DS convinced he’s short and way behind his peers.

[MyFork]

Ds is 14, nearly 15. He’s 5’2 1/2” (15th percentile apparently), there are subtle signs of puberty, but nothing dramatic.
Some of his friends have shot up.

He’s spending his life being upset about being short and still a little boy. I’m trying to reassure him that this is normal and he will catch up.

My older son was a slow grower and still looked 13 when he was 16. He’s now 5’9” and very much not behind. H and I were slow growers. With these in mind it hasn’t occurred to me to be concerned.

Should I be doing something? How can I reassure him?

Objectively he is short.

i personally wouldn’t be telling him he’ll catch up because you can’t be sure of that.

is it worth him having a conversation with his brother?

it is tricky being short.

Try not to stress it too much. Give him lots of protein, milk and try and push fruit and vegetables. Sounds identical to how my son was he’s just gone 17 and is 5.8 so still may grow . It’s harder for boys isn’t it . Not much wrong with them looking younger they will be grateful for that when older

His brother wasn’t bothered at all, so the conversations are a bit limited as ds isn’t hearing what he wants to hear.

I'm comfortable reassuring him because he’s within the normal range and is following a pattern that his brother and both parents followed.

Given he’s at the beginning of puberty, with a family history of late starters, she can be pretty certain he will catch up!

As a parent it's hard to reassure them because they think you're just being kind because you love them. I remember my dad telling me I was single because I was too pretty and it made the boys shy. (I am not pretty).

DSS was the last of his friendship group to hit puberty and was tiny compared to his mates who had stubble and deep voices. He is now a strapping 6'5" at age 24. I wouldn't be worried yet.

Can you show his his growth charts? Even if he stays at 15th centile that’s still 5’7 which isn’t outrageously short. As I keep telling my adult 5’7 ds!

He’s definitely growing, but is very upset that he looks young still. I’ll show him the growth charts. His brother outgrew expectations to be 5’9 and doesn’t look short at all.

There are 2.5 years between my DSs. Their voices broke around the same time. DS1 follows me (late developer) and DS2 follows his dad.

Op the average height of a 15 year old boy in rh uk is 5ft 7, his brother isn’t short, that’s why he doesn’t look it. Not tall, but not short for sure. Do you remember how tall your other son was at 15? And when he reached 5ft 9?

I think it’s important to be clear on your comparisons

5ft2 at 14 is really short. Are you sure your elder son was the same? I come from a family of late bloomers. My brother who is over 6ft was 5ft8 at 14 and my cousins who are all 5ft9-5ft11 were all at least 5ft5. None of them had a spurt more than 5 inches

Older ds is now in his 20s. He reached 5’9 at about 20.
He was about the same height at 15 as younger ds is now.

My eldest grew very late - 6th form and beyond. My younger y12 boy is probably about 5ft 3-4. They do worry but there is nothing to be done but wait. I remember worrying too - I was 15 when I got my periods- last in the year and there was a girl a full 12 inches taller. My adult ds is about 5ft 7-8 but has no width at all. Y12 ds is stockier but maybe shorter - I’m predicting at least 5ft 6. My dds are both 5ft 5 - tall for our family and average for the population but the boys are average for the family and small for the population. The girls reached full height at 13/14 but ds1 was still growing at university. It’s hard because some boys are in puberty in y6 and you think it will never come but there is no reason to believe he won’t be a completely “normal range” man by 20. In his head his brother will have always been taller so he won’t see the path as easily. Dc1s gf is about 4ft 9 so any ds they might have will have to be taught to hem.

5’2 1/2 is 15th percentile.
Your brother at 14 was on the 75th percentile.
All within the range of normal.

I’ve just talked to Ds about this - I think for older Ds he was the oldest child so was the tallest of them for a while (middle Ds overtook him at 17). Younger Ds is the youngest so has no one shorter in the family so it feels like a bigger deal.

Theres a real stigma about short men which I really don’t understand. My husband is 5’7. It’s never occurred to me or him that this is a problem.

We have this with 13yo DS. I got the centile chart out and showed him where he was - 9th which is within normal limits. Problem for him is both his best friends are 6ft! I’ve pointed out that DS was a tiny baby (prem), was off the bottom of the centile charts for a long time, and is now for the first time wearing clothing that is sized for the age he is and not several years younger. It is tough though. He started martial arts when he went to secondary school which has helped his confidence, so even though he’s grumbling about being short at 5’2, he kind of owns it now, and doesn’t get so upset if people comment.

I’ve had further talks with ds about it, and googled.
I've shown him the growth charts, so he feels a bit more settled.
I’ve also read that exercising can trigger growth hormones, and that eating healthily contributes.
Ds is a couch potato with ARFID, so he’s feeling more spurred on to go for walks or runs, and to try more foods (luckily his safe foods are pretty healthy choices even if they are quite limited).

My DC was small at that age. Went from 5, 2 (or similar) aged 14 to 5, 8 at 16 and still growing strong. You can’t do anything really, I just kept saying he would grow and he did!

My DS ate a lot of chicken and exercised a lot. No idea if it helped, but he thinks it did!!

My youngest was 5, 2 at that age. 19 and 5,11 now. Just shot up between 15 and 17.
A lot depends on the height of parents though.

My son was 5ft with size 4 feet until he was 16. We were told medication had stunted his growth, but by 17 he was 6ft with size 9 feet.

I am 5'2". None of my three children got taller than me until they were 13/14. They were late to puberty too. Ds was under 6' still at 18 and I thought he'd stopped growng. As a proper adult he's now 6'2.
DDs both 5'6 ish and they didn't settle at that till they were 18.

My son is 14, and will be 15 next month and he's 5ft 10.5. I'm only 5ft 2 and my husband 5ft 9. The height comes from my Dad's side, who are all tall and lean. My son hit puberty around 12/13 with his voice breaking. Some children are late bloomers.

No she can’t unfortunately!
My son is the shortest in all our family. Everyone is tall… except him. I told him he’d catch up, he hasn’t!! He laughs that he’ll never forgive me for saying he will grow. He’s 19, there’s still time???
I think not…..he’s shorter than his sisters.
Be careful @MyFork, suggest he probably will but genetics are what they are, and he should love what he is. You do.
my son is a gym bunny, he is awesome, excelling in every way. He doesn’t need to be big to be brilliant. In a way… being physically small has made him exceptional in other ways….
Encourage him to love what he is

My son is 13 and is 4 ft 6.
Since he was about 6 years old we have had regular discussions with doctors about his height. We have seen a paediatrician 3 times in the last few years (i think when he was 6, 9, and 11) and we pushed to see an endocrinologist this year.
We were always told to wait until he is undergoing puberry. He has had blood tests and xrays twice. Nothing "wrong" thankfully but since I am 5 ft 3 and his Dad is 5 ft 9, it's just genetic apparently.
He is just starting puberty so he has a very young looking face. His best friends are very tall so it does look quite odd!
But because it is just genetic we have been told nothing can be done. I assumed that we would be offered growth hormones but not for short stature due to genes.
We have another appointment with the endocrinologist in November.
I feel sad to be honest. He is such a lovely boy, incredibly kind, smart, funny (genuinely!) and he doesn't seem concerned about his height. But i worry so much about the future.
It's fine until we go out to eat and he's offered the children's menu or a sticker at the dentist.
Sorry for the long post. Hoping for a bit of solidarity and if anyone can help re. anything please do.

Phone your GP and talk it through with them and then feedback to DS. GP will likely tell you that he is in the normal range but to check back in a year if no signs of puberty. They will reassure you and DS. The range of “normal” is massive at this age but not much fun for either DD who is at bottom end or DN (boy) who is 6’4 and at top end.

My husband was very short as a young teenager. His mother told me that she took him
to the doctor when he was 16 because he was so short that she was worried about him.

In the 6th form he suddenly shut up and ended up at 6’3”.

One of my daughters presumably took after him. She was short all through primary school. At 13 she was mistaken for an 8 year old. At 15 she was still completed undeveloped. She had a huge growth spurt at 16 and is now 5’8”, slightly more than her sister, who was always reasonably tall as a child.