Growth Hormone - Westminster,CA

I too have a small child. He was born at 4 lbs, 15 oz, 3 weeks early. He is 3 1/2 now and 28-29 pounds, 37 inches tall. Other than a heart condition which is monitored, he is perfectly healthy. We have been to the gastroenterologist, had his intake monitored and they suggested he could use an extra couple hundred calories a day. We usually add some carnation instant breakfats to a glass of milk once a day. But the doctor told us, great danes have great danes and chihuahuas have chihuahuas. I am 5'2" and my husband is 5'6". I agree with the others, get 2 more opinions, growth hormones are serious stuff and she seems healthy in every other respect.

Agree with the other answers here and what I want to point out is the doctors have no clue of long term what these synthetic growth hormones will do to her. She sounds smart, beautiful and perfect. Treat her like she can do anything mom :o)

Unless there's a medical reason, as opposed to societal pressure, I wouldn't do it.

Look around - people come in all sizes. Is your daughter healthy? My daughter is almost seven and is 43 inches and 35 pounds. She is also the healthiest child - she had a fever this winter, the first in about three years. She goes nonstop from morning til night. The only difference is that my daughter is adopted and I have no idea on the size of her biological parents. She will be who she is going to be, whether she's four feet tall or six feet tall. Her doctors have never been concerned, she's just a petite little girl. Follow your instincts and you will make the right decision.

Hi..I will speak from experience. We have four children...all grown now. First, I am 5.3 and my husband is 5.6, so we didn't expect our children to be "big" children. All our children were born a healthy weight as well, 7.14, 8.2, and our twins, 5.6 and 6.6. So, with our first daughter, she was always in the small percentile...as yours was/is. To the point that they sent her to Children's Hospital to have additional testing done to see what was the problem, however, she was always very happy, and very healthy. They did a ton of testing and found no problems (she is now nearly 24) and back then they really hadn't started doing the growth hormones like they do now a days. Today, she is 5 feet tall and 110 lbs, still healthy and happy. Son #2 started the same way....and was small on the charts and was following the same pattern as our first daughter and they wanted to send him to Children's Hospital for the whole drill of tests. I put my foot down and said "no way"...he is healthy and happy, this is ridiculous. He is now almost 21 and is 5.8 and 135 lbs., very healthy and happy to this day. Our twins, the same routine. The daughter is 5.0 and son is 5.10 (they are 18) very healthy, happy and fine. So, really, you need to follow your mama instinct. Doctors know a lot but sometimes mamas do too!

How tall was she at two? I've always heard double the height at two and thats how tall you will be.

The graph that they enter their height and weight on at the doctors office is supposed to have a nice curve to it. I know my daughters 'curve' had a dip in it after she turned one and they had me give her up to three pediasures a day. We still do one every night and she will be three in a few weeks.

Any way you can look back and see how big you were at her age?

Hi, my son is on GH... born at 4.9 lbs contrary to your story, my hubby is 6'1 and I am 5' 8" so we are tall. My son was also diagnosed failure to thrive and he as OFF the charts below all milestones for height, weight etc. Our pedi reccommended GH and we started him at 3 yrs old feeling this was the best for him b/c he was small in comparison to what his genetic potential should have been. He just turned 11 and is now right around the 50-60th percentile for height and is doing well... who knows...maybe he would have gotten there without the GH but we made what we thought was the best choice ... I agree with all the other mama's here to go with your gut feeling on it. One thing we DID not know was that once your child is started on GH they reccommend staying on it until they reach an ideal adult height... So in our case we thought OK he is well in the average range now... let's pull him off the GH...but were told if we did that ... there is a chance that his natural growth hormones would not then kick in and continue to grow him to an adult height... and if it did not kick in and you wanted to then start GH again to help him grow to that adult height... the GH may NOT work then after being put back on it...so we were advised to keep him on until he reaches a height that would be ok IF his own natural GH did not kick in... So we will now continue to give him GH until he at least reaches ~ 5'7" in the even once he is off GH he does not grow any more.... one more thing to think about... I think you can always start the GH later if she is still not growing later.... Good luck! C.

my 10 year old is on growth hormone also and has been for about 4 years. when she was 6 she was just like your child. all milestones met perfectly, very smart with absoluley no issues except tiny.
BUT what the doctor explained to me was that putting her on growth hormone is not so she wont be short. if her bone age is lacking badly, not only is her body visualy not growing but her ORGANS arent growing. the purpose of gh is not for tallness, it is for her health. her organs and bones need to grow. i was and still am leary, but it seems to make sense to me. and for the record, absolutely no side effects for my daughter. she is growing, but still very slowly so i cant imagine if i just decided to forgo. ask your doctor more questions would be my advise, but remember growth is growth, not height.

I would not jump to any conclusions yet that the Peds Endocrinologist will be injecting growth hormones.

Please go and see the Peds Endocrinologist first. They'll take a complete history, run a panel of blood tests, take a quick x-ray of the growth plates, and THEN make recommendations from there.

Based on your and DH's height, there is a strong genetic possibility that she will be short for life. And that is just fine, but the blood test will rule out any other hormones issues.

Growth hormone injections are not as commonly given as you might think, as they make other things grow as well, and there are possible side effects to that treatment given this young.

We took our son to a Peds Endocrinologist. He's pretty short and skinny, but turns out that I am a 'late bloomer' meaning I started my menses at 14 yrs. old, and hubs is short, 5'4". So our son is exactly 2 years behind in bone growth, hormones are fine, meaning he'll sprout later.

Get a second, or even third opinion if you have to. Just because she is small doesn't mean she isn't growing the way she should be, especially since she is smart and learning well. I wouldn't want to give my child any kind of GH shots, don't be pressured into it.

I would be really concerned about the long term effects. As long as she is healthy and happy, what is the diff if she is short? Didn't seem to hurt you any! Besides, short guys need girls too!!!! LOL~

I don't really have an advice, the only time I have being in contact with that drug was with an ex he used but for body building (I think some women used for young skin or something like that, but I don't think is legal to use it for that reasons).
I think my only advice is to don't agree to anything until you have make a deep search about this drug and if possible know other people that has used in familiar circumstances.
However, there is something to keep in mind, is nothing wrong to be small unless is affecting her in other ways, which it doesn't seem that way.
I am 5 feet, but all my cousins are tall, I joke to my mom and I ask her if I am adopted, my 15 year old sister is taller then me!
But I really don't mind, the only time it affected me was when I wanted to be an aeromose (sp?) the ones that work in the planes, because they only hire tall women, even if later was show that little ones do better in accidents!
And also because I could never be Miss Universe, yeah, I blame it on my high, at least I like to believe that, lol.
I would ask your doctor why he wants to put your daughter in that drug, if it is only because she is short , well, all good things come in small packages, wink, wink ;0)

ooooh this is tough.

You are "short" and your husband is "short" - vertically challenged - so the drs should take this into account when considering your daughter.

If she is meeting or exceeding milestones - I would let her be. Go with your gut.

Trust YOUR instincts ... YOU are her mother and, as such, know (deep down) what is best for her. I had a similar issue with my first born son - now he's taller than me and still growing! I chose not to have GH given to him. That worked out well for us. I suggest that you DO go to the specialist, to set your mind at ease, but remember that YOU still have the option to either accept the course of "treatment" or not. Personally, I felt that as long as my child was growing and not "wasting away", and we kept feeding him well, there was no cause for concern. Just in case you're wondering .... he is 18 years old now and far from the smallest in class any more! Best wishes.

When I was in 7th grade my mom took me to the doctor b/c I was super tiny. They took an xray of my hand and told my mom not to worry...I'd be 5'3''...just a late bloomer. Well here I am...5'3"!!! Are they able to do that with her? Do you remember if you had a late growth spurt? Just thought I'd share my experience in case that helps.

Ok-1st of all-have you been to the endo yet? It is going to be a long wait for you to get an appt. at that appt you will NOT be written a script. the endo is going to monitor your child. usually there are other issues than size to start HGH. Hormone levels for example. cortisol levels, organ function. it is not as simple as height. Go to the endo and go from there. Ask questions, there are many blood tests that will be run, and height will be monitored. the early you start the better the end results.

Hello, My oldest daughter, who is 43, was so little that in her kindergarten class, the other children used to carry her around. I volunteered in the class and finally told the other students (it was a k-1-2 class) that she was just as old as the other kindergarteners and to please not treat her as a baby. I did it tactfully because I knew that the other children were not being mean. I just felt so bad for her that they thought she was so young. She is not tall by any means today, but she is tall enough. God made us all the way we are meant to be. Unless she is abnormally small, I would just leave it alone. You are her parents and you know what is best for her.
Good luck with your precious little girl.
K. K.