Can boys really be done growing at 15?

Anonymous
OP, is 5'6" out of the realm of possibility for your son, based on your and your spouse's heights?
Anonymous
Did he lose his teeth early? Feet grow early? If so then yes. If he was still losing his teeth at 13/14 or his feet seem mold they are still growing then I would think he’s still growing.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Most (not all) boys stop growing by end of 15th year.

I think you hear about the late growers a lot because they’re talked about a lot because people are worried about them being short and entering puberty late.


This. My DS is the late bloomer and I've posted about it. He's 14 and at Tanner stage 1.

If this wasn't the case, I wouldn't be posting anything about height at all. Because it's more about development than height, anyway.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what an X-ray shows to predict growth? Somehow 4 kids but we never learned or experienced this.


No one gets the X Ray unless they see an Endo or break a bone. More for late bloomers

not necessarily true.

My son had foot issues all throughout 5th grade. He said every time he ran, his heel hurt. I thought he just needed to rest his foot. But I finally took him to an orthopedist several months later. Older dr, and he immediately had a suspicion as to what the issue was, but he took an xray of his foot, and that confirmed his suspicion.

It was growing pains, basically. I think someone on this forum mentioned what the actual medical terminology is, but I can't recall the term. The dr said he had four kids go through the exact same thing.

Dr said DS bone age was about 18months behind chronological age. He hit puberty late (15, from a family of late bloomers). He's 18 now, and grew 2" in the past 7 months. Always the shortest until 17 when he started to grow past his friends who had all stopped growing at 16.

IMO, it's largely genetics - when you start puberty (late bloomer), and if the dad (usually) grew past 16. For us, both are true.
Anonymous
You can see here that boy's growth tapers off dramatically at 16. Typically, they may grow about an 1" between 16 and 20. But, as stated earlier, when the boy hits puberty can skew the growth pattern.

https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41c021.pdf
Anonymous
My sons growth plates were wide open at 15?and 16 (X-rays after sports injuries). Neither STARTED their growth spurts until 15.5. The older one went from 5’4” Freshmen year to 6’1” Senior year.

Younger one still has a lot of growing to do. His voice hasn’t changed. He’s still baby-faced. He’s just starting his spurt.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what an X-ray shows to predict growth? Somehow 4 kids but we never learned or experienced this.


No one gets the X Ray unless they see an Endo or break a bone. More for late bloomers

not necessarily true.

My son had foot issues all throughout 5th grade. He said every time he ran, his heel hurt. I thought he just needed to rest his foot. But I finally took him to an orthopedist several months later. Older dr, and he immediately had a suspicion as to what the issue was, but he took an xray of his foot, and that confirmed his suspicion.

It was growing pains, basically. I think someone on this forum mentioned what the actual medical terminology is, but I can't recall the term. The dr said he had four kids go through the exact same thing.

Dr said DS bone age was about 18months behind chronological age. He hit puberty late (15, from a family of late bloomers). He's 18 now, and grew 2" in the past 7 months. Always the shortest until 17 when he started to grow past his friends who had all stopped growing at 16.

IMO, it's largely genetics - when you start puberty (late bloomer), and if the dad (usually) grew past 16. For us, both are true.


My late grower dysgraphia get Sever’s until 8th grade! He’s over 2 years behind growth spurt.
Anonymous
^ didn’t get
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what an X-ray shows to predict growth? Somehow 4 kids but we never learned or experienced this.


No one gets the X Ray unless they see an Endo or break a bone. More for late bloomers

not necessarily true.

My son had foot issues all throughout 5th grade. He said every time he ran, his heel hurt. I thought he just needed to rest his foot. But I finally took him to an orthopedist several months later. Older dr, and he immediately had a suspicion as to what the issue was, but he took an xray of his foot, and that confirmed his suspicion.

It was growing pains, basically. I think someone on this forum mentioned what the actual medical terminology is, but I can't recall the term. The dr said he had four kids go through the exact same thing.

Dr said DS bone age was about 18months behind chronological age. He hit puberty late (15, from a family of late bloomers). He's 18 now, and grew 2" in the past 7 months. Always the shortest until 17 when he started to grow past his friends who had all stopped growing at 16.

IMO, it's largely genetics - when you start puberty (late bloomer), and if the dad (usually) grew past 16. For us, both are true.


You're being really literal. What that PP meant is no one gets an Xray unless they suspect an injury or are having pain which your child obviously was
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Doctors can tell by physical exam what stage of development teens are in and can therefore estimate when they will stop growing. If you are 14 and tanner 2 you probably have a few years of growth. if you are tanner 5 that signals the end of growth.


How long does each stage tend to last? The doctor said my son was early stage 2 at his 13 year checkup.


It really varies. On average I think I read 2-4 years? But there are some kids who go from 2 to 5 in a year which is on the very fast side and others who can take 4-5 years. It's one of those things like height. You can look at the average height of a population but it is meaningless to your specific child.
Anonymous
Legs at 18 -19, spine by 27.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Doctors can tell by physical exam what stage of development teens are in and can therefore estimate when they will stop growing. If you are 14 and tanner 2 you probably have a few years of growth. if you are tanner 5 that signals the end of growth.


How long does each stage tend to last? The doctor said my son was early stage 2 at his 13 year checkup.


It seems to vary based on a variety of factors which, in my son's case, involved physical exam, bloodwork and bone age scan. For DS, who is just now showing signs of early stage 2, it was estimated that it would be another year to 18 months for him to reach stage 3 and peak growth velocity.
Anonymous
For kids who are being tracked closely due to a possible delay or dropping off the growth charts either in height or weight you can get a more accurate assessment as PP posted.
They will mostly be looking at the physical exam, bone age scan and in the bloodwork for boys they look mostly at testosterone levels. While the range varies really widely among different people you'll generally see a new trend of slight upwards in stage 2 and then something more steep in the later stages and then stabilization which all give you a better sense of the time question.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Our Dr. said he thinks my son is done growing at 15 - he's 5'6". I thought boys grew until 19 or 20? This is just based on an annual exam, no x-rays fyi.


My doctor told me the same thing at the same appointment where we got iron test results which showed he was low.
We immediately started daily iron pills and ge has since grown over an inch in 6 weeks.
Check all of his vitamins and read up and don't rely on pediatricians. They treat colds.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Doctors can tell by physical exam what stage of development teens are in and can therefore estimate when they will stop growing. If you are 14 and tanner 2 you probably have a few years of growth. if you are tanner 5 that signals the end of growth.


How long does each stage tend to last? The doctor said my son was early stage 2 at his 13 year checkup.


It can vary widely. My son was early stage two last august and is still stage 2, although further along according to the endocrinologist (he's growth hormone deficient, but that has little to nothing to do with puberty).
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