Sounds normal

Same thing with my 12 yr old OP. This is reassuring!

Yes, normal! We were actually referred to an endocrinologist for my DS when the pediatrician was concerned about his extended slow down in growth. The endocrinologist explained it's normal as they're gearing up for puberty to start.

I have a DD but similar experience; since birth had a height percentile in high 80s to 90s which fell when she barely grew in middle school. Hand X-ray showed bone age is 3 years behind biological age. From 14-15, the growth spurt started and she was back on track with probably several more inches left to grow. Seems to be very late bloomer but we also watched closely and did some bloodwork around age 14 to confirm nothing else was going on as her eating habits and intake are not great. Looks like all will be fine but we’ve been worried, especially as many girls are finished growing, or close to it, by this age, and she hadn’t even started yet.

Happened to my son too- he dropped from 97th percentile to 82nd at ages 12/13. He was also a late bloomer and is now almost 6’5” at 17.

I feel like my son had a “slowdown” with his growth around those years as well- maybe growing 2” or 2.5”? Then from 13-14, he grew 4.5” which is not a spectacular growth spurt like you read about, but a decent one.

2 inches is decent growth in one year. Normal to drop in percentile if he has not yet started puberty (and some other boys have). Caloric intake has nothing to do with it unless he is malnourished (extremely unlikely, obviously) or ped has concerns about his weight. A lot of kids will deviate from their normal growth curve during the “growth spurt years” as they hit puberty at all different times/patterns.

Yep, normal. Happened to my DS- was very concerning to us but ped was very reassuring. Mine grew quite slowly for 2yrs in a row actually (from 12yo appt to 14yo appt mine only grew 3inches total). Big growth spurt followed (late bloomer). I think I’ve posted about it before on this type of thread. If you Google “prepubertal dip” or prepubertal nadir it explains more.

Listen to your pediatrician.

My DS has always tracked around the 82-87 percentile and tends to grow 2.5-3 inches a year, which seems standard. from 11 to 12, he only grew 2 inches and dropped a bit in percentiles, and now at 4 months past 12 he has not really grown at all since his birthday. The pediatrician was unconcerned and said sometimes growth will slow a bit before puberty. He definitely has no signs of puberty yet. Have you had this experience with a kid this age? He eats a lot but also does a sport that burns tons of calories so sometimes I'm worried I'm somehow not getting enough calories in him even though he seems to be eating all the time and has a good appetite.