Is it possible to never have a growth spurt?

[DeeToo]

DS14.5 has never had a growth spurt in his life. Other children seem to have periods of very rapid growth, both when they were young and especially now as teens, whereas DS seems to grow very slowly. Both DH and I are normal height but DS at around 5.2 is noticeably shorter than his friends (and behind them in puberty too). I'm now beginning to worry that he will never grow! His friends all seem to take these great leaps, in primary school I remember the other mums complaining how they'd have to buy new school shoes every month and now as teenagers one of his friends literally grew a foot in height last year. DS is very sporty and eats a good diet, no allergies etc but I'm now worried that there might be something physically wrong with him as he doesn't seem to be following the same pattern with his growth as others. Has anyone else experienced this with their children? Do some of them just never have a growth spurt but creep up slowly and steadily?

When you say behind in puberty what do you mean? I would say that the lack.of growth and puberty is a concern and I would take him to the doctor to see if he can be referred to endocrinology

Some boys DO only grow much later (ds' BFF went from.shortest in class at end of school to over 6ft in first year of uni!) But I would want to check, especially if puberty seems to be delayed.

Well, he seems behind in that most of his friends have noticeable muscles whereas he is very lean, has no facial or body hair, voice not broken etc I haven't discussed the other aspects of puberty with him as I know that he is upset about his height and I don't want to make it more of an issue for him.

He is growing, just not in the same way in bursts as most other children.

My son is 11 and absolutely tiny - the only kid smaller than him in his entire secondary school has dwarfism. He has never had a growth spurt and I am worried about him. Its very noticeable already that he is being left behind by his peers in terms of physical development. I have had him checked out by paediatrician who found no physical cause. I really suggest you do too. NHS waiting lists are long so you need to start the process now - go private if you can afford it ( we had to go NHS). Your son is running out of time to grow - you really need to find out now if there could be a physical cause.

You can refer him to the growth clinic. My son was referred to GOSH. and they were marvellous. Even predicted correctly his eventual height and that he would continue to grow after 18. Do it now as waiting lists are long.

I think you will need to ask if he has any sign of puberty, ie pubes. If not you need to take him to the dr.

I wouldn’t be so much concerned about his slow growth, I’d be more concerned as you have said about he seems behind in puberty. My eldest is 14, he was always one of the shortest in primary school & did seem behind his peers until the end of year 7 where he just woke up one day & had caught up both in height & puberty.

My brother was very late in growing, I’m just about 5’3 & he is a few years younger than I am. I remember him being 15/16 & he was about the same height if not smaller than me, he is now 6ft.

As your son is nearing 15 I would maybe start thinking about a GP appointment. Boys tend to go through puberty slower than girls, however I would have thought by now you’d of seen some physical changes in him, I don’t think it is a massive deal right this minute. But possibly something to consider shortly down the line.

I would be taking him to the doctor at that age and seeing if there are tests that can be done. It must be affecting his confidence as we as it possibly being a health related condition.

I think this is enough of a reason to start a referral process. You can pitch it to him as a "some people develop ans grow later but it's always worth checking and getting some advice in case they want to help things along".

We had opposite with dd and we luckily didn't need to use puberty blockers thank goodness, but it was reassuring to know that was an option if necessary.

And as others have said, waiting lists can be long. Ask for a male GP , maybe send your dh with him, and then hopefully get the referral. We are in Surrey and it took about 4 months from.referral to.1st appointment but once in, they have been brilliant at keeping tabs, organising tests etc.

We are in Surrey and it took about 4 months from.referral to.1st appointment but once in, they have been brilliant at keeping tabs, organising tests etc

Bloody hell, I am am in Wales and that seems positively instantaneous to me compared to our waiting lists! Well over a year for bloody anything and two years to see a consultant for my youngest!

what was the dad's growing pattern at that age?

having 3 teens most boys seem to have a growth/puperty burst between 13-15 years old.
even the boys that were tiny tend to shoot up during that time.

if you are still concerned see a gp.

My DS was a "slow and steady" grower. At 14.5 he was very similar to how you describe your DS. Smallest on the football team, very lean, no facial hair etc. still boyish. He is 16.5 now and very different - definitely a young man now and I'd say he was developmentally normal.

I was starting to worry when he turned 15 but everything gradually changed. I think I was just comparing him to the boys who had matured faster, rather than comparing him to the other boys who looked more like him. There's always a couple of boys on a football team with beards who look like they've got a mortgage and two kids at home 😆

My DS has never had a "spurt", things like growing out of shoes or new teeth growing in always happened slowly and steadily.

If you are very worried then a chat with the GP could help - but I was worried that if I did that then it would affect DS. Some kids just take their time but I'd say 99% get there by 16/17.

One of my 10 year olds who's in Year 6 is 5 foot 1 so it does sound short.

What size feet does he have? That can give a good indication.

Thank you, that sounds reassuring and good to know that my DS is not the only child growing slowly and steadily, and not in the great spurts that others seem to experience.

He has size 5 or 6 feet, depending on the shoes. Same as me! All of his friends are taller than their mothers (and some taller than their fathers!), he's the only one who is not.

Yeah, I thought that was quite quick. I always tell people that it's unlikely to always be that quick

Can I suggest you ask for a referral asap. I kept being fobbed off for DS2 who is very short (full adult height 5'4") and by the time I finally put my foot down I was told his bones had fused and there was no opportunity for him to be given growth hormones. It's a brief window of opportunity.

On the flip side - for me, the most important thing to learn was to reassure DS that being much shorter than other men was no bar in life to anything at all. I gathered info on loads of hyper successful, wealthy, famous very short men (there are loads) and also articles about ordinary short men who date successfully. I reassured him that yes, lots of women reject short men but not all of them do. Some women love a slim, boyish rockstar-ish look over a rugby forward type. The main thing is to be super-confident and to make sure all your best features shine. Once he did that he got lots of interest from women and also no problem getting jobs.

Being self-confident is THE most important thing, so help him build a 'so what? I am gorgeous anyway' attitude to life, and never let his height hold him back from anything he wants to try. It can take a few years for them to realise that they may as well feel good about themselves, but start helping him see that it's the best attitude to take, if he does end up being short.

Hmm. You were lucky. We were in Surrey too and fobbed off forever by a doctor who was about 6'8 which didn't help at all! He kept saying they'd monitor him and he'd probably have a growth spurt (DH is tall. I'm not) Kept being told to come back in a year, then in another year. Then one day he just casually said, Oh well, too late now, bones have fused.' DS was devastated and I was so upset for him.

@DeeToo my advice would be, if you get fobbed off push for a second opinion. And certainly raise the question of whether growth hormones might be an option and if so what is the window of time before bones fuse.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Your son is lucky to have such as supportive parent.

We do feel incredibly lucky with our GP practice. They really do seem to take things seriously. The first time I took DD to a doctor, I hadn't worked out that the nipple/breast pain could be from early puberty (she was 6 and had been going on, now and again, for MONTHS - it literally didn't cross my mind) and we were sent to a children's clinic and dismissed. But when I took her back a few months later, and asked for an appointment with our regular GP at our regular surgery, she immediately identified a potential problem and referred us. Admittedly, hair had started to grow so I'd figured out that there was something odd here. I thought it would take months to get the appointment so was pleased when it was only about 4 months.

Hi I am a boy (15.5) I don't know much about this platform I have previously asked questions on quora and reddit but never got a good response so I started puberty at 12.5 and from then till now I have only grown 2inch a year I am 5'10.5 slightly above average but the thought that I could have been over 6feet haunts me everyday.I am concern on why I only grow 2inch a year and is it possible to grow over 6'0 or is it over for me .Pls help me

M