Growing after puberty in boys--a poll

[cintinative]

I am asking this because a family member is being told boys don't grow after age 16 and it doesn't exactly correlate with what I have heard from friends. 

[maize]

My younger brother was still growing in college, I don't think he reached his full height until about age twenty.

My dad on the other hand had hit his full height (he was over six feet tall) by age 13.

So--it varies widely. On average though boys reach their full adult height later than girls.

[fairfarmhand]

My son is 12, but my dh told me that several of his friends grew in later high school and even up to college age.

[Selkie]

My boys were both tall all through childhood and continued growing up until about 19 or so.

[PinkTulip]

My son just finished his freshman year in college and grew about an inch this year. He did have delayed puberty, though. 

[Lecka]

I know my husband grew after that age.  I know my step-dad grew several inches after that age.  My own kids aren't that old yet.  

My step-dad in particular grew in his late teens and very early 20s!  He was the shortest brother and then ended up being more in  the middle in his family 😉 My impression is he was still growing until he was 20-21.  He joined the Air Force and came home taller than when he left 🙂

Edited June 17, 2020 by Lecka

[EKS]

I can't answer your second question because I don't know what you mean by "most."  Everyone does most of their growing before age 16.

ETA: I also don't know what you mean by "after" puberty.  Do you mean after the onset of puberty?  Sorry to be so dense this morning!

Edited June 17, 2020 by EKS

[ScoutTN]

My step brother added several inches in high school, one in college, and continued to fill out through his 20's. 

 

[Jaybee]

I have an uncle who grew two inches while in college.

[KungFuPanda]

Boys keep growing into their twenties. It’s not fair! My BIL grew SIX inches in one year during his late teens. He said it was painful. 

[gardenmom5]

  one hit earlier and grew a bit (not more than an inch and a half), and one hit puberty later and he started really growing later as well.  we didn't measure them after age 19 - 19 1/2.   we'll see how dudeling does.  as of Jan, he's at least the same height as dh, or slightly taller by now.   though I think someone recently put him back to back with 1ds.   I'm not sure if he's using his brother's razor to shave his peach fuzz, of if he's still waiting on his beard.  I know he had shaved the peach fuzz from his lip a few times.  

if you take the boy's height at 18 mos? 24 mos? - and double it - you should have roughly their projected adult height.  

The professional basketball player known as "The Admiral" (because he went to the USNA) was 6'6" went he was admitted to annapolis. their maximum allowed height.  He still had another seven inches in him.

if someone REALLY needs to know if a child has growth left - an x-ray of the growth plates.

[Splash1]

So far all my kids over sixteen have grown at least an inch after that age.  Even I grew after high school another inch, not sure when the growth happened I stopped measuring at graduation  but when visiting doctor at 22 I told them I was 5'4 1/2 and they said no way, lets measure.  I was 5'5" 3/4 .  

Edited June 17, 2020 by Splash1

[cintinative]

29 minutes ago, EKS said:

I can't answer your second question because I don't know what you mean by "most."  Everyone does most of their growing before age 16.

ETA: I also don't know what you mean by "after" puberty.  Do you mean after the onset of puberty?  Sorry to be so dense this morning!

 

What is in question is if boys do all of their growing before age 16 as a rule, which is what the endo is telling my family member.  The endo is denying that growth occurs after age 16, which is the age at which most boys are done with puberty.

[hippiemamato3]

 

2 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

What is in question is if boys do all of their growing before age 16 as a rule, which is what the endo is telling my family member.  The endo is denying that growth occurs after age 16, which is the age at which most boys are done with puberty.

Yikes. That is just plain incorrect. Is there another endocrinologist you could see? 

[EKS]

Just now, cintinative said:

What is in question is if boys do all of their growing before age 16 as a rule, which is what the endo is telling my family member.  The endo is denying that growth occurs after age 16, which is the age at which most boys are done with puberty.

Ok, so I just went to our wall of height marks.  The older one grew 1 inch after age 16.  He is 6'2".  The younger one has grown 2 inches since age 16, with one of those inches being since age 17.5.  He is currently 6'3" and I'm not convinced that he's done growing.  Both went into puberty at about the same age, which I believe was around 13yo.

[cintinative]

Just now, hippiemamato3 said:

 

Yikes. That is just plain incorrect. Is there another endocrinologist you could see? 

It's not me.  This is regarding a family member of mine's son.  Do you know where I can find this information online? 

They are seeing an endo and getting growth hormones for their son and are being told that he is done growing at 16 (he is 16) and all I have is anecdotal evidence from friends that this is not the case. I have not had success finding medical references that would dispute this idea.  Basically, I am trying to comfort them with the idea that it is quite possible he is going to continue to grow for another three or four years.

ETA: I thought there was something about boys' growth plates not fusing until later in development than girls', but I cannot find that per se. 

Edited June 17, 2020 by cintinative

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

I am asking this because a family member is being told boys don't grow after age 16 and it doesn't exactly correlate with what I have heard from friends. 

 

My mother gained another inch or two after 16. It's not true that kids, no matter what their sex, don't grow after 16. Some do, some don't. Typically kids AMAB will have a later growth spurt and will, indeed, gain some height at or after 16.

Though it is possible that this young man did stop growing early, it's certainly not true that this is typical.

[cintinative]

Just now, Tanaqui said:

 

My mother gained another inch or two after 16. It's not true that kids, no matter what their sex, don't grow after 16. Some do, some don't. Typically kids AMAB will have a later growth spurt and will, indeed, gain some height at or after 16.

Though it is possible that this young man did stop growing early, it's certainly not true that this is typical.

 

What does AMAB mean?  Thank you.

[Paige]

My DS has definitely grown since 16. He's 18 and I expect he'll grow at least a couple more inches before he's done. 

I remember seeing guys at my HS reunion who were huge. They must have grown 6in since graduation!

[Guest]

My over 6’ tall son got a good bit of his height between 14 and 15 yo. Those were the days when trying to find pants for both length and his skinny waist was excruciating. But he continued to grow after entering college. He is 20 now and I don’t think he will get much more height if any. 

Purportedly, my BIL got all of his over 6’ height in college. It varies widely. 

[Arcadia]

25 minutes ago, cintinative said:

ETA: I thought there was something about boys' growth plates not fusing until later in development than girls', but I cannot find that per se. 

My kids are under 16. My cousins and nephews were a mixed bag in terms of height growth. 
https://teens.webmd.com/features/how-tall-will-i-be
“Boys and girls stop growing at the end of puberty. That's when their growth plates -- the area where their bones grow -- fuse, Grimberg says.”

[wathe]

 

There's lots of data to help answer this:

Most boys will grow a little more after the age of 16 (2-3 more cm) as per WHO growth chart.  Most will stop gaining height at about 19.  But it's also true that most boys will be close the their adult height by age 16, and won't gain much more height.   "Filling out" and settling into a more mature body shape keeps going a little later.

ETA- you can see the height curve gets really flat by 19, but the weight curve is still pretty steep.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by wathe

[mom2scouts]

I have a bunch of boys. They've all had some growth after age 16, although for my boys it's been a small amount. I know other boys that have huge growth spurts after age 16 and into college.

[TLC]

My son has grown about 6 inches since age 16.  He went through puberty early, but had health issues (lyme).  He's grown an inch this year at age 20. He would of been disappointed if he stopped growing at age 16 because he was only 5'4" .

[Lori D.]

When the growth plates at the ends of the bones fuse. On average for boys that is 16-18yo, but some continue to add a bit of height (at a much slower rate) up through age 20, or even 22. I have seen that first-hand with a few sons of friends. DS#2 added another 1"-1.5" between ages 16-20.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Lori D.

[cjzimmer1]

my oldest grew 10 inches between 14 1/2 and 15 1/2.  He grew another 5 inches between 15 1/2 and 18.  He grew another two inches between 18 and 20. He may have added another 1/2 inch or so since then (his pants seem a little shorter) but no one has bothered to measure.

2DS's growth has been so slow but steady we never really discerned any observable growth (with eldest DS you could actually see the difference from week to week).  I'm not sure when he topped out but he's been the same size for several years.  He's also about 7 inches shorter than his brother.

Edited June 17, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

It's not me.  This is regarding a family member of mine's son.  Do you know where I can find this information online? 

They are seeing an endo and getting growth hormones for their son and are being told that he is done growing at 16 (he is 16) and all I have is anecdotal evidence from friends that this is not the case. I have not had success finding medical references that would dispute this idea.  Basically, I am trying to comfort them with the idea that it is quite possible he is going to continue to grow for another three or four years.

ETA: I thought there was something about boys' growth plates not fusing until later in development than girls', but I cannot find that per se. 

Here's a short article about growth plates fusing in boys, in answer to a specific person/situation.

The endo may be telling them that growth hormone will not help this particular young man, as his growth plates may have fused. Growth hormone is used at about age 12-14. Otherwise, the only other option at this age is the limb lengthening procedure, which is breaking the bones mid shaft, and holding them apart a bit while new bone cells grow to "knit" the break back together again. Depending on the situation, the person can gain up to 6 inches of height, but an increase of 2-3 inches is what is most common and recommended.

Maybe see a different endo for a second opinion?

If the growth plates have fused, then it may be a case of having to accept the height. DS#1 has always been disappointed about his height -- he was always slow to mature, so shorter than all the boys his age all growing up (and from age 9, shorter than his younger brother) and he topped out at 5'7" at age 17yo. Younger brother topped out at 6'1", so that's a hard pill to swallow for DS#1. What height DS#1 gained was mostly from age 14-16.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Lori D.

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

 

What is in question is if boys do all of their growing before age 16 as a rule, which is what the endo is telling my family member.  The endo is denying that growth occurs after age 16, which is the age at which most boys are done with puberty.

ah.  That explains it.

I'm on a thyroid group - the one medical specialty universally despised from firsthand experience among thyroid patients - are Endos.  because their information is crap, and their former patients feel like crap under their care.

a lot of boys grow after 16.  girls will grow after 16 too.

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

It's not me.  This is regarding a family member of mine's son.  Do you know where I can find this information online? 

They are seeing an endo and getting growth hormones for their son and are being told that he is done growing at 16 (he is 16) and all I have is anecdotal evidence from friends that this is not the case. I have not had success finding medical references that would dispute this idea.  Basically, I am trying to comfort them with the idea that it is quite possible he is going to continue to grow for another three or four years.

ETA: I thought there was something about boys' growth plates not fusing until later in development than girls', but I cannot find that per se. 

they're not done growing until the growth plates are gone.  he should continue to get growth hormone until the growth plates are done.

an acquaintance had to push really really hard to get growth hormone for her adopted son.  parents really have to advocate for their kids.  if the parents aren't happy and the endo refuses to reconsider - they should find another dr.

[cintinative]

14 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

they're not done growing until the growth plates are gone.  he should continue to get growth hormone until the growth plates are done.

an acquaintance had to push really really hard to get growth hormone for her adopted son.  parents really have to advocate for their kids.  if the parents aren't happy and the endo refuses to reconsider - they should find another dr.

The endo is willing to continue growth hormones but the parents are concerned son will not grow because endo has also said that growth stops at age 16. It does not make sense to me on multiple levels. Why continue if it will have no effect? And, how do you explain all the reports of growth after 16 in boys?
 

[LucyStoner]

My son turns 17 in <2 weeks and is still growing.  My husband and I started dating when he was 20 and I was 19.  He was still getting a little taller in his very early 20s.  He's got an inch on his dad at this point.  I think that he's reached most of his adult height, I don't think that he will grow more than another 2-3 inches.  

Edited June 17, 2020 by LucyStoner

[LucyStoner]

I have heard that shorter than average people stop growing at younger ages.  I don't know if that is true or not.  

[catz]

I have a 19 year old and he had a huge growth spurt around 14, but slowly has kept growing.  He's about 1/2 an inch shorter than my husband right now so who knows.  I'll try to remember to measure again next summer.  I don't think it's unusual to inch up a bit for boys after puberty and some boys hit puberty late.    

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

3 hours ago, cintinative said:

It's not me.  This is regarding a family member of mine's son.  Do you know where I can find this information online? 

They are seeing an endo and getting growth hormones for their son and are being told that he is done growing at 16 (he is 16) and all I have is anecdotal evidence from friends that this is not the case. I have not had success finding medical references that would dispute this idea.  Basically, I am trying to comfort them with the idea that it is quite possible he is going to continue to grow for another three or four years.

ETA: I thought there was something about boys' growth plates not fusing until later in development than girls', but I cannot find that per se. 

 

I think that while in general boys can keep growing, if this child is already on GH replacement therapy, he may not be in the same boat.  We've seen an endo off and on for my tiny kids, and growth hormone has a sort of ideal window to be administered, so maybe the endo was talking about that.  

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

The endo is willing to continue growth hormones but the parents are concerned son will not grow because endo has also said that growth stops at age 16. It does not make sense to me on multiple levels. Why continue if it will have no effect? And, how do you explain all the reports of growth after 16 in boys?
 

growth will continue until the growth plates are done.  a lot of boys keep growing after 16.  some grow in their 20s.

this one says 16 - 18

this one says 17 - 20

 

[Terabith]

6 hours ago, cintinative said:

 

What does AMAB mean?  Thank you.

Assigned male at birth

[Tanaqui]

3 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

Dd came home from USNA at Christmas as a Plebe, with ridiculous hems in the trousers. I asked her why. The Academy has found that most Plebes (18-20yo) grow at least two more inches. Well, the guys do, not the girls!

Ds grew another 8" after 16, but then, he hadn't hit puberty then. 

 

It is the case that my foster sister grew a whole inch at the age of 18 which certainly is late... but we've always thought this probably had more to do with the fact that she got pregnant at that time than anything else. It's far from unheard of for people to grow an inch or so during their first pregnancy, especially if they're young.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Tanaqui

[Melissa in Australia]

4 sons

Oldest grewover a foot  in his 12th year. He was over 6 foot by the end of the year. He slept a lot that year. It takes a lot of energy to grow. He was 6'3'' when he went to uni at 17, by 20 he was 6'4'' he has stopped growing 

Next son grew slow and steady. He stopped growing at 19 at 5'11''

Next son was 6' by 14, he is currently 6'2 he is 21 and I think finished growing 

Ds16 grew quickly at 12, grew a little slower than oldest, but was 6' before 14. He is now 6'3'' he may grow some more

 

We are most interested in how the twins will grow. Their bio father is 6'6'' but the twins are very stunted in growth due to failure to thrive and starvation when small. They are currently below the 15%percentile

Sorry if there are heaps of errors, typing on my phone and it keeps changing everything

[hippiemamato3]

11 hours ago, EKS said:

I can't answer your second question because I don't know what you mean by "most."  Everyone does most of their growing before age 16.

ETA: I also don't know what you mean by "after" puberty.  Do you mean after the onset of puberty?  Sorry to be so dense this morning!

There's pretty much never an "everyone." There are people who don't even begin puberty until age 16. Oh wait - you're talking all growth. Yeah, that's true. But the puberty growth spurt may not begin until closer to age 16, or even after. 

Edited June 18, 2020 by hippiemamato3

[EKS]

18 minutes ago, hippiemamato3 said:

There's pretty much never an "everyone." There are people who don't even begin puberty until age 16. Oh wait - you're talking all growth. Yeah, that's true. But the puberty growth spurt may not begin until closer to age 16, or even after. 

I'm talking about from birth.  Everyone does most of their growing from ages 0 to 16.  The "growth spurt" is just the last bit.  So yes, we agree!

Edited June 18, 2020 by EKS

[Melissa in Australia]

1 hour ago, EKS said:

I'm talking about from birth.  Everyone does most of their growing from ages 0 to 16.  The "growth spurt" is just the last bit.  So yes, we agree!

I always took the growth spurt as the time of very rapid growth. From my experiance a child does grow a little after the growth spurt phase just at a slower rste. So it isnt the last stage, rather the quick stage

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

17 hours ago, cintinative said:

The endo is willing to continue growth hormones but the parents are concerned son will not grow because endo has also said that growth stops at age 16. It does not make sense to me on multiple levels. Why continue if it will have no effect? And, how do you explain all the reports of growth after 16 in boys?
 

 

GH is also helpful to continue because he will continue to gain (muscle and bone) mass at a healthier rate WITH GH replacement than without (assuming deficiency).  Studies are showing that continuing GH treatments into early adulthood is good for children dealing with true low GH.  

[TravelingChris]

17 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

they're not done growing until the growth plates are gone.  he should continue to get growth hormone until the growth plates are done.

an acquaintance had to push really really hard to get growth hormone for her adopted son.  parents really have to advocate for their kids.  if the parents aren't happy and the endo refuses to reconsider - they should find another dr.

And how do you find a good endo?  My temperature doesn't go above 97 and I have lots of symptoms of hypothyroidism now and at other times, just lost a lot of weight without doing anything.  I have lots of autoimmune issues, have an enlarged thyroid, and haven't had anyone believe me about the thyroid stuff.  

 

[TravelingChris]

16 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

I have heard that shorter than average people stop growing at younger ages.  I don't know if that is true or not.  

My son may or may not be shorter than average people---His final height is 5^8.  He grew after 16 by an inch.  Now he may not be shorter than average American man but he is shorter than average for our family (including one grandfather, father, my brother, my uncles, my husband\s brothers, etc,) and also probably the Caucasian population of the US.

At least one of my daughters grew for a few years after puberrty too. And we were very aware of this since she had juvenile osteoporosis and was being followed by a specialist in bone breaking disorders of children.

[Carrie12345]

I do’t remember precise dates, but my eldest had a significant growth spurt somewhere around 13ish. I thought that meant he was nearing adult height. He gained another 5-6” or so between that and 18/19. He’s almost 22, and we still say we *think* he’s done.

Dh (not that ds’s bio dad) grew after high school. He was tiny as a young teen. He’s got a few stretch marks from a final spurt.

[EKS]

On 6/17/2020 at 7:52 PM, Melissa in Australia said:

I always took the growth spurt as the time of very rapid growth. From my experiance a child does grow a little after the growth spurt phase just at a slower rste. So it isnt the last stage, rather the quick stage

Apparently it isn't the quick stage.  If you look at a growth chart, height for age is (basically) linear until it levels off in the late teens.

I also looked at two 2 year periods from my younger son's growth.  From ages 4-6 he grew 5.5 inches and from ages 13-15 he grew 6 inches.  This was 13% of his initial height and 9% of his initial height respectively.  Since growth is a result of cell doubling, I'd argue that his rate of growth--that is, the rate of cell doubling--between ages 4 and 6 was higher.  Of course, if you're also talking about width, that's another thing, though some of the boys I know grew up first and then out.

Edited June 20, 2020 by EKS

[gardenmom5]

5 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

And how do you find a good endo?  My temperature doesn't go above 97 and I have lots of symptoms of hypothyroidism now and at other times, just lost a lot of weight without doing anything.  I have lots of autoimmune issues, have an enlarged thyroid, and haven't had anyone believe me about the thyroid stuff.  

 

has anyone ever done any testing?

have you read stop the thyroid madness?   their website gives information on what tests to run, how to run them yourself.  what are optimum numbers.

they also have information on what questions to ask a dr when you're looking for a new one to see if they'll actually be helpful.   there are some naturopaths that will meet over video appointments. - they'll have to have your labs.

I'm currently needing to find a new dr myself. (my last ND is spending more time running the clinic rather than seeing patients.)

Edited June 18, 2020 by gardenmom5

[lewelma]

My father grew an inch in his early 20s.

[Meriwether]

My brother grew an inch in college. I did some googling just now. I have a son who is almost 16 and one who is almost 14. The 14 year old seems to be just behind the 16 year old in puberty, like 6 months or so apart instead of 2 years. I would guess by what I have just read that they will both grow significantly for a couple of years and then maybe creep a little. If I were guessing now, I would guess Ds16 will grow about 4 more inches and Ds14 will grow about 6. That would put Ds15 at 6'2" or so and Ds13 at about six feet. But I am basing that on voice cracking and amount of armpit hair, and it is an inexact science. It will be fun to see where they eventually end up. Ds13 would really like to get to 6'. He is our shorty. He will probably be taller than his sisters, but they are tall for girls. There is no guarantee.

[iamonlyone]

On 6/17/2020 at 11:11 AM, cintinative said:

The endo is willing to continue growth hormones but the parents are concerned son will not grow because endo has also said that growth stops at age 16. It does not make sense to me on multiple levels. Why continue if it will have no effect? And, how do you explain all the reports of growth after 16 in boys?
 

 

My nephew received growth hormone and he and my SIL wanted him to continue receiving it as an adult, even though he grew to average height, because apparently people generally continue producing some GH long past puberty. As mentioned above, if a person is not producing any GH, there may be negative effects:

"Deficiency of growth hormone (GH) in adults results in a syndrome characterized by decreased muscle mass and exercise capacity, increased visceral fat, impaired quality of life, unfavorable alterations in lipid profile and markers of cardiovascular risk, decrease in bone mass and integrity, and increased mortality. " https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3671347/

"GH deficiency in adults is associated with fatigue, decreased energy, depressed mood, decreased muscle strength, decreased muscle mass, thin and dry skin, increased adipose tissue, and decreased bone density." https://www.britannica.com/science/growth-hormone

Unfortunately, their insurance did not cover treatment past a certain age, so he had to discontinue receiving GH.

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by iamonlyone