Should I be worried about son's height?

[Idahomom]

Reason I ask is, my son, an 8th grader, will be 14 in April. He's only 4'11" right now whereas his sister who's 12 is already 5'2.5". I only have one son, so I don't know, do you think he just hasn't hit his growth spurt yet?
Thanks,
Suzanne

 

[snoopy]

Boys grow taller later. This I know because I reached my full height of 5'10" at about 14.

Has he always been small? If yes, then I wouldn't worry about it. If it doesn't seem like he is gaining weight or growing at all from year to year, then I would consult my doctor.

 

[jrydberg]

If there's no other reason to be concerned, I wouldn't worry about it. I was the shortest kid in my entire school up until about 9th grade. I'm no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar now, but I'm about 5'9".

 

[SeeDisney]

Well, I remember my brother was a very very very small in height for a 9th grader. I don't know his height then, this is was in earlty 80's. He growth spurt was in the 11th grade. He's 5'11" now.

My husband's growth spurt was in his high school years too.

How tall are you and your husband?

I wouldn't worry about it. He's still young.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Boys grow taller later. This I know because I reached my full height of 5'10" at about 14.

Me too! I reached my full height of 5' 9" at 13! My brother didn't stop growing until much later. I think he was about 18 or 19.

 

[Barb D]

He may not have hit his growth spurt yet (my DS13 hasn't) but that does seem a bit short for 14. What does his doctor say?

Here's a growth chart for boys:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/growthcharts/set1clinical/cj41l021.pdf

It looks like he's in about the 10th percentile (taller than about 10 percent of all 14yos.)

 

[tlgoblue]

Before I got all worried, I'd take a short study of your and your kids dad's family. Some boys don't hit their growth spurt until they're about 16. Look at your sibs, and DH's. 4'11'' isn't off the charts short. Just shorter than average at this age. DD sounds like she's taller than average for her age. That's all. Enjoy him while he's this size. Just this morning, my DS asked me for a hug and I felt awful. He said he wished I was taller, because sometimes, when you need a hug, you need the person holding you to be bigger than you. One day, soon enough, he'll be holding you!

 

[Tammy1966]

I wouldn't worry. Have the same thing going on over here. My dd is 11 and ds is 14. DD is about 5 inches taller than DS. Doc says to wait, he will catch up.
Remember girls mature/grow faster then boys.

 

[danacara]

Although there's a fairly small chance that there's a problemI might go to your family doc and ask for a referral to a pediatric endocrinologist. He'll be able to check your son's hormone levels, and if he's coming up short on human growth, it might be possible to supplement that. Smart of you to be thinking about this when he's 14, because when he's 24 it's probably too late to mitigate anything on the small-off chance that this is hormonal.

 

[Trish Bessette]

Boys do tend to grow later than girls I've noticed. My poor daughter is in 5th grade and is 5'7" already!! Although she is a big hit on the basketball team, she tends to look down at all the boys her age

 

[Idahomom]

Well my husband is 5'10 and I'm 5'4". He's been the shortest boy in class since about 5th grade when everyone started passing him. I know it bothers him a little especially since his 2 best friends are 6'4" and 6'! Also, people are always assuming his sister is the oldest which annoys the heck out of him. I really have no other reason to worry about him-he's healthy and very active.
Thanks for all your responses and hope I do not sound "shallow" asking about this. I know the size of the person doesn't matter, it's the person inside that does. (My corny duck thought of the day!

Suzanne

 

[4greatboys]

Could just be he hasnt hit his growth spurt yet but you could still check with your doctor if it will make you feel better. My 2 oldest has growth spurts at about the same age. My oldest shot up to over 6 ft at around 13/14 and my next one down is in the middle of his--he is 14 and up to 5'7.

 

[chrissyk]

In 9th grade, I could see the top of my boyfriend's head (and I'm only 5'2"). By the start of 10th grade, he was practically a head taller than I was!! Boys grow later, and they seem to grow quite fast when they do hit that growth spurt.

 

[mtemm]

I will never forget coming back to school in september (well, august actually) at the start of my junior year in high school. when I left in june, the boys all seemed puny, but holy cow, what a few months did! it seemed like most of them grew a foot and found shoulders. wow.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

if he is healthy and his growth has been steady up until now I wouldn't worry too much. Boys are all over the place at that age. My son is probably getting close to about 6 foot now. His best friend at school can't be more than 5' 2" or so. They look so funny walking out of school together.

My experience tells me you'll know when the growth spurt is hitting. He'll get incredibly grouchy and all the food in your refrigerator will disappear.

 

[Idahomom]

It is a funny sight to see my son with his much taller friends. One thing I have noticed is that his friends are very protective of him!
Suzanne

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Although there's a fairly small chance that there's a problemI might go to your family doc and ask for a referral to a pediatric endocrinologist. He'll be able to check your son's hormone levels, and if he's coming up short on human growth, it might be possible to supplement that. Smart of you to be thinking about this when he's 14, because when he's 24 it's probably too late to mitigate anything on the small-off chance that this is hormonal.

My daughter is on growth hormones and I echo danacara's sentiment when she says to see a endo doc. In fact I wished I had seen one earlier.

Basically if your son is not progressing on his growth curve he may need hormone therapy. It is a daily shot in the evening. No big deal, but I do encourage you to seek a medical opinion from an endocrinologist.

 

[Cruise04]

Hey, wait - what's wrong with being 4'11"????? I'm 35 and am 4'9"!!!!!! I'm sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. If he has yearly checkups (which kids should still be getting at this age) and your doc hasn't been concerned, then I wouldn't be concerned yet. But if you're worried, go see your doc or call and talk to your doc. They may be able to give you some advice.

Also just tell him this - tell him that you know a person on the DIS whose grandpa was 4'11" and his wife, the grandma, was 5'11"!!!! Maybe he'll at least get a good laugh out of it. (and yes, that is true)

 

[paulh]

both my children (boys)were small babies when born 5lb each we were asked our hieghts DW 5 foot and me 5 foot 10 inches what they said was that they add the 2 hieghts devide by 2 and add 5 inches to determin the rougth maxamum hight when grown my eldest is now 15 soon 16 and he is narely as tall as me and he was small in childhood. boys put there spourt of growth on at the end of puberty and girls put it on at the start of puberty so boys have a longer time to grow than girls thats why they are in most cases taller then girls and a tall girl usaly has 2 tall parents
Paulh

 

[Idahomom]

Hey, wait - what's wrong with being 4'11"????? I'm 35 and am 4'9"!!!!!! I'm sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. If he has yearly checkups (which kids should still be getting at this age) and your doc hasn't been concerned, then I wouldn't be concerned yet. But if you're worried, go see your doc or call and talk to your doc. They may be able to give you some advice.

Also just tell him this - tell him that you know a person on the DIS whose grandpa was 4'11" and his wife, the grandma, was 5'11"!!!! Maybe he'll at least get a good laugh out of it. (and yes, that is true)

I will tell him! That is awesome! I think I will take the advice of those responding and mention it at his next checkup.
Thanks everyone!