Height for 12 yo

[divabydisney]

How tall is your 12 yo son? I am a little concerned that my son isn't growing. He hasn't grown any since last summer. He always grew steadily and was always one of the tallest in his class and on sports teams. A lot of kids have passed him up now and even the younger neighbor boy is taller than him. He takes a few medications but neither are known to stunt growth. He eats well and active so pretty healthy. He has always been one of the tallest and is now benched a lot because all the other kids have surpassed him by like 6 inches. He has not shown any signs of puberty and all the other boys are going through it now. I know not all kids are the same and go through things differently but he feels bad. No matter how many times I tell him it's ok, in the back of my mind I'm questioning it to. His last physical was about 9 months ago. So we will go to the dr soon. It's really taken a toll on his esteem and he is starting to gain a little weight since he isn't growing like he used to. We also think some of the medication is affecting that.

 

[Christine]

I think boys vary widely on puberty rates. It just sounds like he hasn't hit puberty yet. When he does, he will really grow quickly. I was amazed at how much growing my son did but there were also those boys who still seemed very small but it came later.

You don't say how tall you and your husband are. If your are petite folks, your son may not get tall.

 

[Magpie]

Is your son showing no signs of puberty at all? I'd be less worried about his height then, since he's obviously not stopped growing yet.

A lot of boys get a little pudgy just before that final big growth spurt, so he may be coming close to that.

I think only your doctor can tell you for sure if there's a problem. But in general, looking at my son's eighth grade class (13 & 14 years old), there are boys who range in size from wee-short little pre-pubescent fellows under 5 feet tall, to great hulking hairy 6 foot tall creatures with fuzzy upper lips.

There's a wide range at this age!

 

[golfgal]

It is not at all uncommon for some kids to grow fast earlier in life and then around middle school become the shortest kid in the class-or vice versa-being short all through elementary to be the tallest kid by the end of middle school. It is possible that there are growth issues so it is worth checking out with a pediatric endocrinologist, but most likely, he is just slowing down in his rate of growth. Also, it isn't uncommon for kids to put on a few pounds before a big growth spurt too.

How tall are you and your DH and how tall is your DS?

 

[divabydisney]

I'm 5'8 and dad is 6'2. According to the dr he's supposed to be around 6'4. Who knows... She also said I was taller than the avg woman which I was rather surprised at, when I asked her the avg height she said around 5'3 or 5'4. I had no idea. It doesn't help any that my younger DS who is 5 is 4'4. DS who is 12 is 5 ft even. He doesn't like that his brother 7 years younger is almost as tall as him. His dad is 6'5 and he is projected to be around 6'8.

 

[divabydisney]

Maybe his awareness is more obvious because his close friends that he's been playing basketball with since first grade have surpassed him by huge amounts not just a few inches. Example his friend Ben is 6 ft and 12 yo. His friend Jeffrey is 6'2, a few others aren't quite that tall but are at least my height and that's still an 8 in difference. I think this is why it so alarming. He keeps asking me to check his height and we have it marked on the wall. He seems so sad when I tell him not yet. I've explained the whole every body goes through it in their own time but you know kids, that's hard to accept. I've also heard that the longer it takes to go through puberty the more they grow, I don't know if that's accurate but I told him that and he suffices him for a week. His voice hasn't even begun to change, he does have a little more lip hair but nothing substantial, no underarm hair, nothing else. He tells me EVERYTHING. We're pretty close and have asked him if he's noticed any other changes and he says no. Again seems sad, no acne, his friends have plenty of that. So maybe he is just a late bloomer. His dad went through puberty around this age if not a little earlier, I think that too was why I questioned it a little.

 

[spacemountainmom]

My ds just turned 12 and he is 5' 6". He has always been tall. I'm 5' 10" and dh is 6'. His ped projected that he'd end up around 6' 2". My dd is 16 and has hovered around 5' 6" since 7th grade. The ped projected her at 5' 10", but I think she's done growing.

It seems to me that many boys don't hit their growth spurt until 14-15 years old. I work at the middle school and it seems like I say good bye to boys in the spring and they turn into men over the summer. I'll see boys who were shorter than me in middle school and they tower over me in high school.

Years ago, I was told the average height for women was 5' 3" and the average for men was 5' 7". I don't know if that has changed.

 

[Christine]

Maybe his awareness is more obvious because his close friends that he's been playing basketball with since first grade have surpassed him by huge amounts not just a few inches. Example his friend Ben is 6 ft and 12 yo. His friend Jeffrey is 6'2, a few others aren't quite that tall but are at least my height and that's still an 8 in difference. I think this is why it so alarming. He keeps asking me to check his height and we have it marked on the wall. He seems so sad when I tell him not yet. I've explained the whole every body goes through it in their own time but you know kids, that's hard to accept. I've also heard that the longer it takes to go through puberty the more they grow, I don't know if that's accurate but I told him that and he suffices him for a week. His voice hasn't even begun to change, he does have a little more lip hair but nothing substantial, no underarm hair, nothing else. He tells me EVERYTHING. We're pretty close and have asked him if he's noticed any other changes and he says no. Again seems sad, no acne, his friends have plenty of that. So maybe he is just a late bloomer. His dad went through puberty around this age if not a little earlier, I think that too was why I questioned it a little.

I know it's hard but, really, he's probably not even considered a "late bloomer" yet. He's probably surrounded by early bloomers. My son is now 16 and his biggest growth years were around age 13 and 14. 13-14 was when the facial hair *just* started and he grew so much. He seemed to be in the "norm" with the other boys but there were some that were on either end of the spectrum--when my son was in 6th grade, there was one kid who was already 6 ft tall and another who was barely 5 feet. They all sort of had their own rates.

 

[divabydisney]

I know it's hard but, really, he's probably not even considered a "late bloomer" yet. He's probably surrounded by early bloomers. .

Ok that is probably the case. When I saw Ben at the first bball practice I asked his mom when he grew up. She said he grew over 9 inches in less than 7 months or something crazy like that. I won't worry yet. Thanks for the advice. I'll just keep telling him the same and when we go for a physical see if the dr can assure him. One thing I thought was a little odd and maybe this is when the whole thing started, last year at his physical after she did her feel test she said oh yep, everythings developing as it should and should be expecting him to go through his growth spurt, I had no idea they could tell you that, but that's how we got into the whole height conversation.

 

[DebbieB]

My nephew is 16 and just went through puberty and growing taller in the past year. I hadn't seen him in awhile (parents are divorced) and I was shocked when I saw him at Easter. He had grown so much and his voice changed.

 

[ohiomom28]

My DS11 is 5'1". I am 5'4" and his dad is about 5'9". He has had a bit of a growth spurt in the last year and is starting signs of puberty for awhile now.

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

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.

 

[mickeyboat]

DD11 (12 in September) is 5 feet tall. I expect her to grow a couple more inches (I am 5'5"). She is taller than many of her friends.

The boys in her class range from being a lot taller than her to a lot shorter than her. I guess I think they are all at different growth stages.

 

[MickeySP]

I really wouldn't be panicking yet. Maybe next physical ask his Ped if they can test for HGH to see if he is normal range.

My DS was always the small one, wore slims with a belt to keep them up. Then BOOM the summer from 13 to 14 he became this guy! He grew 6 inches in height and about 8 inches between the shoulders.

He was also always okay at sports when under 12 but once he hit his stride at 13/14 he far surpassed all his buds. Some kids peak early, some get going later, I wouldn't be too concerned - yet.

 

[nmmom95]

My DS13 is 5'7". He was always in the 90-95th percentile for height, then he seemed to slow down and dropped to the 75th percentile. In 6th grade, he had a 5 inch year! I noticed that in my son's class, heights vary widely, so while I would speak to your ped if you are concerned, I think that there is quite a range at this age.

 

[indimom]

Wow! Those are some seriously tall kids you all are talking about!! You must come from a community loaded with "tall genes." My son is 11 1/2, he is 4'6". Our daughter will be 14 in a couple weeks and is 4'11". Granted, we don't expect them to get very tall. I'm 5'4" and DH is 5'7".

All that being said, I would be mildly uncomfortable with "no" change in height over a year. Even my short kids have been growing slowly but steadily. If he gets an annual checkup, I'm sure the ped will note that and do any checking necessary.

 

[mamamary]

My son is 14 now and 5 ft. 11. I think when he was 12 he was prob. around 5 ft. 7 or so. Now he has always been tall - tallest of his friends. My dd is 12 and 5 ft. 1 and she is taller than some of my sons friends who are 14. At 14 i know there is a huge gap in height for boys and girls. I worked at my son's dance and picnic two weeks ago and the differences in all the kids heights were amazing. Now one of his friends is on growth hormones but he has always been small.

 

[SmallWorld71]

My DS12 just had his camp physical this week and is 5 feet (60") exactly which, according to the doctor, puts him at the 56% so about as average as they come for height. (His weight is also right in the middle). We always think of him as short because his sibling as tall for their age (DS15 is 6'2" and growing!) but he really isn't. There are also a TON of boys his age shorter than him. He was the tallest one on his Little League Team this year! (9-12 year olds) Overall, I would say that there is a much greater range in heights among the boys that age than the girls. (Around here, anyway.)

 

[Luv Bunnies]

DS12 is around 5'6" right now. DS15 (16 next month) is around 5'10". My side of the family tends to be tall so both boys will probably end up over 6'. My DH was adopted. We don't know his biological background, but he's 5'11".

 

[honugirl]

I can tell you I'm right around 5'6" and when I went to buy hockey gear a few years ago, the guy at the store said I could buy intermediate goalie gear because I was the height/weight of an average 12-13 year old which it was designed for. So take that for what it's worth.