11-yo DS Height
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Anonymous
| It appears DS' growth in height has slowed down the last year or so, evident in both comparing to his friends and the height charts at Dr's office. I think he's developing a little bit of complexity over this - the other day he said to an acquaintance of mine that he's stopped growing when she told him how much he's grown since the last time she saw him. He also asked to be measured and commented the growth spur isn't happening. I assume the fact that his 9-yo brother is catching up on him in height is another factor. But there's really nothing we could do, other than encouraging exercise, good sleep, and healthy diet, right? I don't think we did anything differently over the last year when he grew less than an inch, versus few years back when he grow 2+ inches a year. Thoughts? |
Anonymous
| Thoughts? This isn't that complicated. Kids grow in fits and spurts. Even kids in the same family grow at different rates. DS will be 14 in a few weeks. When he was 11-12, he was definitely smaller than his peers. Then we were at the 8th grade graduation last month, we noticed that he was right in middle towards the upper end of the class height. (Kids were arranged by height.) He's been a growth spurt the past several months whereas some of his friends had theirs begin 2 years ago. |
Anonymous
| If he is very active you may need to increase his caloric intake. Ice cream and ensure help |
Anonymous
Is he the kind of kid who might listen to a trusted adult or the doctor? Someone who isn't mom or dad? Kids sometimes tune out their parents or just assume their parents are only trying to comfort them and are sugarcoating things. (And yeah, you ARE trying to comfort him....) But if he has a sports coach, or scout leader, or music teacher or anyone like that who might be able to tell him how "My son grew X inches the last years of high school after not growing much" -- just casually-- that might help. Or you could ask the doctor to talk to him and explain that for boys, growth continues into and through college years and even beyond. Boys can keep gaining height into their early 20s whereas most girls reach their adult height in their mid-teens. On the whole he does have to deal with this, and no amount of "Statistically boys keep growing later" etc will really change that. Have you and his mom/dad (not sure who's posting!) sat down and thought about the family on both sides? Genetics will out. I wouldn't tell your son that right now, of course, but if you think about it yourselves you might be able to prepare him better when he's much older, if it turns out he's just not going to be as tall as he would prefer.. |
Anonymous
| Also remember the second child is often taller / bigger than the first one. Its normal. |
Anonymous
source? |
Anonymous
Not PP. Ice cream and insure will increase his caloric intake but will probably make him grow wider not taller. Tallness is in the genes OP. That's not to say he might hit a growth spurt later on. One of the shortest guys in my middle school and h.s. hit a major growth spurt right before senior year and was no longer short. |
Anonymous
| Thanks. I've told him before it's genetic and pre-determined, and we're not tall (but above avg) people so he's most likely be the same way. not sinking in with him, of course, and little brother being one of the tallest in his grade is not helping the matter either. i'm just worried he's getting self conscious about it. |
Anonymous
I think you're reading too much into it OP. He simply told your friend he'd stopped growing, which although not exactly the case, he was reflecting what was true--that he had grown less than a half inch since he'd seen her last. It doesn't sound like he feels self-conscious, just being factual. |
Anonymous
I said if a child is very active... which means they are under nourished, that does affect height growth. My son did about 4-6f hours of exercise daily and more on the weekends, you need to fuel that, like a marathon runner. |
Anonymous
I said if a child is very active... which means they are under nourished, that does affect height growth. My son did about 4-6f hours of exercise daily and more on the weekends, you need to fuel that, like a marathon runner. |
Anonymous
Nope, OP...you've pretty much got it covered with that right there. Take care of the basics, avoid the bad stuff, and the rest is up to genetics. I'd highly recommend not offering your son the false hope that if he just does [X] that will somehow magically transform him into the next star basketball player. Sure, it might happen, but what if it doesn't? |
Anonymous
| Has you child recently had the human growth and development class at school? Most 11-year-olds have. He may be taking some of the info a bit literally and is looking for what they often describe as the prepubescent growth spurt that signals the onset of puberty. Many kids at this age are kind of obsessed with changes to their bodies. He may hear "my how you've grown" to mean "oh you are entering puberty" and is responding -- "heck no!" |
Anonymous
| Where was he on the growth chart when he was two-years-old and younger? If he was always under the 50th percentile it is unlikely that he is going to be six-feet-tall. |
Anonymous
| I don't understand this post - he's 11 years old - he's got lots of years of growing left! Boys grow throughout their teens, and if he hasn't hit puberty yet then he's fine. Some boys at this age go through a growth spurt and have an earlier puberty, some have this later. Look around at how small most of the middle-school boys are compared to the girls. |