Height for 12 yo

[golfgal]

I can't believe how many 6+ 12 year olds you know....most of the 17 year old boys I know are under 6 foot

And I am actually not even kidding! I don't know if they are still waiting to hit their final growth spurt or if this generation of males is going to be a short one I'm 5'10 and taller then probably 75% of the boys in my Senior Class.

I was thinking the same thing. DS16 is about 5'10"-5'11" and is 'average' for his class (soon to be juniors in high school). Most of his friends are about his height. There are a couple that are taller but many shorter. Thinking back to his basketball days when he was 12, you say maybe one or two kids at the tournament that were over 6' but most were normal sized kids.

 

[cristit14]

DS13 is either 54 or 55 inches. He is the shortest one in his class. He has never been on the charts, but still grows every year. A couple of years ago we had a bone age xray. At the time I think he was 11 and his bone age was 9 1/2 so that meant he still had plenty of growing to do. He has started sleeping a lot more and eating more, so maybe his spurt is coming soon. I am only 5' 3" and DH is 5'6" so he isn't going to be giant anyway.

 

[mom2rb]

I have 12 year-old twin boys. One is 5'2 the other is 4'6. Eight inch difference. The taller one has started puberty the other is not even close.

My dad, my three brothers, and my husband are all 5'11 1/2. My dad and my brothers grew between 12-14. My husband was 5'6 at 16. I am pretty certain that my boys will be 5'11 1/2. I just think that it is going to take awhile for one of them to get there.

 

[lovesmurfs]

If you are concerned, talk to the pediatrician NOW. I have a friend who was concerned about her son's height and growth rates, and she waited, based on the pediatrician's recommendation. By the time he was 15, they finally went to an endocrinologist (I believe that was the specialist) and found out that, while there were still some treatments to try, most were too late. He's now 5" 4' or so (my friend's under 5'), at 19. She was heartbroken when she found out that if she'd pushed the pediatrician to a referral, that they would have had more options.

 

[mjkacmom]

My ds13 (just turned) was always in the 95% for height and weight - for several years, he gained 10 pounds, and grew 4 inches, every year. Now, he's only 5'4", 110 (he started to slim down this year - hasn't gained a pound in the past 3 years), has some armpit hair, but his pediatrician says he still has a way to go before reaching full on puberty. He has friends who were the same height who are now shorter, and friends who were shorter who are now much taller. I really hope he spurts this summer - I refuse to buy him pants until then! Jeans that I bought in the fall are a little short, and way too loose.

However, he now wears the same size shoe as DH, so he's getting roller blades, ice skates, and nice dress shoes. He also has 2 pairs of $100+ sneakers (UGLY) that DH will be sporting in a year.

 

[laughinplace199]

My ds13 (just turned) was always in the 95% for height and weight - for several years, he gained 10 pounds, and grew 4 inches, every year. Now, he's only 5'4", 110 (he started to slim down this year - hasn't gained a pound in the past 3 years), has some armpit hair, but his pediatrician says he still has a way to go before reaching full on puberty. He has friends who were the same height who are now shorter, and friends who were shorter who are now much taller. I really hope he spurts this summer - I refuse to buy him pants until then! Jeans that I bought in the fall are a little short, and way too loose.

However, he now wears the same size shoe as DH, so he's getting roller blades, ice skates, and nice dress shoes. He also has 2 pairs of $100+ sneakers (UGLY) that DH will be sporting in a year.

 

[mombrontrent]

My son will be 12 in 2 months. He about 5"1. He's average height I think. Some of his freinds are much taller, some a little shorter. Puberty is NOWHERE in sight. My DH was a late blummer, he never even got underarm hair until he was 17. At 30 he couldn't grow a full beard if he tried, he's now 36 and people always think he's much younger then he is, so of course he's happy about that.

 

[palavra]

I have had similar concerns about my DD who is nearly 11. She's one of the oldest in her grade - September birthday - and was on the 99th percentile for length when she was born. Her Dad is 6'3" and I'm 5' 6" so I don't think she's 'destined' to be petite.

Like your son she has always been one of the tallest but now, whilst not the shortest, she is much shorter than people she used to tower over.

I'm sure she will catch up eventually but she does get a bit annoyed that people comment on her lack of growth.

I just wanted to let you know that I understand where you are coming from. My almost 9 year old DD is not even 4' yet. Also, I am a middle grades teacher, and I know from experience that 11 y.o. vary in height tremendously! This year, in one of my classes, I had two girls who were 11 and 5'8" tall, and I also had a couple of girls age 11 who were 4' 6" tall. I think that girls vary in height just as much as boys do during the early puberty years.

 

[palavra]

Well in light of our discussion, I came across some startling info for me. I went to fill my son's medication and as I was looking at the side effects noticed that one of them now listed is stunted growth. I am so frustrated at this. I have asked his doctors for the past 9 mo and they always assured me that the medicine doesn't cause stunted growth and delayed puberty. Well all of them are now saying that they do. I feel TERRIBLE. I was so against meds at first. And I know having a shorter kid isn't the end of the world. But I just can't help feeling bad about it. I'm going to call his dr tomorrow and see what I can do. He is taking Concerta for ADHD and have read that all of the stimulant drugs show this now. With this medicine being relatively new this information is just now coming out. Maybe it has impacted him, maybe not but there's a lot of info out there that this has done this to other kids.

My DD takes Focalin for ADHD, and I knew that one of the side effects was stunted growth. Since my DD. is definitely on the short side, I brought this up at her last doctor's appointment. My doctor said that she has never seen significant stunted growth due to these drugs unless you are talking about weight. Because the drugs do suppress appetite, kids do seem to weight less than others not taking ADHD medications.

 

[divabydisney]

Thank you for making me feel so much better about this.

Here's an update: I talked with his pediatric psychologist. The nurse understood my concern and told me she would plot his growth and weight and call back after she had a chance to consult with the dr. I should mention when we were randomly going over numbers she said that she noticed a decline as well and encouraged me to call and get an annual physical scheduled. I did and he goes in 2 weeks. When the nurse called back, she said she sees where he dropped off height wise and picked up weight. He gained 25# in less than a year which is another reason I was so panicked, she said that he's always been in the 90th percentile but because his height was always so high that he appeared proportioned, now that it has changed he looks unproportioned. We will wait for his physical to see what the normal doc thinks but she did agree that patients who had stunted growth were rare and she thinks had pituitary? gland issues as well. We are decreasing his dosage in the meantime and waiting to see what happens. She was very positive and also mentioned that since he hasn't started showing any signs of real puberty then he may just not be ready yet as she sees kids who haven't gone through until high school.

Apparently, one of DS friend who is so tall apparently started puberty so early? He started in 3rd-4th grade and that the dr's think he is done already. At least thats what his grandma says.

I'm going to let it go for now, I'm a worry wart by nature.

 

[Michelle67]

One of my high school friends was 4'10" until he suddenly shot up between 9th and 10th grade. He's right around 6' now. Another guy I knew was under 5' all the way through high school and didn't have his growth spurt until after graduation. He's not what I would call "tall" now, but he is in the "normal" range. Of course you should always check with his doctor if you are worried, but most likely there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Michelle67]

Ooops. Sorry...didn't read all the responses, including the one that said you'd checked it out and were feeling better now. Glad to hear it.