Ds 15 is very small and doesn't seem to be growing.

[Lilyana]

DS 15 is 5ft 3, by far the smallest boy in his class/year. I'm 5ft 6 and they always say boys are taller than their mums. He hasn't grown since last November. Is there a chance he will have a growth spurt later on even though he seems to have stopped for a while?

My son was small for his age til the end of year 9. Over the summer he shot up by 4 inches and his feet went from a 6 to 11. He's now over 6 ft

DS is 5'7" at 17 and is easily one of the smallest in his year group. It does bother him. He was also one of the first to go through puberty and is very hairy with a full beard and a line of hair from his belly button which I understand is an indicator of the end of puberty. I suspect he isn't going to grow much more. There isn't anything we can do about it though.

I'd say 5ft 7 is a good height. I was imaging my ds would reach that height as I'm 5ft 6 and I'm sure boys grow taller than their mums.

I've never said my concerns to my ds but he has been saying he will never get a GF if he stays this small or get married one day :-( he said girls like taller men. It's true that being a small man is not easy.

My DH was always the smallest boy in his year. He had a big growth spurt at 17 between 6th form years. He grew 7 inches and is 6ft now (with a back full of stretch marks to show for it, nearly 20 years later). He never did bulk out and is thin as a rake.

Oh blimey, maybe there's still time then!!

My 16.5yo has grown an extraordinary amount in the last 18 months. I couldn't tell you exactly but he was shorter than his big brother when he turned 15, and now 4 inches taller.

@Lilyana how tall is his dad and grandparents (maternal and paternal)? Has he been prone to under eating over the years?

Does he eat well? How tall is his dad?

Do you have a record of his height at birth and at ages when he was younger? A person's adult height can be predicted from this information. I would ask the doctor about it - better to find out sooner that later if there is a problem.

Boys have their growth spurt a bit later than girls.

I don't think boys are always taller than their mums, it's probably an average thing - women are on average shorter, most women choose men for relationships who are taller than them, so the height genes are going to be somewhere around or in between the parents' heights and since boys are taller than girls on average, more likely closer to the dad's and therefore taller than the mum. But there will be some boys who end up shorter.

The growth charts here have some information on growth during puberty.
www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/uk-who-growth-charts-2-18-years

Ds 12 is 5ft I'm 5ft3. He's always been on 9th centile but he's definitely going to overtake me and is farther who is 5ft9.

I do yes. Think he was always between 50th and 75th centile for height when he was little then in primary he was 50th for height.

So I'm 5ft 6.5 and dad 5ft 5
My family are all tall, brother 6ft +, mum 5ft 9 etc..
DH dad much taller than him, sisters all tiny. So a proper mix. Obviously genetically he's probably not going to be tall, predicted height using calculator says 5ft 7 however I'm more converted he seems to have stopped growing already.

Concerned not converted!

I would take him to the GP and have a check up. Growth hormone can play up a bit in some people.
But the likelihood is that he will grow suddenly, out of the blue! I am still shocked about the teenage boys I have witness growing up in the first years of secondary. I do not know if not seeing them in lockdown has made it crispier, but God they really shot up, and are taller than me now. They were shorter than my DD at the start of the school year. Quite impressive.

I will talk to the GP, thank you. Alot seem to be huge!!

Ds2 was lat16 before he had his growth spurt. He was oldest in his year but the smallest. He’s now over 6’ . We didn’t seek medical advice

*late

You say your height
but what about his fathers height?!

I have, a little way up the thread.

How is his diet? Perhaps see GP if he has moved significantly off his predicted growth line but also focus in his diet, protein etc

DS was 6ft by the time he was 13 or 14. His friends were still quite small. Now they’re all 18 and none of them are small - they’ve caught up to DS or grown even taller. Definitely some of them didn’t reach their height until 16 or 17. I wouldn’t start to worry just yet.

DS was much smaller than his peers throughout secondary school. He was told that growth stops around 16 but at 19 he was still stretching up. He is now taller than most of his friends.

My ex’s kid was about 5’3 at 18 then he had a series of growth spurts and by 21 he was 5’8. I wonder if there was a hormonal shift at that time caused by becoming sexually active. He went from looking 14 to look his age in a year.

I have heard that it is the mother’s height that determines if boys would be tall or short but although it is the case for me and many of my friends, I don’t think that’s “fact”. There is a formula out there that gives a predicted height using both parents’ heights that may give you an idea but honestly… it may be totally random: my siblings and I share the same set of parents and I am a foot taller than my siblings, I blame it on diet, mine was more protein based than theirs given some intolerances. Interestingly, my dad is one of 9 and due to family relocations the older siblings grew up with a very Mediterranean diet and they are considerably smaller while the younger ones who grew up with a more Nordic diet (high protein one) are considerably taller.

A typical diet is
Porridge, nuts, seeds, fruit
Lunch
Homous, falafel, spinach wraps x2
Crisps, malt loaf, fruit salad
Tea massive amounts of lentil curry, rice etc..or massive tofu stirfry
He also ate 3 bananas, 2 oranges, and 3 bowls of cereal yesterday..
As u can see it doesn't eat meat but still eating extremely well for a teen..I also give him a multi vit, B12 and Omega supplement