Magnitude of growth spurt for boys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

I remember it bc my pediatrician expressed concern that my DS hadn’t grown for an entire year, and referred us to an endocrinologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My good friend's son grew 9 inches in a year and had the growing pains and stretch marks to go with that spurt.

My own son is a slow and steady kind of fella but he did have a little spurt of about 4-5" over 18 months or so. He's always been on the taller side and is 6'2" at 15.5. I'm guessing he's close to done.

DH is close to 6'3". He had a massive growth spurt at like 16 and has the stretch marks to show for it.

DS was a slow and steady, the most he grew in one year was a whopping 3". He started freshman year in HS at 61.25", was 70" at HS graduation, and is now close to 6' at 20 years of age. I think he's done growing.

Both were late bloomers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

I tracked all their height, weight, vax after a doctor's appointment in a spreadsheet. I also track my lab results in a spreadsheet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son grew nearly 12 inches from the beginning of 6th grade until the end of 8th. It still only put him around 5ft 2 inches. He topped out at the end of HS around 5ft 5in.

Your son started 6th grade at 4 foot 2?

Damn.

Yep. He was the smallest 5th grader in ES including the girls.

My son was 53.5 in (or 4 ft 5.5") at his 10 yr checkup. He was always the smallest in his class. At the end of 8th grade he was 61.25 in

He's now close to 6' at age 20.

A lot depends on when he started puberty. If your son grew 12" in MS, then he started on the earlier side. My son hit puberty in 10th grade (during covid). He had a glow up during covid. Even the bus driver barely recognized him when they went back to school from covid, and the kids in school thought he was a new kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son grew nearly 12 inches from the beginning of 6th grade until the end of 8th. It still only put him around 5ft 2 inches. He topped out at the end of HS around 5ft 5in.

Your son started 6th grade at 4 foot 2?

Damn.

Yep. He was the smallest 5th grader in ES including the girls.

Oh and he has purple stretch marks all over back. They’ve faded a lot though. They started on the left side of his back halfway down and then went down the left side and up the right side from the bottom. Like starting at 9pm on a clock and going counterclockwise until the went all of the way around back to 9pm.

That’s what happens when you have rapid growth spurts. My 18 year old niece is 5’8”, very thin with a waist at about 24”. After it seemed her growing was over her breasts grew very quickly to maybe a C/D cup and she got deep purple stretch marks. They have faded too but it still sucks. It’s pretty common though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

This.
The obsession w male height is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

Mostly midget obsession

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

Mostly midget obsession

That’s not nice. For me, it’s the fear of the unknown. My son is 5’2” in 8th grade and hasn’t really hit his growth spurt yet. But we have no clue if he will end up growing 5 more inches or 10. If he grows for several years, either is possible. I like hearing from all just to ponder the possibilities!

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old grew maybe 6" in 6 months in his middle 1/2 of 14. Hoping he has one more growth spurt.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this thread.

My DS is definitely delayed and I'm hopeful he will start taking off soon. He just hit 5'2" at 14 1/2. And he plays volleyball, so we need the height to come!

His older brother shot up very early and has been very slowly adding a bit more height but he's pushing 6' (he's a HS senior so maybe has another inch or so to go).

[Anonymous]

My son has grown 9 inches this year (2025) and still going. Just turned 15 in November.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

Mostly midget obsession

That’s not nice. For me, it’s the fear of the unknown. My son is 5’2” in 8th grade and hasn’t really hit his growth spurt yet. But we have no clue if he will end up growing 5 more inches or 10. If he grows for several years, either is possible. I like hearing from all just to ponder the possibilities!

Either 5 or 10 inches he’ll be all set. There are plenty of short boys in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

This.
The obsession w male height is real.

I really think it’s the shift in youth sports culture. For boys especially, being a late bloomer has a huge effect on whether or not they can stay competitive in MS/HS sports. There is a major coach preference for early developers, and the nature of male puberty is such that it is impossible for the boys who have not gone through puberty to keep up with those who have. It’s not even primarily about height or size (although those help in some sports), it’s about development. For boys, the growth spurt usually takes place during the later part of puberty, so it coincides with a huge increase in strength, power, endurance, agility, etc. It’s very difficult for the boys on the later side of gaining these advantages, especially if they are athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

This.
The obsession w male height is real.

I really think it’s the shift in youth sports culture. For boys especially, being a late bloomer has a huge effect on whether or not they can stay competitive in MS/HS sports. There is a major coach preference for early developers, and the nature of male puberty is such that it is impossible for the boys who have not gone through puberty to keep up with those who have. It’s not even primarily about height or size (although those help in some sports), it’s about development. For boys, the growth spurt usually takes place during the later part of puberty, so it coincides with a huge increase in strength, power, endurance, agility, etc. It’s very difficult for the boys on the later side of gaining these advantages, especially if they are athletes.

It’s also a shift in calling all of these boys athletes instead of just like to play sports. Before the club play for money phase everyone knew who the athletes were and who the kids who just loved to play sports were. You could watch pick up games and see the one or two talented kids. Now parents think they can create athletes with coaches and running around everywhere to compete. It doesn’t work that way. It’s still the few boys you can pick out of the crowd.

Give your kids a break. There are a handful of spots in high school basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball. Don’t talk about their height or strength or any part of their physical abilities. If they enjoy sports there will be a spot for them. Encourage them to enjoy their sport wherever they play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you all remember this stuff? I know what the annual ped exam says but honestly, I can't remember how tall my 15 yr old was at his last ped appt.

This.
The obsession w male height is real.

I really think it’s the shift in youth sports culture. For boys especially, being a late bloomer has a huge effect on whether or not they can stay competitive in MS/HS sports. There is a major coach preference for early developers, and the nature of male puberty is such that it is impossible for the boys who have not gone through puberty to keep up with those who have. It’s not even primarily about height or size (although those help in some sports), it’s about development. For boys, the growth spurt usually takes place during the later part of puberty, so it coincides with a huge increase in strength, power, endurance, agility, etc. It’s very difficult for the boys on the later side of gaining these advantages, especially if they are athletes.

It’s also a shift in calling all of these boys athletes instead of just like to play sports. Before the club play for money phase everyone knew who the athletes were and who the kids who just loved to play sports were. You could watch pick up games and see the one or two talented kids. Now parents think they can create athletes with coaches and running around everywhere to compete. It doesn’t work that way. It’s still the few boys you can pick out of the crowd.

Give your kids a break. There are a handful of spots in high school basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball. Don’t talk about their height or strength or any part of their physical abilities. If they enjoy sports there will be a spot for them. Encourage them to enjoy their sport wherever they play.

Of course boys who play sports are athletes. I agree with both of these posts and will add that so many reclassifying these days that my son who will start freshman year as 14 and 4 months will need to be in his growth spurt to play. He can’t afford to be 5’3” and I don’t know if he will be that or 5’7”.