No growth spurt in 14-year-old: should we worry?

[Anonymous]

I posted before. My DS was in demand as a coxswain in rowing. They need to be lightweight and quick thinking. No experience necessary!

[Anonymous]

My son had a big growth spurt at 12. Biggest kid in his class, team, etc. Then nothing for the next 2.5 years. He's 5' 9 right now. Pediatrician said he's done growing because...1. He hasn't grown much over the past two years and 2. it looks like he's through puberty. My son was SOOOOO upset when the doctor said this. He really hopes just to get to 6 foot. My current 12 year old is 5' 10 and that pisses the 14 year old off even more. We'll see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If his voice hasn’t changed, then I am guessing his growth spurt is still ahead but I think your plan is good.

The voice change comes before the growth spurt? My 13 1/2 year old still has a high voice, no armpit hair, etc.

Voice change comes after major growth spurt.

Not always. It depends.

[Anonymous]

My son was just like your son, OP. He had his growth spurt age 16-17. He grew a foot in a year. He is now 6 ft 11 in. Bigger feet than my husband. It is really hard for boys to go through this but I promise he’lll grow.

[Anonymous]

Sorry—6 ft 1 in. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

OP, I posted on here before...

My DS at 14 was 61.25 in. He grew during the pandemic, and slimmed out -- he was chunky. He is 16.5 now, and about 5'8" or so. He grew 2" in six months in the past seven months. Between his 14 and 16 yr appointment, he grew about 4.25".

I'm super short, but DH is tall. All of us hit puberty late. DH said he grew in college, until about 20 or 21, though between 16 and 20, he didn't grow that much.

I think DS will end at about 5'9 to 5'10". So not tall, but not small, either.

Did they check his growth plates and determine what his bone age is? I had to get a scan on DS' foot, and doctor said he was about 1 to 1.5 years behind in growth at the time (preteen).

No, they didn’t do anything except say he’s on his growth curve. Which I don’t understand; he’s dramatically shorter than all his friends and his parents are tall.

It means that he’s consistently in the percentile range that he’s always been in. That might be the 5th percentile, which comes out to 5’5” adult height. It can jump a round a bit, especially in during puberty; one of my sons hit puberty early and shot up to nearly 50th percentile because he was growing early. But then he fell back to his curve. As long as his personal growth curve looks healthy and consistent, that’s what matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

I have a 12 year old son who feels very short but is more or less fine for right now. His father is 6'4" but I'm only 5' so it's a mixed picture. DS is 5' right now.

He's recently gotten into wrestling and I've noticed a real advantage to that. There are a lot of short men in wrestling. These men don't seem remotely insecure or bothered by their height. I'm talking about the dads of current kid wrestlers. They wrestled in MS and HS and feel confident about themselves.

You could lookin into activities where short men are rewarded physically. Wrestling and gymnastics are two of those sports.

He only wants to play basketball and has no skill at other sports. Sigh.

I'm a PP whose son was 5'1.25" at 14. My spouse and I have the same height as you and yours. More than likely your son will be at least average height. My DS was shorter than 5' at 12, and he hit puberty late -- like 15 to 16. If your DS looks to be hitting puberty late, chances are he will be above 5'9". But, yea, basketball may be out of the picture, unless he is a superstar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

OP, I posted on here before...

My DS at 14 was 61.25 in. He grew during the pandemic, and slimmed out -- he was chunky. He is 16.5 now, and about 5'8" or so. He grew 2" in six months in the past seven months. Between his 14 and 16 yr appointment, he grew about 4.25".

I'm super short, but DH is tall. All of us hit puberty late. DH said he grew in college, until about 20 or 21, though between 16 and 20, he didn't grow that much.

I think DS will end at about 5'9 to 5'10". So not tall, but not small, either.

Did they check his growth plates and determine what his bone age is? I had to get a scan on DS' foot, and doctor said he was about 1 to 1.5 years behind in growth at the time (preteen).

No, they didn’t do anything except say he’s on his growth curve. Which I don’t understand; he’s dramatically shorter than all his friends and his parents are tall.

I don't quite understand this either. Did they show you his growth curve and what percentile he's in? Is it the same (or close) to what he's always been? Where he is on the Tanner scale?

And he's 5'3" now, but hasn't started his growth spurt yet. Boys, on average, grow 11-12" in puberty. Now that's generally not all in one spurt, and of course it's an average. But I'm not sure if I'd be entirely satisfied with what the doctor said. It could very well be the case that he's on his growth curve and he'll be shorter than average. But you may want to consider asking for his growth chart and visiting an endocrinologist.

Other parents' anecdotes about their sons, husbands, brothers, etc. growing in college and ending up 6' tall are all well and good but not applicable to your son. If you feel something is off, I'd ask for a copy of your son's growth chart and see an endocrinologist. He/she will do the wrist/hand x-ray and can better determine where things stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

OP, I posted on here before...

My DS at 14 was 61.25 in. He grew during the pandemic, and slimmed out -- he was chunky. He is 16.5 now, and about 5'8" or so. He grew 2" in six months in the past seven months. Between his 14 and 16 yr appointment, he grew about 4.25".

I'm super short, but DH is tall. All of us hit puberty late. DH said he grew in college, until about 20 or 21, though between 16 and 20, he didn't grow that much.

I think DS will end at about 5'9 to 5'10". So not tall, but not small, either.

Did they check his growth plates and determine what his bone age is? I had to get a scan on DS' foot, and doctor said he was about 1 to 1.5 years behind in growth at the time (preteen).

No, they didn’t do anything except say he’s on his growth curve. Which I don’t understand; he’s dramatically shorter than all his friends and his parents are tall.

I don't quite understand this either. Did they show you his growth curve and what percentile he's in? Is it the same (or close) to what he's always been? Where he is on the Tanner scale?

And he's 5'3" now, but hasn't started his growth spurt yet. Boys, on average, grow 11-12" in puberty. Now that's generally not all in one spurt, and of course it's an average. But I'm not sure if I'd be entirely satisfied with what the doctor said. It could very well be the case that he's on his growth curve and he'll be shorter than average. But you may want to consider asking for his growth chart and visiting an endocrinologist.

Other parents' anecdotes about their sons, husbands, brothers, etc. growing in college and ending up 6' tall are all well and good but not applicable to your son. If you feel something is off, I'd ask for a copy of your son's growth chart and see an endocrinologist. He/she will do the wrist/hand x-ray and can better determine where things stand.

I agree, wtf??? If he hasn't started his growth spurt, how can she say it won't be a big one??

My family has a bunch of late growers. My oldest was about 5'1"-5'2" in middle school and went from one of the taller kids in elementary school to one of the average-small kids in MS. He hit a crazy growth spurt from 14.5-15.5, about 8.5-9 inches. He's 16 and 5'11
now and not done growing. They predict him about 6'2" which tracks with my brother, dad and uncles. My husband is 5'11" and I'm 5'5" so I knew he would be at least 5'9-5'10". He has a size 13 shoe and not full facial hair, and his legs are long compared to body.

His younger brother (14) in two months is tracking slightly smaller than older brother and is also very, very skinny. Older one was never that skinny, more stocky. But, at orthopedist appointment for a sports injury, the orthopedist noted it was growth-related and he has a lot of growing to do, about 2 years behind in growth. This kid still has baby teeth so couldn't start Invisalign and he still has a little kid voice. He was 5'1" at the start of 8th grade this year and probably around 5'3" now. His feet are just starting to grow. With my older one his feet grew 3-4 sizes in as many months before he started growing vertically. This kid has really long arms and hasn't grown into them.

It is so hard to be patient with late-growing boys because they are at such a disadvantage in the crazy travel sports world. A lot of sports, particularly soccer, it ends up being an advantage because they couldn't rely on their physicality and had to be quicker, more skilled and think faster to make up for the lack of stature/weight. Then when they grow into it, they are that much better than kids that relied and were rewarded by size. We see that this year with my older son.

[Anonymous]

I know so many stories of boys who grew a ton in their late teens. I wouldn't worry about it, but maybe steer him towards activities where being short might be an asset (wrestling, gymnastics, sprinting?). Also, don't make a big deal out of it, compare him to the 12yo, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

OP, I posted on here before...

My DS at 14 was 61.25 in. He grew during the pandemic, and slimmed out -- he was chunky. He is 16.5 now, and about 5'8" or so. He grew 2" in six months in the past seven months. Between his 14 and 16 yr appointment, he grew about 4.25".

I'm super short, but DH is tall. All of us hit puberty late. DH said he grew in college, until about 20 or 21, though between 16 and 20, he didn't grow that much.

I think DS will end at about 5'9 to 5'10". So not tall, but not small, either.

Did they check his growth plates and determine what his bone age is? I had to get a scan on DS' foot, and doctor said he was about 1 to 1.5 years behind in growth at the time (preteen).

No, they didn’t do anything except say he’s on his growth curve. Which I don’t understand; he’s dramatically shorter than all his friends and his parents are tall.

I don't quite understand this either. Did they show you his growth curve and what percentile he's in? Is it the same (or close) to what he's always been? Where he is on the Tanner scale?

And he's 5'3" now, but hasn't started his growth spurt yet. Boys, on average, grow 11-12" in puberty. Now that's generally not all in one spurt, and of course it's an average. But I'm not sure if I'd be entirely satisfied with what the doctor said. It could very well be the case that he's on his growth curve and he'll be shorter than average. But you may want to consider asking for his growth chart and visiting an endocrinologist.

Other parents' anecdotes about their sons, husbands, brothers, etc. growing in college and ending up 6' tall are all well and good but not applicable to your son. If you feel something is off, I'd ask for a copy of your son's growth chart and see an endocrinologist. He/she will do the wrist/hand x-ray and can better determine where things stand.

It most likely means his growth curve has always been on the low end of the chart. So if he was 10th percentile at age 2 (the age conventionally considered to be pretty predictive of adult height), and his curve has mostly stayed in the 5-15% range, then he’s on his growth curve and unlikely to see a huge leap to 50% plus for his final height.

[Anonymous]

Is he eating? Sometimes a long pause in height can be from eating disorders, so you have to see what the weight is doing. Severe calorie restriction can lead to a decline in testosterone and retard bone development.

Learning this the hard way: My 16yo DS secretly started restricting calories 1.5y go - fell from 50 percentile to <10th in weight. Half a year later, his height stopped too and is now <10th percentile for height too. We’re working hard to restore his weight in the hopes that height returns too before the end of puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

I have a 12 year old son who feels very short but is more or less fine for right now. His father is 6'4" but I'm only 5' so it's a mixed picture. DS is 5' right now.

He's recently gotten into wrestling and I've noticed a real advantage to that. There are a lot of short men in wrestling. These men don't seem remotely insecure or bothered by their height. I'm talking about the dads of current kid wrestlers. They wrestled in MS and HS and feel confident about themselves.

You could lookin into activities where short men are rewarded physically. Wrestling and gymnastics are two of those sports.

I played 4 varsity sports, including wrestling.

Nothing can create confidence like wrestling can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

I have a 12 year old son who feels very short but is more or less fine for right now. His father is 6'4" but I'm only 5' so it's a mixed picture. DS is 5' right now.

He's recently gotten into wrestling and I've noticed a real advantage to that. There are a lot of short men in wrestling. These men don't seem remotely insecure or bothered by their height. I'm talking about the dads of current kid wrestlers. They wrestled in MS and HS and feel confident about themselves.

You could lookin into activities where short men are rewarded physically. Wrestling and gymnastics are two of those sports.

I played 4 varsity sports, including wrestling.

Nothing can create confidence like wrestling can.

He's loudly uninterested in wrestling, unfortunately. We tried to encourage it. He's uninterested in anything that isn't basketball. Ironic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. A couple of PPs requested I come back to the thread after seeing his doctor, so this is what transpired: she said he's just very short. His growth spurt hasn't happened yet but even when it does he'll probably be small.

I'm sad for him. I don't think anything is wrong with being short, but he does. He's already very shy and prone to depression, and I worry that always being smaller than everyone else will just make him feel worse.

OP, I posted on here before...

My DS at 14 was 61.25 in. He grew during the pandemic, and slimmed out -- he was chunky. He is 16.5 now, and about 5'8" or so. He grew 2" in six months in the past seven months. Between his 14 and 16 yr appointment, he grew about 4.25".

I'm super short, but DH is tall. All of us hit puberty late. DH said he grew in college, until about 20 or 21, though between 16 and 20, he didn't grow that much.

I think DS will end at about 5'9 to 5'10". So not tall, but not small, either.

Did they check his growth plates and determine what his bone age is? I had to get a scan on DS' foot, and doctor said he was about 1 to 1.5 years behind in growth at the time (preteen).

No, they didn’t do anything except say he’s on his growth curve. Which I don’t understand; he’s dramatically shorter than all his friends and his parents are tall.

I don't quite understand this either. Did they show you his growth curve and what percentile he's in? Is it the same (or close) to what he's always been? Where he is on the Tanner scale?

And he's 5'3" now, but hasn't started his growth spurt yet. Boys, on average, grow 11-12" in puberty. Now that's generally not all in one spurt, and of course it's an average. But I'm not sure if I'd be entirely satisfied with what the doctor said. It could very well be the case that he's on his growth curve and he'll be shorter than average. But you may want to consider asking for his growth chart and visiting an endocrinologist.

Other parents' anecdotes about their sons, husbands, brothers, etc. growing in college and ending up 6' tall are all well and good but not applicable to your son. If you feel something is off, I'd ask for a copy of your son's growth chart and see an endocrinologist. He/she will do the wrist/hand x-ray and can better determine where things stand.

I agree, wtf??? If he hasn't started his growth spurt, how can she say it won't be a big one??

My family has a bunch of late growers. My oldest was about 5'1"-5'2" in middle school and went from one of the taller kids in elementary school to one of the average-small kids in MS. He hit a crazy growth spurt from 14.5-15.5, about 8.5-9 inches. He's 16 and 5'11
now and not done growing. They predict him about 6'2" which tracks with my brother, dad and uncles. My husband is 5'11" and I'm 5'5" so I knew he would be at least 5'9-5'10". He has a size 13 shoe and not full facial hair, and his legs are long compared to body.

His younger brother (14) in two months is tracking slightly smaller than older brother and is also very, very skinny. Older one was never that skinny, more stocky. But, at orthopedist appointment for a sports injury, the orthopedist noted it was growth-related and he has a lot of growing to do, about 2 years behind in growth. This kid still has baby teeth so couldn't start Invisalign and he still has a little kid voice. He was 5'1" at the start of 8th grade this year and probably around 5'3" now. His feet are just starting to grow. With my older one his feet grew 3-4 sizes in as many months before he started growing vertically. This kid has really long arms and hasn't grown into them.

It is so hard to be patient with late-growing boys because they are at such a disadvantage in the crazy travel sports world. A lot of sports, particularly soccer, it ends up being an advantage because they couldn't rely on their physicality and had to be quicker, more skilled and think faster to make up for the lack of stature/weight. Then when they grow into it, they are that much better than kids that relied and were rewarded by size. We see that this year with my older son.

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. He's on his growth curve from the past several years, which seems to be around 20 or 30 percent. Earlier in life (like when he was a toddler) it was 40 percent. Yet she didn't think a referral to an endocrinologist was in order. What confuses me is that he was always average height in comparison to all the kids we knew. Now he's suddenly quite a bit shorter, and I am too dumb to understand how that squares with being on his growth curve.