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Recently – my daughter who has always been short (4th percentile in height and weight)- dropped off the curve in terms of height. I had been excited because she grew almost 3 inches since last year and gained 10 lbs but I guess it was not as much as the average for this age.
She is 13 is now 4ft 9in and the doctor recommended that if she doesn’t pick up the pace that in 6 months that we might want to consider growth hormones or else she will probably max out at 4ft 11in.
We have always had an eye on her height (she has always been the shortest in her class)- and encourage her to eat right – but I thought that she just didn’t have her growth spurt yet. She is child number 4 and her brothers before her are all avg height (5ft 8in – 5ft 10in) but one had the majority of his growth before his Bar Mitzva while the other 2 (who ended up taller) had theirs when they were 14-15 so I thought she still had time. I am ok with 4ft 11in – but she was devastated when she heard what the doctor said.
Have any of you had personal experience with growth hormones? I have started doing research on it but would love to hear people’s views. She is a perfectly healthy petite girl and I am a little afraid to start injecting her with HGH for a few inches. B”H she is a very popular, kind, smart girl – but I do know that being short can definitely affect one’s self confidence.
“but I do know that being short can definitely affect one’s self confidence.”
I think personality affects one’s self-confidence.
If you have self-confidence, height is irrelevant.
If you don’t, height is also irrelevant.
Your lack of self-confidence will be brought out by something else.
Just because she was devastated by the news initially, doesn’t mean she can’t come to terms with it and be happy with her lot.
there is a blood test to test the hormone – see if she is just a delayed grower. If not – you probably should think about some hormones. Ask your doctor – I have a few friends with kids who are two years behind in their bone structure/growth.
I don’t have any personal experience with this, but I know people who have used HGH, and I’ve learned about it.
Have you found your daughters estimated height? You can find it by adding your height and your husbands height in inches, then
subtract 5 inches, and and divide by two. Most people reach their adult height within 4 inches of this estimate.
Your daughter still has plenty of time to grow, so don’t be worried if she’s not within 4 inches.
HGH in small amounts, in children, from what I’ve heard, is not harmful. Because your daughter is 13, even if she did get the injections, she would only gain maybe 1 or 2 inches from the HGH.
However, if she is perfectly happy, popular, kind, and smart there is really no reason to be worried that her height will affect her self esteem.
Hatzlacha
dont know anything about this but i just met someone who i knew from elementary and she is suddenly tall! I guess it really worked for her!
hey! i already started a thread on this…lol..so yeah i took growing shots and i have friends and siblings who also did and it worked wonders! nowadays its artificial growth hormone so its not dangerous as it was when it was taken from humans and it really helps! i didnt grow for like 4 years and went on shots from 8th to 10th grade i grew 8 inches in 2 and a half years-(and i wasnt to religious about it…oops :)) i think that if its available and needed it should be taken…..its not a big deal-there are basically no side affects (i had joint pain in the mornings but that was it) and also dont get fooled by kids who are average to tall when their little because chances are-if the genetics of the family is short-the kid will stop growing early and end up really short….
it’s not bad – my daughter is almost 3 & has been getting them for about a yr & half already. she’s now in the 10th percentile.
I b’h hashem don’t have this problem because in height I’m in the 97th percentile but I do have a couple of friends who never reached five feet and they have stopped growing.(One just got married to a very very short boy-5′ 1″ who she would never had looked at if she had been taller.) But a short girl still can marry someone taller also while for really tall girls its harder to take someone 6″ shorter than you.
It’s not for every child. One of the worlds biggest experts is a Dr. Novogroder in Teaneck who is affiliated with Columbia. Hard to get in but worth it.
Did you have her get a bone age? This is an x ray that may give a clue to whether or not she will continue growing on her own. Did she reach puberty? This will also affect her ultimate height ( girls stop growing shortly thereafter). How does your daughter feel about staying short? I would take her feelings into consideration.
I know of one family where one daughter was told to go on Depo- Lupron because she was growing so fast that they expected her to stop growing early and end up short. She was not treated, but ended up being the tallest girl in that family- about 5 ft 5″. Another daughter in that same family was treated because she had a complicating medical condition, that may have altered her true natural height that she was meant to have.That daughter broke 5 feet with treatment.
Hope this info helps. Good luck!
One more humorous story: I have a cousin ( girl) who is very short. She married a guy who is way over 6 feet tall. It seems the guy only looked at very short girls because he came from an extremely tall family and he wanted his kids to not have the same problems with being so tall, as he had. So he intentionally married a short girl from a short family…They now have little kids…
Definitely get an opinion from an endocrinologist!
Wow… Good to hear about that… 😀
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