Growth. Or lack of

[Emmabmumof3]

Hello, a bit of a random one. But for those with older children… my son has not long turned 12 and seems to be the shortest kid in his whole year 😞 he was a big baby, always bigger than average etc and had big feet and hands. He’s having a bit of a hard time from people teasing him about him being small 😞 anyone got any experience with their kids having delayed growth?? x

What has his growth been like since birth, centile wise?

and how tall are both of his parents?

I have a DC with a growth disorder which was detected when a toddler. Most children will catch up on growth but occasionally there’s an underlying reason that needs investigating

So I’m 5’8 ish, maybe 5’9. His dad is 6’1. He was 8lb7 born and like I say always ‘big’ for his age. For some reason though recently he is just NOT GROWING :( everyone else around him is and he just isn’t!!! He eats well, is active etc! I’m a bit worried as I don’t think he’s actually grown an inch since last year x

My DH is 6ft2. He was the shortest of his peers until 16, then suddenly shot up. It's normal.

My DS was smaller than most of his classmates till he was 14 then suddenly shot up. Most of his peers who were tall early on are now the shorter ones as adults.

He's only 12, perfectly within normal parameters to not have gone all teenage growth spurt yet. While many boys will have started puberty (started, not completed) at 12, up to around 14 is common and normal for starting puberty.

Are you still tracking his growth in the red book? (I’m old so maybe they don’t have those anymore). My ds has followed the same centile fairly consistently, which reassured me at various times.

Wow, does the red book cover up to this age? Maybe I should dig it out for DS.

Yes the red book goes up to adulthood. @Emmabmumof3 what is his growth curve like?

Does he has any signs of puberty? Under arm hair? Have you been tracking height/weight?

I expect the growth spurt just hasn't kicked in yet. DS was always tallest in his class til Yr 5, when he was overtaken by everyone (girls and boys) and spent years being the shortest. Certainly age 12 he was towered over by everyone and just wasn't growing. His growth spurt didn't start til 14, and now in Yr 11 he's 6ft and tallest once again.

What age did his father grow?

Could have written this post - it seems to me that in many cases if the boy isn’t early to hit puberty, they catch up later. I felt like my son was at an absolute standstill for years and then all of a sudden puberty kicked in when he was nearly 15 and now he seems to be growing constantly! Do you write down his height and weight somewhere to compare? Obviously don’t focus too much on this or you will give him a complex. But yes, similar experience as you and it was like that for quite sometime. He’s likely to become very tall, like his parents.

middleDS seemed to just pause growing age 11-13/13.5. His friends all overtook him. Then he overtook them back by age 15.5. Not sure he's done now, age 18, may be veering to 6'3".

At 12 my ds was tiny..
At 13. 6 he was 5.4 and had gone through the necessary changes... 😬

Mine has stopped growing at 13 for the moment waiting on puberty to kick in. Have a look at the red book. What’s his weight like? Is he within range for that? If your concern book a routine appointment with the GP they can do a full physical exam and ensure there is nothing untowards

Snap. My DS appears to have stopped growing, he’s always been small despite DH and I being above average height. However he seems to have stalled while his friends have all shot up.

How tall is your DS?

I think 12 is still quite young for a growth spurt in boys so I wouldn't be concerned. My three sons were all between 13 and 14 when they suddenly shot up in height. None of them were particularly tall at 12, they are all six foot or more as adults.

How tall is he? My DS was a big baby 8lb 10 but then dropped to the 9th centile and has stayed there since, unfortunately for him as he is involved in a sport where height is an advantage.Their birth weight is an indication of how much nutrition etc they were getting in the womb rather than an indication of their eventual size so isnt really relevant. As long as he isnt dropping centiles and is eating a balanced diet then it is what it is. Someone has to be small.

This is a pretty good app called Growth. There's probably something fancier these days as I've had it over a decade.

You can see that DS has stuck close to the centile he was born but that his growth slowed down at about 11 and then he had a big growth spurt after 13.

But if you are worried ask your GP. We were a bit concerned that DD had stopped growing at 13 but she broke her finger a few months back and we could see on the X-ray that the growth plates were still open. Sure enough she seems to have started growing again at nearly 15!

My eldest son was on the shorter side at 12-13. By adult years he was 6ft 1.

I'd say 21, rather than 18.

what was your dh's growth pattern? when did he have his first big growth spurt?
your dad's?

ime up until boys are 14(ish) years old there is a lot of variation with some already being tall and grown up looking whilst others still look young.

This is normal. My 16 year old is 6'1". He didn't start growing until at least 14 1/2 then just grew...