12 year old son hasn't started puberty yet

[Anonymous]

NP Here. I am Male. I remeber at 13, I had not hit puberty. I do not recall my height at that time. But, at 13, I had no pubic hair. By 14 I had some pubic hair, I was sexually mature, my voice had deepend.

By 15 I was 6 ' tall,; ootball coach wanted me bad (mom would not let me). I maxed out at 6'2".

One thing to remember is boys mature 1` years later than girls.

At the bus stop, the difference between the 7th grade boys and the 8th grade boys is huge. Similarly, the difference between 6th and 7th grade girls.

I see nothing abnormal in his development. (at 1., boys are shorter than girls...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly shocked at how many replies are just people shocked that I saw my son's genitalia.

I'm shocked at the number of parents on DCUM that closely examine their kids' genitalia on a fairly regular basis . It's like it's one more thing to be competitive about. It doesn't correspond with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly shocked at how many replies are just people shocked that I saw my son's genitalia.

You really should not be looking anymore. Just FYI.

NP here. I am also shocked by how people are shocked about this. I have a similarly aged son, and I am supposed to monitor him to see if he needs intervention for precocious puberty. Neither him nor me are fazed by it or feel awkward by it. I think it all depends on how you approach the human anatomy and health. You can either shame your children, or you can be clinical about it. Monitoring growth and health is not sexual - you can do it without making a production of it . The child is still young enough that the parents have to be vigilant. It is not that it is an adult offspring and you are checking the size of their testicles.

BTW - after my delivery, my mom took care of me. If I apply the logic of the pearl clutchers, it would be horrifying that my mom saw my body parts.

Why are you monitoring your 12 year old son for "precocious" puberty? Wouldn't puberty be NORMAL for him now?

What exactly are you being vigilant about? As far as is it normal for a 12 year old boy not to have had his voice change, hair on his body, increases in height.....yes, that is normal. Aren't you around other 12 year old boys?? Don't you go to the pool? If you have concerns, take him to the doctor. Maybe give him a book on body changes to read beforehand.

I have two boys myself and I also think it's weird that you are seeing them naked like that, btw.

[Anonymous]

And why the hell was your mother "taking care" of you after your delivery? You do realize that most women take care of themselves, don't you? They have mothers, inlaws there to help with the BABY, cooking, cleaning, errands - not SELF care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And why the hell was your mother "taking care" of you after your delivery? You do realize that most women take care of themselves, don't you? They have mothers, inlaws there to help with the BABY, cooking, cleaning, errands - not SELF care.

Amen

[Anonymous]

Normal for twelve. Talk to the ped if you have questions. Go to a school event and look around. My son looked like a baby until well after his bar mitzvah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly shocked at how many replies are just people shocked that I saw my son's genitalia.

I'm shocked at the number of parents on DCUM that closely examine their kids' genitalia on a fairly regular basis . It's like it's one more thing to be competitive about. It doesn't correspond with reality.

WTH? Seeing my son walk in front of me naked from the shower to his room hardly equates to "examining his genitalia."

Did I miss someone say they bend down to crotch level, soak it in, or even put on their reading glasses to get a better look?

[Anonymous]

My 16 yo started puberty at 14 and until he got pubic hair he pretty much walk around naked from the bathroom to his room, so I don't think it is weird.

It is late. All his friends have man hair on their legs and deep voices. It hard starting late since he is a Varsity athlete, otherwise it is fine.

He is growing about 3 inches a year since he was 14.

[Anonymous]

Mine haven't ran around the house naked since they were 3....

I don't know of a 12 year old boy (or girl) who does that.

My kids have also gone camping and we've camped with them. None of us run around naked. None of their buddies ran around naked at the camp sites. Sorry, that's odd to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine haven't ran around the house naked since they were 3....

I don't know of a 12 year old boy (or girl) who does that.

My kids have also gone camping and we've camped with them. None of us run around naked. None of their buddies ran around naked at the camp sites. Sorry, that's odd to me.

Sorry you are uptight about naked bodies. We are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine haven't ran around the house naked since they were 3....

I don't know of a 12 year old boy (or girl) who does that.

My kids have also gone camping and we've camped with them. None of us run around naked. None of their buddies ran around naked at the camp sites. Sorry, that's odd to me.

Sorry you are uptight about naked bodies. We are not.

You have different standards for privacy and modesty than most people. Most people would not want their tweens to be running around the house like giggly just bathed toddlers. What is cute for a 2 year old is not so cute for a 12 year old who should be bathing/dressing themselves (barring severe disabilities, of course).

[Anonymous]

Amazing that this thread got derailed like this. I caught a few glimpses of my son after he hit puberty (running by from bedroom to bathroom when he didn't know I was upstairs cleaning). Not a common occurrence but no big deal either. I could certainly see by a 1 second look that he'd gone through a lot of changes with puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine haven't ran around the house naked since they were 3....

I don't know of a 12 year old boy (or girl) who does that.

My kids have also gone camping and we've camped with them. None of us run around naked. None of their buddies ran around naked at the camp sites. Sorry, that's odd to me.

Sorry you are uptight about naked bodies. We are not.

You have different standards for privacy and modesty than most people. Most people would not want their tweens to be running around the house like giggly just bathed toddlers. What is cute for a 2 year old is not so cute for a 12 year old who should be bathing/dressing themselves (barring severe disabilities, of course).

Since you are so uptight you imagine a 12 yo running naked around the house and mothers with the heads in their child crotch.

You realize there are coed dorms now. Sometime you see a naked body. It's not a big deal. It's not like we are having pillow fights naked. My son may walk to the bathroom naked..3 step, and at 12 his body was not much different than it was at 3.

Just because you have uptight standards does not mean it is healthy. I teach my kids that everybody has naked bodies, don't be shocked if you see one.

[Anonymous]

Even in our all girl dorm no one walked to the communal showers naked. No one. Unless she was extremely drunk that is.

[Anonymous]

Your pediatrician should do an exam during the annual physical that checks his penis and testicles. As the boys get older, the doctor will ask the child if he would prefer for you to leave the room or stay. The doctor will talk to your son about things that can happen to his testes (some sort of twisting) which would need immediate medical attention.

If you ped has been checking him annually, you shouldn't be worried. The doctor would mention something to you if he was concerned. My son hit puberty at about 12, but in his 8th grade class, there are still several boys that haven't even started (they are mostly 13). So I don't think there is any reason to worry at this point.