Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you took him to the doctor in the first place. A 5’3” height is perfectly within normal for a 14 yr old with two slightly shorter than average parents. What’s the problem? No, I don’t think your son is completely done growing, no what endocrinologist projects. He will very likely be somewhere 5’7”-5’9”

- because he could end up really short as an adult, which will be catastrophic for his dating prospects in the US, that's why. Everybody knows that.

Except it’s not. My dentist is probably 5’5” he is also super charming, funny, and very handsome. He has a gorgeous wife, kids, huge house, country club, etc. He’s living a great life. As is a good friend from college, probably 5’7”, Naval aviator, handsome, no problems dating when I knew him and married well. Every shorter man in my social circle I can think of has done extremely well, including finding an attractive mate. Height is just one thing that initially can be attractive. But that’s about it

Anonymous wrote:It is important to not convey your disappointment to him. He cannot feel like you and your husband view his height as a problem.

This. But something tells me that horse has already left the barn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you took him to the doctor in the first place. A 5’3” height is perfectly within normal for a 14 yr old with two slightly shorter than average parents. What’s the problem? No, I don’t think your son is completely done growing, no what endocrinologist projects. He will very likely be somewhere 5’7”-5’9”

- because he could end up really short as an adult, which will be catastrophic for his dating prospects in the US, that's why. Everybody knows that.

Catastrophic? Catastrophize much?

I don't think it's particularly helpful for you to take him to a doctor and talking about his stature as if it's a medical problem. I feel like it sends your son the wrong message.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you took him to the doctor in the first place. A 5’3” height is perfectly within normal for a 14 yr old with two slightly shorter than average parents. What’s the problem? No, I don’t think your son is completely done growing, no what endocrinologist projects. He will very likely be somewhere 5’7”-5’9”

- because he could end up really short as an adult, which will be catastrophic for his dating prospects in the US, that's why. Everybody knows that.

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes kids end up shorter than both parents
I am 5’6” DH 5’7”
19 yo DD 1 is 5’8” finished growing by 15
16 yo DD 2 is 5’3” her final height, got her period 2 years ago and hasn’t grown in the past 9 months, it never occurred to us to consider medical interventions.

5’3 for a girl is very different than 5’3 final height for a boy. In fact my som goes to Children’s endocrinology because he has short stature despite having an average height dad and tall mom. Our Endo there is wonderful though, and has done lots of tests and is following him closely. She said she’d treat any boy with a final predicted height of 5’4 or less with growth hormone shots, so OP is right to feel worried/concerned.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes kids end up shorter than both parents
I am 5’6” DH 5’7”
19 yo DD 1 is 5’8” finished growing by 15
16 yo DD 2 is 5’3” her final height, got her period 2 years ago and hasn’t grown in the past 9 months, it never occurred to us to consider medical interventions.

Because 5'3 is a perfectly reasonable height for a girl. Your DH Is short, it makes sense that one of your kids would be short..

Exactly my point, OP is 5’3” so it is reasonable that her son is 5’3” or even shorter

dp.. if the mom is 5'3", I would think the son would be at least taller than 5'3". Short moms tend to have shorter sons, however, they tend to at least be taller than the mom by several inches.

I wonder if OP's DS has celiac issues.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone mention ethnicity? Asian men are genetically short. The average height is 5’5” for many Asian countries. Specifically India is 5’6”.

I don't think stating average height in other countries is helpful...presumably OP's son has been raised in the US with some semblance of an American diet.

+1 The average height for South Korean men (who now eat a lot more protein, ie meat) is like 5'8". Those who grew up here in the US are probably not that dissimilar in height, ie, around 5'9". While 5.8" is not "tall", they are also not really short like 5'5".

Yes, there are a lot of short Korean men, but they tend to be over 40 years of age. The younger men/boys here are much taller than the previous generation due to diet.

-Korean American

Sorry OP. I think the answer is it is hard to tell and maybe your son will grow, but it's likely "too late" for growth hormones in any event.

My DS was on growth hormones because he had a deficiency and stopped growing around age 10 and the hormones really worked for him, before he went into puberty. I'm not sure if there is anything else that can be done but I would also get a second opinion.

But the real reason I'm replying is that my DH is 5'3 and lives a good life - he has friends, a wife and kids (both of whom are short) and a good job, he plays sports and is happy. I know it's hard when you are 14, (as it was on him) but there are a lot of short guys living good lives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you took him to the doctor in the first place. A 5’3” height is perfectly within normal for a 14 yr old with two slightly shorter than average parents. What’s the problem? No, I don’t think your son is completely done growing, no what endocrinologist projects. He will very likely be somewhere 5’7”-5’9”

It’s so nice to see how many people here know so much more than a specialized doctor.

Predicting height is a guess

The doctor didn’t predict the height. The doctor told her that the growth plates were closed.

He looked at one wrist X-ray. A closed or close to close wrist growth plate doesn’t mean zero growth to any other bone in the body from this point forward. He will still grow. I doubt every single growth plate is closed on a 14 yr old boy. For instance, growth plates in the legs are last to close.

Why do doctors look at the wrist bones then? Wouldn't it make more sense to look at leg bones?

(Not trying to argue- just trying to understand.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes kids end up shorter than both parents
I am 5’6” DH 5’7”
19 yo DD 1 is 5’8” finished growing by 15
16 yo DD 2 is 5’3” her final height, got her period 2 years ago and hasn’t grown in the past 9 months, it never occurred to us to consider medical interventions.

Because 5'3 is a perfectly reasonable height for a girl. Your DH Is short, it makes sense that one of your kids would be short..

Exactly my point, OP is 5’3” so it is reasonable that her son is 5’3” or even shorter

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you took him to the doctor in the first place. A 5’3” height is perfectly within normal for a 14 yr old with two slightly shorter than average parents. What’s the problem? No, I don’t think your son is completely done growing, no what endocrinologist projects. He will very likely be somewhere 5’7”-5’9”

It’s so nice to see how many people here know so much more than a specialized doctor.

Predicting height is a guess

The doctor didn’t predict the height. The doctor told her that the growth plates were closed.

He looked at one wrist X-ray. A closed or close to close wrist growth plate doesn’t mean zero growth to any other bone in the body from this point forward. He will still grow. I doubt every single growth plate is closed on a 14 yr old boy. For instance, growth plates in the legs are last to close.

OP you don’t mention family history- are any of your (or DH’s) relatives shorter than you are? Or has anyone had an unusual growth pattern (super late or super early puberty)? Those things can often be a clue.

DH and I are 6’1” and 5’6”, our oldest two DC are tall but is looking like our youngest DS will stay at 5’8”- on the shorter side of what most would expect. DH’s relatives are all on the tall side- but my dad is 5’8” (and so is my mom). My dad’s family is all on the shorter side and seems DS takes after them. You have to take the whole families into account…we know short parents with tall kids also (with the kid taking after a tall grandparent ,for example).

Doesn’t mean your DS won’t grow any more at all (seems likely he will squeeze out a couple more inches) but it isn’t all based on parents alone.

That is tough. Did endo think growth hormone might help?

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

New poster here. F@ck off, PP. I am average height and my spouse is 6’3” but our dd hit puberty early and her predicted height was not even 5’2”. We ended up going to a pediatric endocrinologist overseas after two opinions from specialists in the dmv. The first one at children’s in dc was horrible in terms of apathy. The second one was better as the full medical history identified need to test child for certain auto immune conditions and it identified she had celiac. This could definitely contribute to shorter stature as it caused temporary alopecia which was significant but hidden under her long hair (thankfully) and reversed after removing all gluten from her diet. We have been able to get her treated with American medication at a fraction of the cost and our pediatrician here supported us going that route. She’s grown about 1.5 inches past her predicted height and fortunately her growth plates have not closed completely although it’s been past two years since she started menstruating. They run full bloodwork as well every time.