Child not grown in 7 months

longforthesun

I was hoping someone might be able to tell me if this normal. My son has just turned 4 and has not grown at all in 7 months. Now this has not bothered me until someone said to me that that didn't seem right. He has always been slightly smaller than kids his own age but given my while family are smaller than average it's never bothered me.

Does anybody have any experience of this?

fsdss

my son did the same when he was about the same age, i think it was about 9 months before he took off - then he grew, went through 2 sizes of shoes in a couple of months, and had to buy him more uniform and clothes.

leiela

Kids grow in fits and starts its just the way they are, mine doens't seem to grow for ages and then suddenly all their brand new clothes don't fit cause they've gone up 2 sizes in a month ... gah!!

longforthesun

Thanks fsdss. I have also not had to change his shoes in this time but nice to hear he's not the only child. Just when someone points it out to you that it seems wrong then your mind goes into over drive.

Mandles

I know a kid who also grew to a certain height at 4 and has not grown much since but if you see the rest of his family alot of them are short also. If he is a good weight this is probably a good sign too. Probably ok but if you are worried contact your health visitor or doctor for advice. It can't hurt. They may probably start taking a record of it.
I know a little boy who did have to have treatment as he stopped growing and he looks a bit shorter than others but normal now after treatment so don't worry. I bet there is just one of those growing spurts coming up soon.

jellyhead

I saw a dietician when my boy wasn't growing, but he was only 2 so you'd expect more growth in a 2 year old than you would in a 4 year old.

I have 2 boys and they are opposites - one is tiny and hardly ever grows and the other one grows really fast and will probably be 6ft 6.

The health visitor and dietician say my tiny boy is okay, just small. He's 12 now and in age 8 clothes, the smallest kid in high school. He can wear the same size clothes and shoes for years, whereas my youngest needs new clothes every couple of months :rolleyes: Some of my cousins had growth hormone injections when they reached 11 but the health visitor doesn't think my boy is tiny enough to need them.

See the health visitor (or school nurse, is he in school?) if you are worried. I saw mine this week for my boy's 3.5 year check - did your boy have one?

I just looked in my red book, and the average growth for a 4 year old looks to be about 3cm over a 7 month period anyhow, not a huge amount.

longforthesun

Thanks. OH has suggested we make an appointment with the Dr just to check it out. He does suffer from pains in his leg but this is usually at night and I had previously mentioned this to the Dr when I was there for another reason and he said that they were likley to be growing pains. He has been in pain an awful lot the last week so perhaps he is going to have a growth spurt.

jellyhead

Sorry, just turned 4 then average growth would be 3.5 cm, not 3cm.

Take your red book to the doctor or health visitor. My tiny child used to have pains and I was told they were growing pains, my giant child never seems to get pains - odd.

how tall is your boy? Off topic, but if he is small he probably won't be the smallest in his class because half the kids will be younger than he is.

shirlgirl2004

Hi my eldest DS had to have growth hormone treatment. He started it at 5 and gave up at 15 , he should have had it until he stopped growing at about 21. He was exceptionally small though and when he started school at 4 years 11 months he was in age 2/3 clothes. He was the smallest in the school until his brother started 2 years later.

Initially all they do is monitor height and this would normally go on for at least 2 years because Drs are aware that children grow in spurts and so need to monitor for this time to be sure that they are getting a true picture. My son also had his bone age (by xray) measured. Eventually they took him into hospital for the day and took blood samples throughout the day to test for his growth hormone levels. This was the deciding factor in him having the growth hormone injections.

I really doubt that your son would need GH though. I sometimes worry my DD is not keeping up and then when you've given up on a growth spurt arriving it comes with a vengence.

longforthesun

He is 99cm. We no longer get checks with the HV. We don't even get a 20 month check. Unfortunatley his red book has not been updated for a long time. Although he was just standing beside his older sister and I didn't think there was much of a height difference but then she too is small for her age, although thankfully there are a few girls in her class just as small so it doesnt bother her.

longforthesun

Shirlgirl2004. DS is due to start school after the summer and plenty of folk have said to me he looks too small to go to school. The funny thing is he is in his age group clothes in his top half just not the bottom half although I have checked I can get school trousers in a 3 yearold so shouldn't have any problems getting him a uniform.

When I was a teenager it was discussed that I my have needed GH but an xray confirmed my bones had fused so it was not an option.