Growth hormone for kids?

[Deleted]

DS3 is short. I mean really short. My sister's son who is almost 2 years younger is a good 2" taller.

DS3 is currently in the bottom 3% for height.

would you consider doing growth hormone?

DS2 is in the 88% for his age and DS1 is in the 50%. I'm 5'8" and DH is 5'10".

[arch01]

Not unless my pedi and probably a second and third opinion recommended it.

[Deleted]

What does your pediatrician say? Were you and H late growers?

[Deleted]

I'm 5'4 and DH is 5'10. DS1 is in the 5th percentile for height and DS2 will probably be close to that. I am not going to do anything but raise them to be confident in who they are. Dr. assumes they will be between 5'6 and 5'9 and while that's definitely on the short side, we also have a lot of tall family members who grew later in life to be 6' tall. Either way, I feel like teaching them to be ok with it is more productive than trying to change it. I understand the worry about it, but at the same time I think being a man on the shorter side also gives a lot of guys a drive to be successful and other good charachter traits. I don't know. Unless they are off/below the charts for normal I wouldn't worry too much. 5th is still 5th percent of normal range for age.

[bananapancakes]

You might want to page frkls on ML. She has experience with this.

[Deleted]

We've discussed with the ped before but then he bounced up to the 10% and didn't qualify. He has his 5 year well baby visit in 2 mos so I'll probably ask for an endocrinologist referral then.

[speckledfrog]

frkls' son is on growth hormones, you may want to ask her about her experience. I know that, overall, she is happy they went forward with it.

[ijack]

When did your H do the majority of his growing?

[Deleted]

Yes I would consider it.

[Saudade]

Anecdotal story:
Two kids in my hs class didn't start growth hormones until high school (sometime between 7th and 9th grade). They were both shorter than me (5'4") when they started and now both are over 6' tall. I would definitely talk to the doctor about it but also take in to consideration when your DH did his growing.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2013 12:56:59 GMT -5 ijack said:

When did your H do the majority of his growing?

We were both ds1 sized. I grew 8" in 9th grade

[w2w]

I would at least discuss it with an endo and go from there.

[atouchofklasse]

We would consider/investigate it.

How tall is he?

[drloretta]

I would look into it, but consider the risks and benefits carefully.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2013 14:55:29 GMT -5 atouchofklasse said:

We would consider/investigate it.

How tall is he?

He is 3'2" he will be 5 next month

[GailGoldie]

how tall are you and dh?

[speckledfrog]

septimus, YGPM

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2013 15:40:34 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

how tall are you and dh?

I'm 5'8 and dh is 5'10

[GailGoldie]

oh duh- sorry- see it now in the OP.... brain fart.

do you have any really short people in your family? My family = all tall, except my dad's mom was petite, and my sister took after her and is pretty short, while the rest of us are quite tall.

But seeing an endo can't hurt - having some tests done- then hear the rec's - to ease your mind.

My twins are 2" apart - and obviously the same age.... but the smaller one is about 50%, so it's not quite the same. If he was 5% I would probably get some testing done to be safe.

[h]

I would discuss it with your pedi and an endo. It is definitely something I consider, though.

[statlerwaldorf]

My brother has been on them for years. He is a teenager now and will be weaning off of them soon. He was always in the 1% even as a baby. They did testing over a period of time measuring his growth before starting on them. The shots are very expensive. He had an allergic reaction to a couple different ones and the one that ended up working for him was even more expensive.

I would look into it, but I probably wouldn't do it. While they did make him taller, he has also gained a lot of weight. I'm really worried about the long term health effects of his weight and if he will be able to lose it once he stops the hormones.

If you have any specific questions, send me a pm and I can ask my mom.

[mudslide]

Jan 1, 2013 15:03:33 GMT -5 drloretta said:

I would look into it, but consider the risks and benefits carefully.

I agree with this. My dad was a late bloomer (as was his dad) and his mom forced him to get the injections. My dad ended up getting tumors in his sinuses (not sure of the name of tumors. I'm trying to find out from my dad). They were direct result of the injections and he had to have a few surgeries to remove and basically reconstruct his sinuses. He had to have blood transfusion for the surgeries and contracted hep c as a result (before they tested blood for it).

All in all, I would not take the decision lightly. Do as much research as you can and definitely get opinions from more doctors.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[barefootcontessa]

Our friend is a ped endo and one of his sons is quite small compared to his siblings and I know he is not on growth hormones. I have never asked for an explanation but would if I was concerned about one of my kids. Someone has to be to be in the 3 percent. I would be worried about the long term risks and unintended consequences.

[karinothing]

I guess I am protective of short people. Dh is only 5'4 and didn't reach five feet until his jr year. He still managed to be on varsity football and baseball. I guess I don't get doing it just to make my kid taller for the sake of being taller. If there says a real medical reason for the shots or if he was going to be significantly short (under five feet). Then maybe I could see it, rebut sometimes folks are just short, it does not mean something is wrong with them.

[chia]

Jan 1, 2013 17:39:13 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I guess I am protective of short people. Dh is only 5'4 and didn't reach five feet until his jr year. He still managed to be on variety football and baseball. I guess I don't get doing it just to make my kid taller for the sake of being taller. If there says a real medical reason for the shots or if he was going to be significantly short (under five feet). Then maybe I could see it, rebut sometimes folks are just short, it does not mean something is wrong with them.

:Y:

Unless there were a known issue, I wouldn't be giving my almost 5 year old growth hormones. It seems a little crazy.

[MadamePresident]

I don't think I would do it for a child who was only 5. I might for an older child, but it would depend on the expected adult height. Being short isn't a bad thing. I have a friend who is 4'10" and she embraces her shortness and tells funny stories about difficulties she encounters.

This might be flammable, but it also might depend on the gender of my child. I feel like being small and petite for a woman is not a big deal, but for a man it might be more difficult.

I don't know of any of the risks involved, so of course that would also greatly impact my decision. Also, with an older child, you could ask their opinion and hear their feelings.

[SusanBAnthony]

DS sees an endo and was evaluated for it. His growth did uptick a little, and he is now in about the 30% so we aren't considering them at this point. But we see an endo annually for checks.

When we had the initial appt they took a family history and decided DS "should" be a little taller. They also did a hand X-ray to look at his bone age. His bone age is quite a but younger than his actual age, indicating that he is a slow grower, and will likely keep growing for longer than average and have time to catch up, height wise. We also did a test in the hospital (took half a day) to determine whether his body was able to process and use the growth hormone he is making. That came back normal.

If his growth hadn't increased a bit we would have considered it for sure, depending on the cost. It is still on the table in the future if he slows down again.

[Deleted]

My aunt and uncle looked into it. They adopted four kids, all very short. The shortest is a boy, in fifth grade, who they think will max out at 4'11. They decided against it because, according to their research, it can inhance anger issues and aggression which the boy already struggles with.

[nathansmommy]

I took growth hormones as a child for 2.5 years from the age of 12-14. I grew 6 inches during this time frame and was able to reach a height of 5'2'' when I had totally stopped growning prior to starting the hormones. I would ask for a referral to a pediatric endo at his next well child visit. I had a day long set of tests completed to see how my pituitary gland was excreting grownth hormone before I was able to start taking the hormones. I learned to do the injections myself, and never had any side effects from them. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[ilikedonuts]

Jan 1, 2013 20:27:12 GMT -5 @irishbride said:

My aunt and uncle looked into it. They adopted four kids, all very short. The shortest is a boy, in fifth grade, who they think will max out at 4'11. They decided against it because, according to their research, it can inhance anger issues and aggression which the boy already struggles with.

This is why my parents decided against it for one of my brothers. He already has major anger issues and they didn't want to risk it. He is only 5'3 maybe 5'4 and can't stand how short he is.

I will say I think its completely different when its a boy vs. a girl. For example, a grown woman that is 4'11 is looked at completely different than a grown man that is 4'11.