Shorter Sons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a med student on pediatric endocrine right now. We see lots of kids like this in clinic. They will do a bone age (xray of the hand) to see if his bone age matches his chronological age. If his bone age is younger than his real age that means more growing time aka the late bloomers. If his bone age and chronological age match he may just be on the shorter side. Boys have their big growth spurts after puberty starts, of in the middle of puberty is when they have their fastest growth velocity which is about 14-15 years for most males. Facial hair and voice changes are later signs of male puberty.

You don't mean to say those are the signs they are near the end of their biggest growth spurt, do you?

I would think that a boy with facial hair is close to the end of his growth spurt, but I'm sure everyone is different.

I mean to say that facial hear and deepened voice occur towards the end of puberty. So after the most rapid growth has occurred typically. They can still grow after getting facial hair/deep voice but the most rapid growth is usually finishing up.

I wonder what exactly describes "deepened voice"? For example my DS's voice started to change noticeably this summer, it's deeper, definitely less child-like, but not that of an adult male yet. He hasn't had his peak height growth yet, he's followed by a pediatric endocrinologist for constitutional delay and the dr. expects him to hit his peak height velocity this upcoming year (bone age is still behind chronological age, plenty of room shown in his growth plates).

So perhaps "deep voice" means the voice they'll end up with as an adult, rather than the start of the voice deepening?

There's a chart here that might help. Changes in voice can happen at a wide range of points. Underarm hair is typically quite late in puberty, though it might be different for an individual male.

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/men-s-health-issues/biology-of-the-male-reproductive-system/puberty-in-boys

[Anonymous]

My husband was around 5 feet tall going into 9th grade. He’s 6 feet tall now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a med student on pediatric endocrine right now. We see lots of kids like this in clinic. They will do a bone age (xray of the hand) to see if his bone age matches his chronological age. If his bone age is younger than his real age that means more growing time aka the late bloomers. If his bone age and chronological age match he may just be on the shorter side. Boys have their big growth spurts after puberty starts, of in the middle of puberty is when they have their fastest growth velocity which is about 14-15 years for most males. Facial hair and voice changes are later signs of male puberty.

You don't mean to say those are the signs they are near the end of their biggest growth spurt, do you?

I would think that a boy with facial hair is close to the end of his growth spurt, but I'm sure everyone is different.

I mean to say that facial hear and deepened voice occur towards the end of puberty. So after the most rapid growth has occurred typically. They can still grow after getting facial hair/deep voice but the most rapid growth is usually finishing up.

I wonder what exactly describes "deepened voice"? For example my DS's voice started to change noticeably this summer, it's deeper, definitely less child-like, but not that of an adult male yet. He hasn't had his peak height growth yet, he's followed by a pediatric endocrinologist for constitutional delay and the dr. expects him to hit his peak height velocity this upcoming year (bone age is still behind chronological age, plenty of room shown in his growth plates).

So perhaps "deep voice" means the voice they'll end up with as an adult, rather than the start of the voice deepening?

There's a chart here that might help. Changes in voice can happen at a wide range of points. Underarm hair is typically quite late in puberty, though it might be different for an individual male.

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/men-s-health-issues/biology-of-the-male-reproductive-system/puberty-in-boys

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The thing is, it's different for everyone. My kids always got underarm hair (as did I and my husband) as the very first sign. My son, turning 13, has had it for 1.5 years now and no other changes---no growth spurt, no voice change, etc.

I've come to learn we should just sit back and let nature take its course. As long as the kids are getting sleep, exercise and eating relatively healthy, there is absolutely nothing we can do to change their future height (barring kids with actual endocrine deficiencies of course). So, there is no need stressing out about it. The farther along I get in parenting I realize how much wasted time and stress was spent on things that I had no control or didn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ we have always fed all organic food/milk/meat/eggs. We never have done a ton of processed food, no fast food, etc. We have a he ey duty water filter in the house.

My son’s friends that eat a lot of crap all have gone through puberty on the earlier side. It’s hard not to believe it’s not the growth hormones in food, etc causing this earlier puberty in kids.

Meh.

My kids eat non organic and a fair share of fast/junk food and they are all late bloomers.

My 13 year old looks like a ten year old with no puberty in sight.

My 17 year old was under 5 ft when he started high school. He looked like a little boy. He grew around six inches during sophomore year and is still growing. He is currently a 5'10" junior, and still does not appear to be finished with puberty (shoulders have not broadened, voice is still deepening, muscles are not coming in yet).

In contrast, my younger kid's friend who ate very healthy and mostly organic, hit puberty hard and fast around 12-13 and has more facial hair and a deeper voice than my 17 year old. The kid had a big growth spurt in 6th grade but seems to have slowed down in 7th. His mom is convinced he is going to be giant, but he appears to be towards the end of puberty (voice deep, facial hair, teen shaped body vs preteen shaped) so I think there is a chance he will end up as one of the shortest in their group due to an early puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 8th grade son is 4'10" and is the shortest kid by far in the grade (including the girls who are nearly done growing). The boys in his grade are his age and a year older due to redshirting. I remind him of this sometimes when he brings up his height. He has short parents so he is aware that he is not going to be tall. But my cousin's son grew 6 inches one summer in high school (late high school). He now towers over his short parents so genetics can be a funny thing sometimes. My son may be short but he is the coxswain on his rowing team so he is in charge. It has really boosted his confidence to know that he has a lot of control over these giant boys. Their team photos are hysterical. My son is a foot or more shorter than them and they are basically the same age.

Great, so you’re thrilled that your son is able to feel better about being short by seeking out positions of power over others, in this case taller boys. This is just what the world needs.

NP. Calm down. It’s ok for short and tall kids to have leadership positions and, yes, it does help their confidence. Nothing new here.

It was the phrasing that caught my attention. Short men with complexes about being short who seek to make themselves feel bigger by being in control of others are a real social phenomenon. Confidence is a good and great thing, but I felt like PP’s description went beyond that.

Oh my goodness.

Your tall kid is not any less of an athlete if this short kid found a sport where his short size and stature is an asset and not a detriment.


The coxswain does boss the big tall crew rowers around. That is his/her job. Why so sensitive about the idea of a short kid leading a sports team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ we have always fed all organic food/milk/meat/eggs. We never have done a ton of processed food, no fast food, etc. We have a he ey duty water filter in the house.

My son’s friends that eat a lot of crap all have gone through puberty on the earlier side. It’s hard not to believe it’s not the growth hormones in food, etc causing this earlier puberty in kids.

I think this is just you trying to justify your choices. We don't do much organic, if any. My kids eat an average amount of processed and fast food and, although we have a water cooler for drinking water, we prepare our food with tap water. My 15 year old son JUST STARTED puberty and is in no way affected by some sort of errant growth hormone from his food. We were concerned with the late start and visited the pediatric endocrinologist. She did a huge run down of his family history on both sides and told us that it would be the major contributor to when he started puberty. Turns out that DH and I were both late bloomers too (although DS is a little later than us both). It has nothing to do with the food he eats (as long as it's mostly healthy and varied, which it is).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is just you trying to justify your choices. We don't do much organic, if any. My kids eat an average amount of processed and fast food and, although we have a water cooler for drinking water, we prepare our food with tap water. My 15 year old son JUST STARTED puberty and is in no way affected by some sort of errant growth hormone from his food. We were concerned with the late start and visited the pediatric endocrinologist. She did a huge run down of his family history on both sides and told us that it would be the major contributor to when he started puberty. Turns out that DH and I were both late bloomers too (although DS is a little later than us both). It has nothing to do with the food he eats (as long as it's mostly healthy and varied, which it is).

What are the signs?

[Anonymous]

I have been avoiding reading this thread but it won't go away. I only read the first page and the last so I'm sorry if Im' covering ground already stated by others.

My DS is short. He is 12 and gets given sippy cups in restaurants because he has a baby face and sitting down, could pass for around 7. We took him for a hair cut when he was around 7 and the hairdresser asked if he was 4.

Honestly? I don't care and he doesn't care. He is a healthy, smart, friendly, kind, talented boy who does well at school and has a small group of smart friends.

Is he going to get past 5'7 or 5'8 as an adult? Maybe, maybe not but really, in the grand scheme of life, it does not matter at all.

Height, unless you're talking about dwarfism or giantism, where there are serious health implications and impairments, is just another superficial element.

[Anonymous]

I started puberty early. My son (I am his mother, not his father) hasn't started puberty yet. I wouldn't think that when a mom started puberty would affect when her son starts puberty. Does it or is it just same sex parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started puberty early. My son (I am his mother, not his father) hasn't started puberty yet. I wouldn't think that when a mom started puberty would affect when her son starts puberty. Does it or is it just same sex parent?

I think you're right - its about same gender parent's history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started puberty early. My son (I am his mother, not his father) hasn't started puberty yet. I wouldn't think that when a mom started puberty would affect when her son starts puberty. Does it or is it just same sex parent?

I think you're right - its about same gender parent's history.

I’m the PP above who had the family history run down with the doc. Doc asked for information from both sides of the family, to the extent we knew it. A boy is an XY - i can’t imagine that the growth pattern only exists in/on the Y chromosome. Anyway, I didn’t menstruate until I was 14 and DH was smaller in middle school also (as were all of our brothers- mine too). The doc said that based on family history and an exam she conducted, DS was in the early stages of puberty (this was right before his 15th birthday). She broke his heart by saying it could take up to a year to actually start growing, but at least we know he’s ok. He’s actually started getting taller in the last couple of months so we are hoping this is the beginning of some decent height.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. Interesting PP. I developed very early. Breast buds in 2nd grade, period by age 11. My son is 13 and tiny. His voice is just started to change a little bit. He has grown underarm hair in the last few months but nothing else. He has always been tiny (tiny parents) but the boys his age look and sound like men. So in my case, I was at one extreme and he is at the other in terms of puberty. Hopefully it is true that the later a boy enters puberty, the more they will grow. He does grow but the other boys started growing at the end of ES/beginning of MS. My son has grown 6 inches in the 2 years of middle school which is great. He sleeps a lot too. Some mornings when I see him, he actually looks taller!

[Anonymous]

My son is the shortest his 8th Grade class by a wide margin. I do hope he hits a growth spurt soon. He has always eaten like a linebacker and remains very slim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is the shortest his 8th Grade class by a wide margin. I do hope he hits a growth spurt soon. He has always eaten like a linebacker and remains very slim.

Mine was too. Well, next to shortest. And eats and eats and eats and stays slim. Wish I could say the same!

My DS did start growing towards the end of 8th grade. Was still one of the very shortest starting HS, but he grew 4" during 9th grade and now in the beginning of 10th grade, he doesn't stand out like he used to (he's 5''6" now).

[Anonymous]

I'm PP. Just for reference, my DS was 4'11" when he started 8th grade. So he's grown 7" in the two years since.