I would not worry about growth during middle school at all. I also have a late bloomer who was tall all throughout elementary school (between 97%-99%) for height. I still have his book frome the pediatrician. At 10 he was 5', 12 5'4, 14, 5'9. He grew during middle school but friends who were always shorter than him went through puberty and were taller than him.

He had his major growth spurt once he started high school. At the doctor at 15 1/2 & was 6'3. He is now 17 & is 6'5 and is among the tallest at his school. He just got arm pit hair in the last year & now has fuzz over his lip & a small patch he shaves on his chin about every 2 weeks. Is he still growing, doctor says its possible.

Parents are 6'1 & 5'7. Sister is 5'9 & a younger brother is 12 so no clue where he will end up but my guess is around 6'3. We are on the taller side but he is taller than expected & his 5'1 grandma is always in shock when she sees him.

This post is so timely. My 14 year old son had his physical yesterday. He is 5’2 and weighs 88 pounds. Doctor said he doesn’t show many signs of puberty and referred him to an endocrinologist for possibly giving him testosterone shots to jump start growth. Anyone ever done this? Also said he could start growing any day and nothing to worry about yet.

Anonymous wrote:My 16yo ds is 5' 6" and done growing and I assure you he is doing great too.

Thank you for saying this. We're a tall-ish family so maybe it's easy for us to say, but the emphasis on height is exhausting. When I go to the gym, I assure you that no amount of my height makes me more attractive than some of the far shorter kings wandering around there.

If you're worried about a shorter kid being unable to play certain sports, just pick a different activity - there are plenty out there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always find these threads so interesting - how do you all know when your DS had pubic hair? That is not something that has ever come up in my house. I just fed him and made sure he slept as needed and got exercise and that he would grow as much as he needed to when he needed to. I know he had a spurt that caused him to grow fast enough that he developed stretch marks on his back, but I couldn't tell you inches at ages or anything like that. At 15.5 I think he's done with most or all of his growing. I guess I'll find out when he's 18.

I know because when DS asked me when he was going to start puberty, I said here are the signs of it (x, y, and x) and he said he had some (which included public hair). There was no inspection if that’s what you’re wondering.

There was another thread about how would anyone ever notice their sons balls had dropped which is first sign of male puberty. What a creep you are if you notice etc. The answer to that one is for some of them it happens younger and they’re not self-conscious yet. My son was 10 and in 4th grade. He was changing out of his swimsuit on a vacation where we had one hotel room and I noticed.

I don’t think most people are doing inspections and keeping a log.

Anonymous wrote:My 16yo ds is 5' 6" and done growing and I assure you he is doing great too.

Huh?

Anonymous wrote:I always find these threads so interesting - how do you all know when your DS had pubic hair? That is not something that has ever come up in my house. I just fed him and made sure he slept as needed and got exercise and that he would grow as much as he needed to when he needed to. I know he had a spurt that caused him to grow fast enough that he developed stretch marks on his back, but I couldn't tell you inches at ages or anything like that. At 15.5 I think he's done with most or all of his growing. I guess I'll find out when he's 18.

I know because when DS asked me when he was going to start puberty, I said here are the signs of it (x, y, and x) and he said he had some (which included public hair). There was no inspection if that’s what you’re wondering.

I always find these threads so interesting - how do you all know when your DS had pubic hair? That is not something that has ever come up in my house. I just fed him and made sure he slept as needed and got exercise and that he would grow as much as he needed to when he needed to. I know he had a spurt that caused him to grow fast enough that he developed stretch marks on his back, but I couldn't tell you inches at ages or anything like that. At 15.5 I think he's done with most or all of his growing. I guess I'll find out when he's 18.

My 16yo ds is 5' 6" and done growing and I assure you he is doing great too.

Anonymous wrote:We found that more of the growth came after the voice drop (which was really sudden! Like three octaves in 6 weeks). Kid was 14 and went from 5'4 to 6' in about 6 months. He just turned 17 and is 6'2.

Wow. How tall are you, the parents?

Any other noticeable physical changes besides voice drop (leg hair, for example)

My son went from about 5-2 to 6-2 in three years and then squeaked out 2 more inches and did not grow past about 15. No huge growth spurt. Probably because he is tall even the gradual growing always felt like a lot of growing though. His growing started a bit after we noticed early puberty signs. Maybe 6 months after? By the time his voice had dropped and armpit hair and all the rest of it he was in the squeaking out an inch or two phase.

This thread is so comforting! DS12.5 is 4'10" but is a former preemie who's only gotten on the growth curve in the last few years. We've always had some concerns that the cause of the prematurity may have stunted his growth potential.

But his growth in the last few years has been encouraging--and it seems like he's in the mix with the boys here. Some early signs of puberty--the BO is real!--and he's getting a little bit of a gut, so I'm thinking he may start shooting up soon.

Hoping something happens soon for his sake because he's not happy being the smallest

OP here. So fascinating to read all of these! Keep them coming!

DS is 5'5" and will be 13 later this spring. As I mentioned, he's not short, but of course is starting to see many of his friends sprout up and is wondering when it'll be his time, particularly when other beginning signs of puberty are happening. If he follows his growth trajectory, he's supposed to end up 6'1" like his father. He's in 7th grade and does have friends who range the gamut of probably 4'8" or shorter to 6'.

I suppose they'll get there when they get there

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Still reading your replies- thank you!

For those who had kids who shot up in a matter of months, were there any signs that explosive growth was about to happen? Did your kids get growing pains or stretch marks?

My husband is 6’1” but said he doesn’t remember going through any major growth spurts- more slow and steady. I assume DS will also be slow and steady.

My 14yo (almost 15) is 6'1" and he's had ongoing growing pains primarily in his legs but elsewhere too over the last year. I'm not sure exactly how fast he's shot up but the pants I bought him in the fall because his old pants were too short are now too short as well. I hoping he's close to stopping.

Also, he's been a kid who barely eats but over the last year he pretty much seems to eat non-stop and is constantly raiding the pantry. His "high" BMI was a bit over 20th percentile when he was 12 and it started dropping again when he hit his growth spurt.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Still reading your replies- thank you!

For those who had kids who shot up in a matter of months, were there any signs that explosive growth was about to happen? Did your kids get growing pains or stretch marks?

My husband is 6’1” but said he doesn’t remember going through any major growth spurts- more slow and steady. I assume DS will also be slow and steady.

My 14yo (almost 15) is 6'1" and he's had ongoing growing pains primarily in his legs but elsewhere too over the last year. I'm not sure exactly how fast he's shot up but the pants I bought him in the fall because his old pants were too short are now too short as well. I hoping he's close to stopping.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Still reading your replies- thank you!

For those who had kids who shot up in a matter of months, were there any signs that explosive growth was about to happen? Did your kids get growing pains or stretch marks?

My husband is 6’1” but said he doesn’t remember going through any major growth spurts- more slow and steady. I assume DS will also be slow and steady.

I'm poster 01/09/2023 16:43. My early bloomer had bad "growing pains", mainly sore back and knee pain (he plays sports so he developed Osgood-Schlatter on both knees), he also got stretch marks on his back and had lots of long hours of sleep.

My late bloomer was slow and steady but then suddenly began eating ravenously (hangry) and falling asleep everywhere, including on 5min. car rides. He's grew 4" during this time.

Oldest: 6' 0" (17)
Youngest: 5'9" (14)

Hubby is 6'1". I'm 5'4".