14 yo boy not growing much

[Anonymous]

DS recently turned 14 and just seems stalled in his growth. He has started puberty but seems earlier in the process, definitely no voice change or cracking. Suddenly he looks like a small young boy compared to all his friends, and he is totally unable to keep up in his sport, which he loves and is very important to him. Seems like all the boys are having huge growth spurts and really starting to look like teens, but DS is not there yet. He is still shorter than me, whereas most of his friends at this point tower over their mothers. Should I be concerned that he seems behind, or is this still within normal range?

[Anonymous]

How tall is he and how tall are you all as parents? Most boys hit puberty by 14.5 so it seems like he’s probably very close to hitting his growth spurt. My son turns 14 next month and is in the same boat. He’s probably around 5’3” tops and mom is 5’6”. We are just waiting on a big growth spurt!

[Anonymous]

What has his Dr advised ? I’d start tbere

[Anonymous]

There ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How tall is he and how tall are you all as parents? Most boys hit puberty by 14.5 so it seems like he’s probably very close to hitting his growth spurt. My son turns 14 next month and is in the same boat. He’s probably around 5’3” tops and mom is 5’6”. We are just waiting on a big growth spurt!

He is about 5’5 I think. I’m 5’7 and DH is average height, 5’10. I would expect him to be at least his dad’s height although he has always tracked tall on the charts (until recently) and has very tall grandparents. Anyway, he should be average height at least. Aside from the height though is the lack of strength and development compared to other boys, and his voice still sounding like a young kid. The doctor did not mention any concerns and I didn’t think to ask. I think he grew around 2 inches last year, so no spurt or anything. Just realizing he will be starting high school soon and certainly doesn’t look like it - hopefully he will get a growth spurt in the next few months!

[Anonymous]

ADHD meds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ADHD meds?

Nope, no meds.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. 5 4.5” is average height for a 14 year old. He sounds average height and only growing 2 inches sounds like he has years of growth ahead of him. At least 3 years. He may end up quite tall!

[Anonymous]

He sounds average to me.

[Anonymous]

Some boys grow later. It’s hard for them. Many many threads on this topic. He will grow at some point.

[Anonymous]

Pretty normal. Some boys grow later.

My son looked like a 12 year old when he turned 14. Weighed around 90lbs, maybe 5’3”ish. Finally started growing as his 15th birthday approached.

He is 17 now, and 6’1”.

No need to worry about it unless the ped is concerned.

[Anonymous]

What size are his feet? If his feet have grown then the body will be coming along soon. Also, did he lose his baby teeth late? That also is an indicator of a late grower.

[Anonymous]

I'll be a voice on the other side of this.

Has he fallen way down on the growth charts?

My kid was always 80th-90th percentile. Around age 12 his growth slowed way down so by the time he was 14 it was 30th percentile. He was growing less than 2 inches a year (that's a red flag).

I was very pushy and went to an endocrinologist who agreed the slowdown was concerning. We tested. His IGF was on the very very low side of normal. Still no growing for another 6 months. We did the stim test in a hospital and he did have a growth hormone deficiency. After starting treatment, he started growing again. He's now back at nearly 80th percentile at age 17 and still growing.

He also had late puberty which made this hard for pediatricians to diagnose (they just kept saying he's a late bloomer). Growth hormone treatment only works before/during puberty, so you want to make sure you catch it early enough to treat it.

The stim test is not fun (half-day in a hospital hooked up to an IV) but so grateful we had a doctor who took concerns seriously and I was that pushy parent to get it done and then battle the insurance company (a whole other thread on that one).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll be a voice on the other side of this.

Has he fallen way down on the growth charts?

My kid was always 80th-90th percentile. Around age 12 his growth slowed way down so by the time he was 14 it was 30th percentile. He was growing less than 2 inches a year (that's a red flag).

I was very pushy and went to an endocrinologist who agreed the slowdown was concerning. We tested. His IGF was on the very very low side of normal. Still no growing for another 6 months. We did the stim test in a hospital and he did have a growth hormone deficiency. After starting treatment, he started growing again. He's now back at nearly 80th percentile at age 17 and still growing.

He also had late puberty which made this hard for pediatricians to diagnose (they just kept saying he's a late bloomer). Growth hormone treatment only works before/during puberty, so you want to make sure you catch it early enough to treat it.

The stim test is not fun (half-day in a hospital hooked up to an IV) but so grateful we had a doctor who took concerns seriously and I was that pushy parent to get it done and then battle the insurance company (a whole other thread on that one).

Interesting, thanks for sharing. His percentile has dropped but not as much as your son. He was also usually 80-90, now I think closer to 50%. To answer the other PP’s question, his feet are like a 9-9.5 but haven’t grown a whole lot in the last year either. His teeth have been late (1-2 molars still not fully in). He did have a hand x-ray for an injury about five months ago and his growth plates looked wide open but it was just a few fingers visible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How tall is he and how tall are you all as parents? Most boys hit puberty by 14.5 so it seems like he’s probably very close to hitting his growth spurt. My son turns 14 next month and is in the same boat. He’s probably around 5’3” tops and mom is 5’6”. We are just waiting on a big growth spurt!

He is about 5’5 I think. I’m 5’7 and DH is average height, 5’10. I would expect him to be at least his dad’s height although he has always tracked tall on the charts (until recently) and has very tall grandparents. Anyway, he should be average height at least. Aside from the height though is the lack of strength and development compared to other boys, and his voice still sounding like a young kid. The doctor did not mention any concerns and I didn’t think to ask. I think he grew around 2 inches last year, so no spurt or anything. Just realizing he will be starting high school soon and certainly doesn’t look like it - hopefully he will get a growth spurt in the next few months!

5’5” isn’t really short at that age. There are a couple boys in my son’s class that are barely above 5’.