Late puberty in boy...anyone's child go through this?

[DLgal]

I have 2 sons. 14.5 and 12.5 years old. My older son has not started puberty. Like, at ALL. He has a few very sparse hairs "down there" and like, one hair under each arm. He still looks and sounds like he did when he was 8. He is only 4'10". His younger brother seems to have begun puberty. He has some upper lip hair, several underarm hairs, and has developed some acne. He has also grown pretty fast this year. He is an inch taller than older son.

The other day, we were discussing that when younger son turns 13, we are going to have him start shaving (I am not a fan of the upper lip peach fuzz look...He has very dark hair. My husband wants it shaved because his own mom made him wait until he was 15 to shave and he HATED it. LOL).

Anyway, my older son got really upset that his brother will shave before him. He had never previously mentioned anything related to his feelings on this matter. But he got really sad about it. FWIW, both my kids are autistic, And generally unaware of others socially, so I don't think he notices or cares that his schoolmates largely tower over him and look like adults.

I mentioned my concerns about his slow rate of growth over the past 3 years at his well visit over the summer. His doctor ( a great one that I trust fully) said he is not concerned yet. Both me and my husband were "late bloomers" as it were. He said he will be concerned if he hasn't advanced in the pubertal stages by the time he turns 15, and we will just wait and see.

My question is, has anyone gone through this with their son? When did the puberty finally start? Did it start naturally or did you intervene with hormone therapy? Any advice?

 

[low-key]

I dont have a clue, but certain there is stuff they could give him. How is he mentally at that age the boys are starting to think about the girls, is he yet ?

 

[dish rag]

My son graduated from high school at 17 and was 5"8 inches 130 lbs. physically very immature. A boy. He went straight away that next month to University. After that first year he came back at 6'1" and 190 lbs of muscle. In his case he just developed later.

 

[superme80]

My husband started high school at 4'10. By his Jr year, he shot up to 5'7 1/2. He is still very skinny, but that is just genetics.

 

[DLgal]

My husband started high school at 4'10. By his Jr year, he shot up to 5'7 1/2. He is still very skinny, but that is just genetics.

Yeah, our boys won't be tall. I am 5'3" and my husband is 5'4". I just want him to at least be as tall as his dad.

 

[DLgal]

I dont have a clue, but certain there is stuff they could give him. How is he mentally at that age the boys are starting to think about the girls, is he yet ?

Mentally still very much a little boy. NO interest in girls (or boys for that matter). He couldn't be more anti-social/introverted.

 

[neverlandsky]

My DS was a late bloomer and when he turned 15. I forgot to add, he was anemic like me, I was 15 too. Once DS started taking iron he was good and it’s still going for him. So I would check for iron levels if you haven’t done so.

 

[Skippy918]

Curious about this too. My son is only 10 and both dh and I were late bloomers. He’s 4’8” and maybe 75-80lbs. Dh doesn’t remember when he hit puberty so I have no idea when to expect it with ds. Some of his friends are already about my height at 5’5”.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd17 was a late bloomer, but a dancer with no body fat. She had 3 weeks off from dance a few months before her 16th birthday, reached 100 pounds and got her period. Her pediatrician wasn’t worried about it because her weight was the cause. She gained almost 10 pounds that year and almost 3 inches (she is still only 5’2, 105 pounds, and done). My oldest was average sized and hit puberty at 12.

 

[DLgal]

My DS was a late bloomer and when he turned 15. I forgot to add, he was anemic like me, I was 15 too. Once DS started taking iron he was good and it’s still going for him. So I would check for iron levels if you haven’t done so.

His bloodwork showed slightly low iron (like, one point off from the lowest point in the range), but his doctor said it's not significant enough to warrant iron supplementation. But now you have me wondering. Maybe I need to switch his multivitamin (his is a gummy with no iron and he doesn't eat really any high iron foods).

 

[neverlandsky]

His bloodwork showed slightly low iron (like, one point off from the lowest point in the range), but his doctor said it's not significant enough to warrant iron supplementation. But now you have me wondering. Maybe I need to switch his multivitamin (his is a gummy with no iron and he doesn't eat really any high iron foods).

Mine now takes Flintsones chewable with iron vitamins. It’s has 100% daily iron.

 

[mom2rb]

I have twin boys. One hit 6’0 at 13. The other hit 5’0 at 16. There was a two year span where one was 6’1 and the other was 4’11. Now they are 20, one is 6’2 the other 5’10.

 

[TCRAIG]

I have 4 brothers - not sure about physical maturity - but I’m not sure they’ll ever grow up!! (Haha -says their sister)...

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Went through this with middle ds. I pushed the pediatrician who sent us to a pediatric endocrinologist.

had blood work, measurements etc.

I asked if it had to do with all the asthma meds with steroids he took. We were at the point of almost doing testosterone shots to jump start him but suddenly he had a growth spurt.

yes it was hard for him seeing his older sibling and classmates and he was still tall but no other hormonal signs etc.

best of luck with your ds

 

[barkley]

FWIW, both my kids are autistic

Mentally still very much a little boy. NO interest in girls (or boys for that matter). He couldn't be more anti-social/introverted

certain there is stuff they could give him

my son is autistic as well (early 20's) and i'll just suggest that if the idea of hormone therapy is potentially looming out there-start to discuss it now with any of your son's autism providers (therapeutic specifically). i say this b/c dh and i were part of a support group for parents of teens w/autism and one of the most common shared issues were the challenges puberty brought into the mix w/these boys. for some it was just kind of confusing/challenging but for others it was really difficult-severe anxiety/depression, heightened tactile problems (my ds has repeatedly asks if he can start shaving/waxing his entire body b/c 'body hair feels weird'), conflicting social behaviors (those w/the nature of anti-social/introverted can get VERY confused, anxious and stressed over new feelings of wanting to interact w/whatever sex they they are attracted to), and for some-a new heightened level of hostility, belligerence and aggressiveness.

it's natural for someone to go through puberty but 'jump starting' it w/ drugs can hyper kick it in (it was one of the things the doctor of a friend's neuro-typical son cautioned strongly about when it was being considered for him). allot of asd kids (mine included) seem to have opposing or overly sensitive reactions to drugs so i think it's best to have your ducks in a row for anything that may come up if everyone decides this is the best treatment for your son.

with your other son-i hope you have an easy time of finding hygiene products he likes/tolerates. i got so tired of trying dozens and dozens of different ones b/c ds would insist they felt weird or smelled funny (totally unscented and unperceptable to me/dh), let's just say it was a couple of years of lots of trial and error (and wasted products).

 

[Hrhpd]

I have 2 sons. 14.5 and 12.5 years old. My older son has not started puberty. Like, at ALL. He has a few very sparse hairs "down there" and like, one hair under each arm. He still looks and sounds like he did when he was 8. He is only 4'10". His younger brother seems to have begun puberty. He has some upper lip hair, several underarm hairs, and has developed some acne. He has also grown pretty fast this year. He is an inch taller than older son.

The other day, we were discussing that when younger son turns 13, we are going to have him start shaving (I am not a fan of the upper lip peach fuzz look...He has very dark hair. My husband wants it shaved because his own mom made him wait until he was 15 to shave and he HATED it. LOL).

Anyway, my older son got really upset that his brother will shave before him. He had never previously mentioned anything related to his feelings on this matter. But he got really sad about it. FWIW, both my kids are autistic, And generally unaware of others socially, so I don't think he notices or cares that his schoolmates largely tower over him and look like adults.

I mentioned my concerns about his slow rate of growth over the past 3 years at his well visit over the summer. His doctor ( a great one that I trust fully) said he is not concerned yet. Both me and my husband were "late bloomers" as it were. He said he will be concerned if he hasn't advanced in the pubertal stages by the time he turns 15, and we will just wait and see.

My question is, has anyone gone through this with their son? When did the puberty finally start? Did it start naturally or did you intervene with hormone therapy? Any advice?

If you are concerned or even curious, make an appointment for a 2nd opinion with an endocrinologist. Our pediatrician was also our neighbor so we knew them both professionally and personally. I trusted him implicitly with our children. However, if my child was only 4'10" at 14 1/2 and had not started puberty, I would want a second opinion just to assure me that my pediatrician was correct and it was nothing to worry about. I would want to the assurance that we were not missing the age window where HGH might be beneficial. And since hormone treatments can have significant other consequences (studies have shown that using HGH can lead to an earlier death and Diabetes,) I would want all the information possible from as many points of view before we embarked down that path.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I'm facing this now with my son, who is 12. He was one of those kids at the top of the growth chart until 1st grade when he just about stopped growing. His ped noticed it, kept an eye on it, saw him more frequently until deciding to refer DS to a pediatric endocrinologist. The PE did blood work and took x-rays of his left wrist. When we first met with the PE, DS was about a year behind his peers, growth wise. DS is now approximately 2 years behind, but he has those 2 years of growth in his growth plate, so we never investigated the possibility of a growth hormone at the advice of our PE.

DS has become more self conscience of his size, but he understands that he will catch up, he just will be smaller for the foreseeable future. We did discuss "jump starting" puberty if my son really starts struggling with being left behind, but I really don't want to go down that avenue. It helps that DS has another boy of a similar size in his class as well as an older friend who has a similar growth pattern.

Of course, it doesn't help that my daughter, who is a few years younger, is about to catch DS in height.

 

[Kellykins1218]

My husband started high school at 4'10. By his Jr year, he shot up to 5'7 1/2. He is still very skinny, but that is just genetics.

My oldest was 4'9" and weighed 73 lbs when he started high school. Our local paper had a close-up picture of him every single week in their football gallery because he was in the band and looked like a 5th grader. He's almost 5'8" now. He didn't really grow much until his senior year. My 13 yr old is 4'7" and 80 lbs. He easily passes for a 9 yr old. No signs of puberty for him at all. My 11 yr old is a mutant lol. He's 5'4" 160 lbs, started puberty, is growing hair, has the peach fuzz on his lip and I just noticed a few days ago that his voice is cracking and getting deeper.

 

[Skippy918]

My oldest was 4'9" and weighed 73 lbs when he started high school. Our local paper had a close-up picture of him every single week in their football gallery because he was in the band and looked like a 5th grader. He's almost 5'8" now. He didn't really grow much until his senior year. My 13 yr old is 4'7" and 80 lbs. He easily passes for a 9 yr old. No signs of puberty for him at all. My 11 yr old is a mutant lol. He's 5'4" 160 lbs, started puberty, is growing hair, has the peach fuzz on his lip and I just noticed a few days ago that his voice is cracking and getting deeper.

I was 4’11” and 80ish lbs when I started high school. I had my growth spurt just before I turned 15.

 

[DLgal]

my son is autistic as well (early 20's) and i'll just suggest that if the idea of hormone therapy is potentially looming out there-start to discuss it now with any of your son's autism providers (therapeutic specifically). i say this b/c dh and i were part of a support group for parents of teens w/autism and one of the most common shared issues were the challenges puberty brought into the mix w/these boys. for some it was just kind of confusing/challenging but for others it was really difficult-severe anxiety/depression, heightened tactile problems (my ds has repeatedly asks if he can start shaving/waxing his entire body b/c 'body hair feels weird'), conflicting social behaviors (those w/the nature of anti-social/introverted can get VERY confused, anxious and stressed over new feelings of wanting to interact w/whatever sex they they are attracted to), and for some-a new heightened level of hostility, belligerence and aggressiveness.

it's natural for someone to go through puberty but 'jump starting' it w/ drugs can hyper kick it in (it was one of the things the doctor of a friend's neuro-typical son cautioned strongly about when it was being considered for him). allot of asd kids (mine included) seem to have opposing or overly sensitive reactions to drugs so i think it's best to have your ducks in a row for anything that may come up if everyone decides this is the best treatment for your son.

with your other son-i hope you have an easy time of finding hygiene products he likes/tolerates. i got so tired of trying dozens and dozens of different ones b/c ds would insist they felt weird or smelled funny (totally unscented and unperceptable to me/dh), let's just say it was a couple of years of lots of trial and error (and wasted products).

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This boy already struggles with anxiety and ADHD. He is very emotional without medication. He takes a low dose antidepressant already and we are going to start him on a new ADHD med in January. I don't particularly want to do hormone therapy, because I am generally opposed to those types of interventions for things that would otherwise naturally occur eventually. What I am concerned about is his excessively slow growth rate over the past 3 years in addition to the lack of puberty. I worry about things like pituitary tumors or some underlying health issue being the cause.

He has always been a short child. He was always between the 10th and 25th percentiles (trending down over the years), and now he is barely even on the chart at the 1% mark. He has grown less than an inch per year since he turned 11. That concerns me. He is a very high functioning autistic with no real sensory or cognitive issues so I'm not worried about how he will handle the physical changes. He has always been a very mild mannered child and I don't forsee any major changes with puberty in terms of aggression or anything like that. It's just not in his nature. He's very much a pacifist.

As for my younger son, he is SUPER smell sensitive and is over sensitive to pain, but he has been using deodorant for a few years and is fine with several brands. He is similarly non picky aboyt body wash and shampoo. His hygiene habits are excellent. He will be given an electric shaver when he is ready because he is very scared to cut himself with a razor. The acne has been his biggest issue because it hurts and he scratches at it and makes it bleed which then makes him freak out. Fun times! He has only had like 3 pimples so far, so I hope it doesn't get much worse for him. The other son has the most flawless complexion I've ever seen. I'm super jealous of him. Ha ha!