Hi, mums out there only serious answers please!!!?

Question

My daughter has started puberty!! She is 8... Has had hair down there for about 6 months now and now starting to develop breasts!! And body odour... She seems 2 young 4 me to explain it to her (her brother 10 no signs at all) but i guess i have to. Anyway, is there any way of knowing approx when she would get her period.... I don't want her to get it without telling her about it. No haven't done the talk yet......

Answer 1

I would tell her about it now. The last thing you want to happen is have her scared out of her mind when it does happen. Unless she is home schooled, she likely knows about it anyways, but probably the wrong concepts in a lot of ways.

Answer 2

Please speak to your doctor or paediatrician, so a full check up is done, to rule out any underlying causes such as precocious puberty.

Most girls will start puberty around 8 through to 14, some starting earlier than others. If young girls are over weight then this increases the early onset of puberty. Usually breast changes start first, followed by pubic hair etc. Young girls who start menstruating before the age of 10 needs to be assessed by a paediatrician.

Do talk to your daughter and explain the changes she is seeing in her body, if she has not already. She may also be aware that her friends are not or do not have pubic hair etc, and she may get teased for it. So talk to her as soon as you can.

If our girls were to start menstruating a year earlier than their mother, (as some people have stated) that would mean that girls starting menstruation would become even earlier and earlier. It is more to do with diet, and weight, not when our mothers started.

I was 10 when I started menstruation, my daughter was 15. I might point out I was NOT over weight, but my daughter is very petite like her grandmother (my mother), my mother was 15, and sisters 13-14 respectively.

A good book to read is "Before she gets her period"
By PH.DGillooly, Jessica B. Gillooly.

Another one is "The Teenage Body Book" Guide to sexuality.
By Kathy McCoy

I know there is some really goods books for younger children, but I can not remember the names.

I wish you and your daughter luck.

Answer 3

This is normal for kids her age to start puberty. I think I was about her age when I started. Girls have puberty before males. (Girls start 8-10) (Boys start usually between 12-15) so it is just fine that she is on the early side. There is no real way to know when shes going to get the period, I got mine when I was 13 so it might be a while. I would have that now because as she develops more things will happen and she wont know how to deal w/ it by herself, she needs your confidence!

Answer 4

I swear there is something in the water...my daughter is going through the same thing, it was not something I was expecting so early.. I have had the puberty talk with my daughter but I'm not sure she really understands, as parents we try to be straight with our kids, but have a habit of putting a pretty bow around things to make them seem better.. To help I bought a book called 'Understanding the Facts of Life' by susan Meredith & Robyn Gee..It is a great book for both boys and girls, and tells them in normal understanding terms.. You can also gets them video's/DVD's called 'Whats Happening to Me' available from your local library... Unfortunately there is no way of tell when she will get her period, but if you prepare her now and let her take a sanitary napkin to school, kept descretely in her bag, just in case she gets it while she is at school, then she wont be shocked or as embarressed..

Answer 5

Wow umm thats early. First, you should talk to her school, because schools usually do "the talk", and maybe you should tell them that girls are hitting puberty earlier, so the talk should be earlier. Yes there are ways to tell when she will have her period. Usually they get whitetish yellow discharge about 1 year before. Also, It is about 2 years after they get breasts, and usually about 8 months after they get armpit hair. Maybe if she has a friend going through this also you and their mother could casually go out to lunch with them. The easiest way to tell her about her period would probably be to say "Hey, if you find any redish brown stains in your undies, tell me because that sometimes happens to girls your age, but don't freak out if it does." Your actually sorta lucky to be able to talk to her about it early, because in our society kids get a lot of peer pressure saying it is bad starting around age 10. for that reason you may want to talk to her brother and inform him that she probably feels very self concious right now and that he will be severly punished if he teases her in anyway. Email me if you have anymore questions, I am an expert on this stuff. My primary email is [e-mail]. Hope this helped...:)

Answer 6

hi there wow puberty at 8 poor daughter poor YOU!! about the sex talk haha lovely topic with your kids i had"the talk" with my son about 6 months ago and it was some thing i had to do as he was coming home with alot of wrong information from young friends i was soooo nervouse about it but i made sure my husband didnt escape this one so we all sat down for the discussion with the good old books where did icome from and i read it to him and we all never stoped laughing it was an awkward moment for all o fat first but after a bi tof laughter it just turned out to be a totally open discussion that i will never forget!! i was not happy i had to do this talk so young as kids donts eem to stay kids for to long these days but i got over it and have let my son know he can talk to me any time itall doesnt seem that bad anymore and i dont regret doing it at all best of luck!!

Answer 7

You probably don't have much time left....i would talk to her as soon as you can....I started my period when i was just about 11 and I thought i was dying when i woke up in a pool of blood.....it's better to tell her while she's young and before it happens.....I have a grand daughter who is 7 and has had to wear deodarant for about a year now because of body odor......girls develop faster than boys and it just seems that they are developing younger and younger....GL

Answer 8

Her period can come any time now. It's not un-natural for girls as little as eight to be hitting puberity.

I suggest; you do the talk RIGHT AWAY. To both her, and your son. (Or at least let Daddy and Son to the talk.)

Best thing is, get her a bra (Sports bra's are decent for girls that young.) Get her some deodorant, and give her the talk.

Also, sock up on some period supplies! It could happen any time.

Answer 9

I would take her to the doctor and talk to him/her about it.
It is not an emergency but I think it is important that the doctor is aware she is starting puberty at such a young age.
There could be hormonal issues or most probably, she is just an early developer.

I would definitely talk to her about her period. She is not too young to understand the basics. You need to tell her because if she begins to bleed without knowing what is going on, she could be traumatized.

Answer 10

It is time to have the talk. My 10 year old son may not have developed hair and such yet, but with sexual activity running rampant in the 12 year old age bracket, you can bet I have given him my opinions on underage appropriate/ inappropriate activities.

Of course boys are often ignored in that kind of activity and should not be, since they are just as responsible as the girls are.

In addition, as soon as a child starts developing you should be discussing things with them, because you need to set a firm foundation of what is acceptable to discuss with you. You want her to feel comfortable coming to you with issues that make her feel uncomfortable and you want her to know how you feel about certain activities.

It is time to have the first of many talks. Let her know what is happening to her body and that it is natural, and lay the foundation for the talks that need to begin soon. When you are ready to talk to your daughter, it may already be too late. Don't wait until your comfortable to talk, because you never really will be. Start now, a little bit at a time and let her know you are there for her.

Girls are developing younger and younger for various reasons, we need to step up as parents and be ready for what is needed. And after reading about those two 6th graders in the news, it is never to soon to make it clear what is happening, and what is going to be acceptable.

What age did you get your first mensus? guess a year earlier at least for hers, since that seems to be the pattern these days.