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?

@Fifthtimelucky Goes to show there’s no changing genetics!

No, sorry. The height came from his dad who is just an inch shorter than him. Your dad’s genes wouldn’t have impacted it as much as your husband’s. Tall genes from grandparents only come into play when that parent is tall. Or the parent had health conditions in early childhood that prevented them from reaching their growth potential. Eg d&v before 5.

My son was the tiniest of all his mates - they all had growth spurts whereas he just grew steadily but very, very slowly until he was taller than all of them when he hit 20 and was still gorowing. If you had seen him at 14 you would have thought he'd never reach 5'5 let alone 6'2 (his current height).

Unsurprisingly, he has the same build as my brother in law who finally stopped growing by about 23. He was also a very late developer!

I used to sit at parents evenings surrounded by six foot plus boy-men with deep voices and moustaches whilst my teeny, baby faced lad looked like he'd just left primary. Just reassure him that they all catch up eventually.