Hello, thank you for all of these messages. My son is 14 and 5 feet, 90 pounds. He has Constitutionak Delay of Growth and Puberty. His bone age at 13 was about 11. Both mom and dad are tall: mom 5 feet 8, dad 6 foot 3. We had one doctor recommend growth hormone when DS was 13 and then 5 subsequent doctors literally say they would not write the script. I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with Growth Hormone, Testosterone Treatment or just the wait and see approach with Constitutional Delay. Thank you for any input!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks, PPs -- so helpful. We really don't dwell on or even bring up DS' height or size, but he will ask us whether it is possible that he will start and continue to grow more throughout high school and perhaps as late as college. We know it is "possible," but it is helpful to hear stories, while anecdotal, that describe real-life experiences.

Hey OP - in school I was always the smallest (5th percentile). Now as an adult, well, I'm 5'2". I will say that after HS; I went on to college, was a Div I starter, served proudly in the military, got a masters, have a wonderful DW and beautiful DD, and have a great job as a financial analyst. If your DS doesn't sprout up, yes he may have some challenges. But is it a death sentence - no way. Best of luck OP

OP, here...Yes, of course and thank you! When DS asks, we respond it certainly is possible he will grow more, but we really try to communicate that it doesn't matter much. It's not about growing "up" but about "growing up" and I would be thrilled to death if my son grew up to serve proudly in the military, support himself in a job he enjoys and have a family he describes as "wonderful."

DS is an athlete and feels that any chances of playing college sports depends on him growing, so it is interesting to hear you were a college starter.

13:58 here - I was a foil fencer. I had a small target area that was hard to hit, and since I'm a short southpaw I attacked from unusual angles that a lot of guys weren't used to defending. Actually, I got a late start with fencing, so if your DS is looking for a sport to do in college, maybe that's an idea. Also, I have a friend who rowed for a university team, and she told me that a good coxswain is worth their weight in gold. If there's a program nearby, it's something to consider.

Interesting - thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks, PPs -- so helpful. We really don't dwell on or even bring up DS' height or size, but he will ask us whether it is possible that he will start and continue to grow more throughout high school and perhaps as late as college. We know it is "possible," but it is helpful to hear stories, while anecdotal, that describe real-life experiences.

Hey OP - in school I was always the smallest (5th percentile). Now as an adult, well, I'm 5'2". I will say that after HS; I went on to college, was a Div I starter, served proudly in the military, got a masters, have a wonderful DW and beautiful DD, and have a great job as a financial analyst. If your DS doesn't sprout up, yes he may have some challenges. But is it a death sentence - no way. Best of luck OP

OP, here...Yes, of course and thank you! When DS asks, we respond it certainly is possible he will grow more, but we really try to communicate that it doesn't matter much. It's not about growing "up" but about "growing up" and I would be thrilled to death if my son grew up to serve proudly in the military, support himself in a job he enjoys and have a family he describes as "wonderful."

DS is an athlete and feels that any chances of playing college sports depends on him growing, so it is interesting to hear you were a college starter.

13:58 here - I was a foil fencer. I had a small target area that was hard to hit, and since I'm a short southpaw I attacked from unusual angles that a lot of guys weren't used to defending. Actually, I got a late start with fencing, so if your DS is looking for a sport to do in college, maybe that's an idea. Also, I have a friend who rowed for a university team, and she told me that a good coxswain is worth their weight in gold. If there's a program nearby, it's something to consider.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks, PPs -- so helpful. We really don't dwell on or even bring up DS' height or size, but he will ask us whether it is possible that he will start and continue to grow more throughout high school and perhaps as late as college. We know it is "possible," but it is helpful to hear stories, while anecdotal, that describe real-life experiences.

Hey OP - in school I was always the smallest (5th percentile). Now as an adult, well, I'm 5'2". I will say that after HS; I went on to college, was a Div I starter, served proudly in the military, got a masters, have a wonderful DW and beautiful DD, and have a great job as a financial analyst. If your DS doesn't sprout up, yes he may have some challenges. But is it a death sentence - no way. Best of luck OP

OP, here...Yes, of course and thank you! When DS asks, we respond it certainly is possible he will grow more, but we really try to communicate that it doesn't matter much. It's not about growing "up" but about "growing up" and I would be thrilled to death if my son grew up to serve proudly in the military, support himself in a job he enjoys and have a family he describes as "wonderful."

DS is an athlete and feels that any chances of playing college sports depends on him growing, so it is interesting to hear you were a college starter.

Anonymous wrote:OP: Thanks, PPs -- so helpful. We really don't dwell on or even bring up DS' height or size, but he will ask us whether it is possible that he will start and continue to grow more throughout high school and perhaps as late as college. We know it is "possible," but it is helpful to hear stories, while anecdotal, that describe real-life experiences.

Hey OP - in school I was always the smallest (5th percentile). Now as an adult, well, I'm 5'2". I will say that after HS; I went on to college, was a Div I starter, served proudly in the military, got a masters, have a wonderful DW and beautiful DD, and have a great job as a financial analyst. If your DS doesn't sprout up, yes he may have some challenges. But is it a death sentence - no way. Best of luck OP

OP: Thanks, PPs -- so helpful. We really don't dwell on or even bring up DS' height or size, but he will ask us whether it is possible that he will start and continue to grow more throughout high school and perhaps as late as college. We know it is "possible," but it is helpful to hear stories, while anecdotal, that describe real-life experiences.

Male here in his early 30's.

I was a a major late bloomer...always in the 5-10th % in height growing up, can't remember weight (I wasn't super skinny but definitely small, maybe 10-20th %).

I was 4'11 and 90lbs going into my freshman year of high school. My bone age was about 3 years delayed (so at age 16, I had the bone age of a 13 year old). I graduated high school at around 5'5 130lbsd. I can't remember exactly what year of college I grew, all I know is after graduation, I had a bunch of old HS classmates comment on how they couldn't believe I was their height now.

In my early/mid-20's, I levelled off at 5'8 and 155-160lbs. Not a giant by any means but certainly not an outlier anymore and definitely not a detriment in the dating game (although I was always able to pull the "cute" card off pretty well growing up ).

There's hope! Also, my parents decided against any hormone therapies that were recommended by some doctors, because they didn't want to risk me growing three heads years down the road...I'm thankful for that.

This was my brother. He was short throughout HS and painfully thin - couldn't put weight on to save his life (he was a coxswain). By his second year in college, the boy was 6'2" and very much filled out. It was crazy. People who hadn't seen him in a while were like "who the hell are you?"

My son isn't as small as yours, although small. However, he also has not gone through puberty at 14. The men in the family range from 5'4" (but malnourished as a child) to 6'2" so who knows where he will end up.

Op - have you tried using one of those height predictor calculators? If so, what height does it come up with?

I remember that in 7th grade I was 5'5" and taller than MOST of the boys in the 7th grade. In 8th grade many more of the boys were taller than me and by 9th grade most of the boys were taller than me.

I'll bet that if you looked inside a classroom of 13 year olds you will see a *huge* variety in height.

Anonymous wrote:OP, my son is also 15 (just turned last week). At his annual checkup he measured 5'3.25" which puts him in the 5th percentile for height. He has ALWAYS been in the 5th percentile.

When he was younger I asked about growth hormones, but we had his wrists x-rayed and there is no medical issue found so the pediatrician was not in favor of it. Like yours, our pediatrician says she is confident my son will hit a growth spurt based upon his build and how all the other males in our family are over 6' tall.

I am always encouraged when other mothers share stories of how their sons finally shot up after being the shortest one in their class all their lives... I'm sure our sons will get there some day!

I am the OP, and it would be interesting to know if this PP, or other PPs or new posters to this thread, have any updates. Now almost two years after this original thread, my son just turned 15 and, like PP's son two years ago, is 5'3.5" (and very skinny) -- DS is still hoping a significant growth spurt will kick in!

My son is in this group! Just waiting for his growth spurt to happen. He is 13 1/2 and is clearly not looking like he is in puberty yet. BUT I am not worried. He is on his own personal growth scale, and after much testing through his younger years, the peds have made it clear that he will just have a long growth cycle that they expect to end in his early 20's. There prediction is he will be a little over 6 feet. In my family this in not unusual. I grew for 4 years after my period began and my dad grew 9 inches after he graduated from college. We tend to be tall people, my son is just a little guy for now.

My stepson is 14 and about 4'8 or 4'9. The past two years he has only grown about 2 inches. In 2011 and 2012 he had the bone xray, but I suppose constitutional delay was not the diagnosis because I never heard anything about that. His pediatrician was concerned because he is, quote, "nowhere near puberty." I suspect he will just be a late bloomer. He is not only very short but VERY skinny. Just total skin and bones. My DH is 6'2, but was already well into his growth spurt at the age DSS is now. DSS's mom is not tall, so I suppose there's a chance he will max out at a very average height after hitting a late growth spurt. The problem is, in 9th grade, he is wanting to play certain positions in football that his size will just not allow. I don't think his size otherwise bothers him, but I know this does.

Constitutional delay can be diagnosed with a simple bone xray. This will tell you the bone age of your son. If it is less than his actual age then he will likely just continue growing after most boys his age stop.

My husband was tiny, in one summer b/w 9th and 10 grade he shot up 6 inches and kept growing for several years into college. So there is is hope.

My son is 8 and is 3% for weight and 10% for height. We did a bone scan when he was 7 and his bone age was equal to that of a 4 yr old. He is the smallest in his class and very skinny. His ped. said that he will just continue to grow an additional 3 years past when most boys stop.

Fingers crossed here!