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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Dd worried about her height

82 replies

Dancergirl · 29/07/2016 14:57

She is 13, just finished Year 8. She's always been on the short side. She did have a bit of a growth spurt at the start of puberty but it wasn't as dramatic as she'd expected.

She is now about 4'11". Periods started about 6 months ago, she's convinced she's not going to grow much more. I've heard most growth occurs before periods start, but 13 seems very young to stop growing.

OP posts:
WankersHacksandThieves · 29/07/2016 17:07

Is diet related to growth or is it just in the genes?

Growth potential is genetic but actual growth against that potential will be affected by diet, health, sunshine etc etc.

People of our parents and grandparents generation (depending on how old your are) probably never reached their growth potential due to poverty. I measure DSs on their birthdays every year, we go abroad every 2nd year, the grow more in the years we've been abroad - we live in Scotland. maybe it's coincidence.

Starboo · 29/07/2016 17:10

I'm 5ft 9 and grew about 5 or 6 inches after starting my periods at 14.

Original poster
Dancergirl · 29/07/2016 17:17

Growth potential is genetic but actual growth against that potential will be affected by diet, health, sunshine

Something else to feel guilty about Sad

latin she was 6lbs 15oz at birth, she was actually my biggest baby!

OP posts:
Ireallydontseewhy · 29/07/2016 17:19

On average girls grow about 2 inches (5 cm) after starting their first period but quite slowly, over about 2 yrs I think. But that is only the average - and there do seem to be exceptions where girls grow a lot more after that. Height is an odd thing though - as another pp has said, by the time you get to age 19, 20 height differences don't seem nearly so 'obvious' - I'm not sure why!

TroysMammy · 29/07/2016 17:19

I never had growth spurts. I silently grew and stopped at 4ft 11 3/4 inches. Don't know at what age I stopped at though. In my case it's genetics. My Dad's family short and fat, my Mother's family tall and thin. I got the short and thin bits. My sister got the leftovers Grin.

Original poster
Dancergirl · 29/07/2016 17:24

Hopefully she'll make it to 5'!

OP posts:
WankersHacksandThieves · 29/07/2016 17:25

Something else to feel guilty about

Flowers

Why feel guilty? It's not like you starved her and you can't force feed her.

DS1 was a terrible feeder when he was young - basically up until he was 3 he was a total nightmare, then he was just a nightmare, now he isn't great in terms of variety but not in terms of portions. He is currently almost 6'3. I don't think having a poorish diet would make inches upon inches of difference (unless it was actual starvation/malnourishment), it's more likely you are talking fractions of inches when it's just not an optimum diet.

Friends DS has always been tiny and they were getting really worried, he was tested and his bone age was about 2 years below his actual age so they think he still has potential. But they did say that as she is small and her DH is about average, he isn't genetically likely to be tall.

lljkk · 29/07/2016 17:37

4'11" is a manageable adult height, anyway.

We know a 16yo who is about 4'7". That may be challenging.

WankersHacksandThieves · 29/07/2016 18:17

Yup, agree. 4'11 is perfectly fine as an adult. I know loads of women about the 5 foot mark and I wouldn't think it odd at all. i know fewer men, but they still look like men and not boys if that makes sense so you don't really register that they are small whereas you probably notice it more in a teenager. Not sure that makes sense written down but it does in my head.

Pythonesque · 29/07/2016 18:35

She could probably discuss with the GP getting a bone-age estimate if it would help her to know whether she was likely to have nearly finished growing or plausibly got a bit of growth left still. (it will only give a rough idea of that at best though, I think) Otherwise I agree with many of the above posters that she may be best off starting to get her head around "I may have nearly reached my final height". I was pretty much my adult height at about 13, my own 13 yr old hasn't grown much in the last year I think, and has generally matured earlier than I did. She's at least 4" shorter than me which is a bit more than I'd expected (going by centiles I'm a bit taller than her dad). Mind you we're at the taller end of the charts where growth on average tends to be a bit earlier. My daughter is gradually going to have to get used to being "above average" rather than "aren't you tall" especially as the boys grow!

juneau · 29/07/2016 18:37

I have several friends who are under 5'. Its not shockingly or abnormally small. However, I know of another girl who was very small at school and her parents took her to a doctor who (I presume) must've given her growth hormone, because she ended up being about 5'6".

I think its worth going to talk to her GP if she really doesn't want to be this small. You can find out whether you have any options and then discuss whether you want to opt into them.

I stopped growing at 12, having started my periods around that time and I think that's true of a lot of girls (though not all).

LatinForTelly · 29/07/2016 19:10

Oh that's a good birthweight, Dancergirl. Yes 4ft 11 / 5 ft for a girl is absolutely fine for living a normal life isn't it?

Might be worth, as Juneau suggests, going to the gp just to see what your options are, if you're still concerned. In my experience, bone-age scans are done under the care of a paediatric endocrinologist and can be really quite accurate - they certainly report them back in years and months.

Wankers re your friends' small child, some growth conditions present with a delayed bone-age til about 7, then the bone-age starts to race ahead of chronological age, and these kids then have less time to grow, so may still be worth someone monitoring their child, if they are still concerned.

Turbinaria · 29/07/2016 19:21

The reason girls why don't grow much after they start their periods is that hormonal changes cause the bones in the body to fuse together and we lose a lot of our flexibility. This is why allegedly Russian gymnasts in the 1970s where given meds to delay the onset of puberty to ensure they stayed flexible.

WankersHacksandThieves · 29/07/2016 19:24

Thanks Latin, he is with a consultant but he was was nearly 13 at the time of the scan and they said his bone age was 10 and a bit (I am sure they were more precise but I'm only going by what I was told). so they said that was a good thing. He was a poor eater and the consultant told him that his body needed more nutrition to grow and that he had to snack as well as eat his meals. They said he had time to grow and wasn't near puberty either. Though as I say he was never likely to be particularly tall anyway. He has made more effort though at 14 he is still very small.

ChanelNo314 · 29/07/2016 19:27

My dd was 11 nearly 12 and 5'1" when she got her period and she's 13 and a half and 5'3" now. She might grow another inch but she doesn't seem to care either way.

SarcasmMode · 29/07/2016 19:29

I stopped growing about a year after starting my period.

I am just over 5ft.

My parents were told about growth hormones as I did have some borderline issues with pituitary gland.

It's OK though really it doesn't bother me being short. It's not the be all and end all.

ChanelNo314 · 29/07/2016 19:32

ps, if I do the calculation based on parents' heights, I'd have predicted that she be taller, and she's always had good nutrition, exercise, warmth, sleep, some sunshine Hmm ok well not that much sunshine. But obviously it's not like a courgette plant!

LatinForTelly · 29/07/2016 19:36

Oh, that's great Wankers, about your friends' child. Sorry, should've kept my sticky beak out! Blush

insan1tyscartching · 29/07/2016 19:37

Dd is 13.5 and 4ft 10. Her periods started 18 months ago she is growing slowly still and she is hoping she gets to 5 foot. I'm not sure she will make 5 foot as she did grow a great deal between 11 and 12 because she was tiny in primary.
Dd1 and I stopped growing at 11, I'm 5 foot and she is 5 foot 2. Dd's gm and aunt on dh's side aren't five foot and my own gm wasn't five foot either so it won't be out of the ordinary if she doesn't grow much more tbh. We all are very petite as well with tiny hands and feet.

insan1tyscartching · 29/07/2016 19:37

Dd is 13.5 and 4ft 10. Her periods started 18 months ago she is growing slowly still and she is hoping she gets to 5 foot. I'm not sure she will make 5 foot as she did grow a great deal between 11 and 12 because she was tiny in primary.
Dd1 and I stopped growing at 11, I'm 5 foot and she is 5 foot 2. Dd's gm and aunt on dh's side aren't five foot and my own gm wasn't five foot either so it won't be out of the ordinary if she doesn't grow much more tbh. We all are very petite as well with tiny hands and feet.

WankersHacksandThieves · 29/07/2016 19:43

Nope Latin that was good info. Personally I think they left it really late to see anyone about it as he was noticeably tiny form when we first met. He was 4 at the time and looked like an 18 month old at best. They put it down to him being premature, but he was 35 weeks at birth, not overly premature really. He had a complex about it as well so if it had been me, I'd have taken him when he was a young lad or at least monitored him at home on the chart. They just seemed to think it was a bonus that he got about 3 years wear out of everything and that they could still get him an entire football strip for buttons as he was in the toddler sizes. Confused Anyway, all in hand now :)

ChanelNo314 · 29/07/2016 19:50

Sounds like my friend's son. He's 9 and the size of a average 6 year old. I think she should take him to a specialist just to see if there is an issue. My friend and her son's dad both 'normal' heights so I think she should investigate it a bit........... He's not going to thank her when he's 18 and 5'4 Confused

Ireallydontseewhy · 29/07/2016 19:59

The mid parental height calculation is very wide ranging though - 8.5 cm on either side is something like the 3rd to 97th per centiles of outcomes (if you see what I mean) - in other words, there is very wide variation round the average so it isn't a very good 'predictor'.

I think WHT has explained it well - by the time you get to 19 or 20 people all look 'adult' for want of a better word, so the height differences seem less noticeable than during early teenage years.

Ireallydontseewhy · 29/07/2016 20:02

That was in response to the post about Chanel's dd, not the one about friend's son! I'd agree if there's any concern, always worth getting it checked!

ChanelNo314 · 29/07/2016 23:17

yes, I know what you mean, so one inch off the figure I predicted is still within the parametres of predictable! If I am making sense.
Yes, re my friend, my kids eat like horses compared to her son. Maybe stimulating his appetite might help. They can do that I think.