has my son reached puberty if he has no armpit hair?
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Anonymous
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he's in 8th grade and he still has no armpit hair or facial hair, voice hasn't changed. he has a few pimples on his forehead. Should we be concerned or is he just a late bloomer?
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Anonymous
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I wouldn't be concerned but you can always ask his doctor -- does he have a physical coming up for any summer camps/sports?
My 8th grader is similar to yours, meanwhile my 6th grader has crazy hairy pits and is staring to get a mustache. Every kid develops a little differently, pediatrician is not concerned. |
Anonymous
| Look upon the Tanner scale. I believe armpit hair comes later. |
Anonymous
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Nothing to worry about.
Boys in MS - even 9th - are all over the map developmentally. |
Anonymous
| Puberty is a process that lasts from 2 to 5 years and begins between the ages of 10 and 16. There are kids in my son's 8th grade class that have facial hair and are 6 feet tall, and there are others who still look like kids. Mine will be 14 in a few months and he is about 5 ft 7 and his voice has started to deepen. He has a few pimples and the hair on his legs has started to darken. It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about. |
Anonymous
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Same with my 8th grader who turned 14 last month. He also is still losing baby teeth. He looks like a virtual baby on the soccer field playing against man-children (some with mustaches and very hairy legs and close to 6 feet).
His brother was the same (but started slightly sooner than him). Brother didn't hit the growth spurt until closer to 15. Voice didn't start to occasionally crack until 14.5. He went from 5'2" at the start of the pandemic at age 14.5 to now 6 feet at 16.5. My younger one is MUCH skinnier than older brother ever was, literally skin and bones, but he is outside playing basketball/biking, etc. any time he is not playing soccer. I did notice his arms and legs look much longer than the rest of him. His feet also haven't changed much in size and I remember my older one needed new shoes every 2 months going from a size 8 to a size 12.5 in a very short amount of time. My younger one did have an X-ray in the Fall for an ankle injury and the ortho said his growth plates were wide open and he suspected a big growth spurt would be happening soon. Still hasn't happened  .
There is such a wide range of normal at this age. From U13-U16 soccer, the kids on the field look like they could be 10 or 21. Half the kids on my son's current team look either 10 or 17. |
Anonymous
But this scale varies. My oldest has armpit hair in 5th grade, but didn't have voice change or growth spurt until 15. I also had hair in places long before I went through puberty. |
Anonymous
| Same. 13yo boy, in 8th grade, no armpit hair. His skin is as smooth as a baby's tushie. Don't worry about it unless the pediatrician has something to say about it. |
Anonymous
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Puberty started in high school for my son.
My daughter is starting now in middle school. Both parents were late bloomers in that regard. |
Anonymous
| Boys hit puberty later than girls |
Anonymous
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Almost 19 yo, never shaved and no armpit hair. Never had a noticeable voice drop.
Almost 15 yo, shaves has armpit hair and a deep voice |
Anonymous
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Almost 14, no armpit hair or change of voice. However, he has other signs: growth of testicles and penis, pubic hair and rapid height growth in the past 6mos, he went from 5'3" to 5'7.
No body odor either. My oldest was the same. |
Anonymous
Um, what? |
Anonymous
DP.. my white DH has very little body hair. He does have armpit hair (he's 50), but he said he didn't need to really shave until maybe mid 20s. My 17 yr old DS also have very little body hair, and what he does have is very light in color, though he is not a blonde. |
Anonymous
But no voice drop? |