Short genes | Imamother

amother

Salmon

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:02 am

DH and I are both very petite. I'm considering giving vitamins that help with growing.

questions:

1. what age to start?
2. I want to give something natural. anyone tried something that worked well?
3. at what point to do you decide your child needs it. iow, when do you know that your kid won't grow tall without supplementing?

water_bear88

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:43 am

I don't know how much vitamins will make a difference. Sleep almost certainly does- make sure kids are getting enough sleep if you care (and it's important for other reasons as well).

Otherwise, might as well make peace with it. Even with good nutrition and enough sleep, there's a genetic limit to how tall a given individual can be.

Chayalle

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 12:53 pm

My DD is very petite. As in had to have her high school uniform made for her petite. She subsequently grew about 6 inches in one year (!) and made it to 5 ft tall - still petite but B"H in normal range. We did nothing beyond what I will detail below, and I'm forever glad we didn't mess with Hashem's plan for her.

IMVHO before you do anything, take your child to a pediatric endocrinologist. They will do the following: thorough evaluation of your family history, physical exam, blood work, and bone xray. This will help them determine if there's an actual problem (like a hormone deficiency) or if your child's small size is purely genetics. In our case, DD's hormone levels were perfect but her bone age was very young - at 10 her bone age was like a 7 year old. We were advised to do nothing, as she would continue to grow and would end up catching up in her teens (as opposed to some people who stop growing at an earlier age) - which is exactly what happened B"H.

Please don't do anything without an evaluation of the issues.

Chayalle

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 12:55 pm

BTW in terms of what to give your child, the endocrinologist did recommend: Sufficient sleep, exercise (we signed DD up for gymnastics and ice-skating, and she grew during both of those sessions), calories (make sure your child is eating enough), hydration (plenty of fluids) and a high-calcium diet (goes into it's own category, give your child cheese sticks to snack on, etc...).

amother

Coral

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 1:44 pm

amother wrote:

Children get the vitamins they need from a healthy diet. If this is lacking then it is worth supplementing with vitamins, regardless of their height or genes. If you have two parents with short genes and the grandparents on both sides are short too, it is worth accepting that:

(a) Your kid is unlikely to grow tall with or without supplementing.

(b) It is OK for a kid or an adult not to be tall.

(c) It is OK for a kid or an adult not to be tall.

Oh and did I mention (d) It is OK for a kid or an adult not to be tall.

Sorry if I sound repetitive but I really do get annoyed when short children are made to feel that there is something wrong with them when Hashem made them short. The sooner our community is ok with not everyone being tall the better. What Flowerpower said.

amother

Salmon

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 2:35 pm

good points ladies. I'm not going to cry if my kid isn't tall.
I know my mil gave some of my siblings-in-lawsupplements. she didn't give my DH. the others are very tall. DH is shortest of his whole family. I'm okay with it. doesn't bother me but if I can do something now for my sons, I want to know about it.

I don't think my mil will be comfortable telling me what she did but I may approach the topic and see if she's willing to share.

amother

Copper

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 4:10 pm

amother wrote:

This. I am so tired of people assuming height can be manipulated at whim. If there is a hormone deficiency, shots might help but weigh that with possible side effects.
I have a friend whose sister had them- she grew but her parents are tall. I didn't get it because I come from a short family and it wouldn't help! Not worth the side effects for maybe an inch.

But stop assuming that I am 10 because I am short. Until I was carrying my baby in a carrier people thought I was a kid. Even if I was older than them, just because I AM SHORT! I wore a sheitel , wedding ring, fashionable clothes, heels (but that didn't make me normal height anyways).... Arg! 5 year olds think height=age. When will we as a society grow beyond the 5 year old mindset?!?

amother

Linen

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 4:20 pm

What copper said. I'm 4'10" and it is what it is. My parents considered hormone shots but x-rays showed my maximum possible height was 5' and it wasn't worth it. My dad's sisters are all 5' or under and he himself is 5'4", which is short for a man, so it's obviously genetic. Every individual has a height range that they're going to be, and even with the best nutrition, sleep, vitamins, or even hormones, they will not get any taller than the maximum. Being short can be annoying and inconvenient, but it's not that bad. And now as I approach 30, I'm starting to appreciate being mistaken for a teen :-)

amother

Coral

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 6:28 pm

amother wrote:

Be prepared to accept that the height differences have nothing to do with the supplements.

amother

Coral

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 6:30 pm

Chayalle wrote:

I'm curious, do you know how exercise helps?

Librarian

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:17 pm

Take your child to an endocrinologist. We were quite surprised to find out that our son was growth hormone deficient. He has been self injecting growth hormone for the last three years and has grown beautifully boruch H-shem. Without the hormones his projected height was 5"2" and he is now already passed 5"7" with a goal of 5'8". Even if he does not reach 5'8" he is boruch H-shem a normal height. There were no side effects to speak of and he is seen every 4 months by his pediatric endocrinologist who does periodic blood tests and bone scans. I bless our regular pediatrician for picking up on this as my husband and his family are short.

Amarante

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 7:35 pm

To a certain pont, nutrition will help kids grow taller I think that really is no longer relevant since most people now are well nourished as children. But in previous generations, it did make a difference. My grandfather was 5' 6" and grew up in the Great Depression. His son who had good nutrition throughout childhood is 5' 8" ish which is still on the short side but not noticeably so.

I was a giant as a young child but got my period at an early age so my growth stopped at just short of 5'4" which again is normal but on the short side.

I would consult my pediatrician for a child in terms of whether a child would benefit from some form of therapy if it seemed as though a child was really below what would be considered to be the norm. I wouldn't want to subject my children to very intrusive possibly dangerous therapy but I do think extreme shortness, especially for a male, can be difficult psychologically. For a girl, less so although it can make life somewhat harder to maneuver in terms of clothing and reaching things.

Librarian

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 8:10 pm

Growth hormone therapy is only prescribed when there is an actual deficiency. It wouldn't even work otherwise. The diagnosis process is conducted with various blood tests and and an MRI. Your pediatrician can start the process with a simple blood test. If there is an abnormality your child will be referred to an endocrinologist who will decide whether or not to conduct further tests. Only after extensive testing will growth hormone therapy be recommended. GHT will not make your 5'5" child into a 6'er. It will only facilitate your child's growth to his maximum potential -IF he is deficient.

amother

Coral

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 9:05 pm

Amarante wrote:

I would consult my pediatrician for a child in terms of whether a child would benefit from some form of therapy if it seemed as though a child was really below what would be considered to be the norm. I wouldn't want to subject my children to very intrusive possibly dangerous therapy but I do think extreme shortness, especially for a male, can be difficult psychologically.

I have a son who is "really below what would be considered the norm" and what he has found to be the most difficult psychologically is other people's attitudes to his shortness. He was tested when younger and found NOT to be deficient. He has merely inherited a slow pattern of growth. However, I have discovered that this does not stop well-meaning people from telling me how he "must" go on GH and we "must" do something about his CVS short stature. My son is a lovely, intelligent boy with many talents but unfortunately many people can't see past his height. That is not his psychological problem, it is theirs. His attitude is amazing - "I am short, so what." I wish everybody else's attitude was so good. The "therapy" he would most benefit from is acceptance from others of how Hashem made him.

amother

Coral

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 9:06 pm

playgroup morah wrote:

As was mentioned, sleep is paramount

Sleep may help but there are always going to be tall kids that don't sleep much and shorter kids who sleep lots. It's not a "cure" for shortness and it would be misleading to tell parents that if their kids don't sleep well enough they would all be cvs short.

heidi

Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:29 pm

playgroup morah wrote:

This!
I was going to say that even if a family is short, it might be bcz. they are genetically growth hormone deficient-- and not genetically short!!
Worth checking out. My DH is over average tall, and I am under average short. Three of our kids were checked by a pediatric endocrinologist. None of them were growth hormone deficient. One ended up 5'1'. B"H it's the girl. The boys ended up just under 6'-- which is still not as tall as my husband. That's obviously the genetics at play, but I"m glad I had them evaluated-- just in case.