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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:
VioletBam · 29/07/2016 23:20

gosh! I have a short 12 year old DD too...I never realised they stopped after periods!

She hasn't got hers yet but it won't be far away...she's only about 4.11 too!

Me and DH aren't tall at 5.6 and 5.8 but I thought she'd at least be MY height!

She is very like my mum though who is only 5.1....anyway...nothing wrong with short! It's nice to be petite OR tall and rangy.

Passthecake30 · 29/07/2016 23:25

I don't believe periods stop growth... I was 5ft 5 when I started mine (at 13) and stopped growing at 18 (6ft)Grin

lljkk · 30/07/2016 02:21

I started my periods at 12 & kept growing until I was ~16yo.

Myoption · 30/07/2016 02:26

Not that it matters, but I didn't realise that allot of girls stopped growing in height at 12-13! I know that most boys (being one my self Grin) don't stop growing in height until at least 16, if not 17-19. I know i'm mostly clueless about female development, but the thought of allot of girls not growing in height any further then 5ft ~ as early as year 7 at school has surprised me, i'd always thought every one more or less grew in height until at least 14/year 9 ish.

Grausse · 30/07/2016 10:25

Genes, diet and health definitely.
I remember the tallest girl in my school at primary stopped growing at 11 and was pretty much the shortest by Y11.
Boys growth pattern is very different, puberty signalling the start of a growth spurt rather than the end.

Ireallydontseewhy · 30/07/2016 14:13

Myoption a lot of girls will indeed carry on growing until 14 (if first period is at 12) but because growth is slower, and less, during that time it isn't as obvious that they're still growing, iyswim.

But yes, boys carry on growing for longer - sometimes up to age 19 and beyond. I'm not sure when their 'slowdown' starts, but I think it tails off at some point before boys/men stop growing.

ChanelNo314 · 30/07/2016 14:49

From googling, I've got the impression that that 'rule' of growing only for the year after your period depends, and one of the things it depends on is how young you were when you got your period!! I got mine very old (14, back in the 80s) and so I didn't grow more at all I don't think, but my dd was nearly 12 and has grown another two inches so far. So. It's all so vague and approximate.

ChanelNo314 · 30/07/2016 14:50

'Wait and see' is not the crystal ball information we're all after though!!

Titsalinabumsquash · 30/07/2016 14:53

My mum never reached 5ft, it never held her back as far as I know. She was 4ft 10.5 and lived a full life.

ChanelNo314 · 30/07/2016 14:58

Apologies if I'm offending or worrying anybody on the thread but I really think it's more of a concern for boys. Men are fairly discriminated against if they're short.
Even on threads here I see ''oh he was lovely, handsome, funny, good humoured, we clicked............. but he was only 5'7"''. I'm thinking pass him over here then Grin But I think tall men earn on average 1,500 more a year, but then divided by 12 and after tax, that isn't a major issue that couldn't be countered by other strengths.

ExtraHotLatteToGo · 30/07/2016 15:03

I'm 4'11. Never bothered me.

I too quite liked being the little cute one, easy to pick up etc. Until I got ill and put on weight, now I could do with being about 8ft to stretch it all out 😖

My friend was the shortest in her class all through school (like me) but at 16 she shot up and she's really tall. She was 14 when she got her period.

I was 13 when I got mine. I don't know exactly when I stopped growing but I had the same school skirts all through senior school and they weren't any shorter by the time I finished school (fortunate really as I didn't have much room for error!).

ChanelNo314 · 30/07/2016 15:05

I'm 5'2" which I know is kind of more in the realms of average but the pressure I've felt has always been to be thinner! accepted my height a long long time ago but I have never stopped feeling 'too big'. I'm about to drag my weary carcass through a work out now :-p

fatbottomgirl67 · 30/07/2016 15:10

Dd had a knee consultant who told us that the' average girl' has a years long bone growth left once periods start. This is why teenage girls have amazing long legs. Then they grow up from the spine. It's only a rough guide but it seems to be true for us

ChanelNo314 · 30/07/2016 15:13

That would make sense. I noticed that my dd seems to have a relatively short 'body' for her height. She's 13.

Turbinaria · 30/07/2016 20:14

In natural selection height is an indicator of health and ability to access food/ resources hence why women on the whole prefer taller men

Myoption · 30/07/2016 21:49

I see now. It surprised me some times about how teen girls grew so quickly in height at the 12-14 years old period, and the thing about teen girls growing from the spine and getting their height from long legs kind of makes sense to me now! A very close relative of mine's, daughter at 12 was just a "normal" 12 year old height (About approx 5ft-5ft 1~ I suppose), but now barley 2 years later at 14 she has grown quite long ("woman") legs, and is probably at least 5ft 5".

WankersHacksandThieves · 30/07/2016 22:07

Boys do the same with the legs. DS1 currently has nearly a 36" inside leg, compared to DHs 33" but they are currently more or less the same height. It's bizarre as if they stand back to back, DSs bum fits into the small of DHs back but their heads are level. So in my head that means that DS may yet have a few more inches in him, that'd make him 6'5/6'6!

Silvermockingbird · 04/08/2016 23:09

I am only 4'11, stopped growing at about 13. My mums 5'5 and my dads 5'9. I always hated being short and I still get comments off new people I meet now! But I don't mind much anymore, there's nothing really you can do. My son (4) is very short for his age and my daughter (1) is very long for her age! This should be interesting

QueenofQuirkiness · 17/08/2016 10:05

I wouldn't worry, at 13 my DD1 was 4'9 or 4'10. She is now 15 and 5'2

i8sum314 · 17/08/2016 17:03

I hope that happens to my dd. her father is 6'0 and half an inch so her whole childhood whenever the subject came up I've predicted quite casually ''oh you'll end up taller than I am''. Like as if I've seen in to the future Confused why did I do that!? Now she's 13 and not quiiiiite 5'3 and she reprimanded me earlier for telling her that she would be taller than I am! I could only shrug!

oldlaundbooth · 17/08/2016 17:04

I grew 2 inches when I was, wait for it, 19 Shock

i8sum314 · 17/08/2016 17:05

Wow! That is interesting. You're a woman right?

BirdintheWings · 17/08/2016 17:08

DD started periods at primary when she was shorter than me, so maybe 5ft1? She's now 5ft8 and hoping she'll stop growing sometime soon.

TellMeSomethingNew · 17/08/2016 17:12

Bless her. I was a shortie too. Used to get comments about it but don't mind now! I'm 5'1. Tell her it won't matter in a few years' time!

JustDanceAddict · 19/08/2016 13:47

As far as growing after periods go, my DD has grown about 2 inches since she started a year ago. I think she's more or less reached her adult height now - she's 5ft7 & I'm 5ft4 as was my mum & grandma so she's bucked the trend the other way. She has overtaken a lot of the girls from her primary - it can happen that a girl can be tall through primary, start periods early and then end up on the shorter side.