your going to the GP is to remember that you are not going to get any answers. Your GP needs to refer you. So you need to be prepared, if your not your GP will send you on your way with the same advice on this thread that , he is just small for his age, he will have a growth spurt, etc etc. We had to push to get our son referred as we were being palmed off with two tall parents, small genes nonsense. Our other DC were always the tallest in class and never the smallest. You need to go in and have a chat with the GP on your own, have a list of concerns ready- parental height details, sibling height details, your DS details and comparison to his peers. Given the size of you all he shouldn't be the shortest in his class even if he was due a 'growth spurt'. If he also looks young for his year which people on this thread appear to have missed, this is also a possible sign of growth hormone deficiency. Do your research and when your at the GP you insist on a referral to the endocrinology team. The perfect outcome is that he is just going to have a few growth spurts in the coming years, however if he is deficient you only have a few years to diagnose , treat and catch up.