HELP! When should my daughter wear a training bra? She is 8.?

Question

I am not the one so concerned. Her stepmother tells her she needs a bra. My daughter is eight and very slender. She wears a camisole under her shirts...which I think is enough. But when do they recommend a girl start wearing one?

Answer 1

There is no set age for starting to wear a bra, or a "training" bra, the criteria are based on the growth of the body. When your daughter starts to develop breasts will be the time to start.

Check out this link:

http://teenadvice.about.com/library/weekly/aatp103101a.htm

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

As soon as you can observe some development of breasts.
Its easy to tell..esp if she wears a shirt and you can tell that she is developing.
But a camisole should be fine if shes still not developed at all yet. I always wore a camisole as well when I was young. I was very slender as well and I didn't get my first traninig bra until the age of 11 or 12 and I still really didn't need one then. So it all depends on the girls body.

Answer 3

I remember my neice wearing a training bra to kindergarten, she didn't need it - just wanted to wear it.

I would let your daughter take the lead in this. When she feels she needs one - ususally after she has breast buds or her friends are wearing one - then she'll ask. There's a lot of peer pressure circulating about this first intimate feminine apparel and she'll know when the time is right.

I would also call her step-mother and tell her the two of you have had a discussion and your daughter will start wearing a training bra when she feels comfortable wearing it.

Perhaps step-mom developed early and large and fears your daughter will be teased since she is developing early. If you do not have an amiable relationship with her, talk to your ex. There needs to be some communication between the parents for the benefit of the child.

Maybe the step-mom should buy your daughter a training bra to wear at their house and let you handle this business at home.

Good luck.

A thought just occurred to me, your daughter may be saying her step-mom is urging her to get a training bra when it really is she who wants it and talked her step-mom around into saying she needed one. Kids will play the parents against each other when it works...another reason to establish good communications.

Answer 4

Whenever a girl starts to develop breasts is when you should give her a training bra, even if they are just "mosquito bites"
When I was younger I noticed I was getting breasts and my parents were against letting me have a bra until later on.. and I got teased at school because of it
Don't let this happen to your daughter, I mean, kids CAN be pretty mean about these things.
I remember when some boys were making fun of this other boy because he was getting underarm hair.
Going through puberty can be a very tough and confusing time for young kids. Let her know that whats happening to her body happens to EVERYONE, even if shes going through it a little quicker than the rest of the kids around her. Let her know shes becoming "more mature" than the other kids and she'll feel good about the whole training bra thing

Answer 5

Listen, I have 3 daughters and not one of them developed at the same rate or wore a training bra at the same age. If she is beginning to develop breast and it bothers her and NO one else, then get her one. If it doesn't bother her, leave her alone. My granddaughters are a different story. Both of them developed faster than their mother's and they asked if they could start wearing a bra. Another note, My daughter called me crying one day because her 8 hr old started her period. My daughter was devastated, I just told her so did my other granddaughter start at the same age. It all depends on the human body. Don't push the issue. Let your daughter make her own decision and tell the stepmother to but out.

Answer 6

Hi! I'm 13 and in 7th grade. At the age of 8 I did not wear a bra, up until the summer of when I was 9 about to turn 10 that January. But, I am very petite. There were girls in my class that wore bras in 3rd grade, when we were 8 years old. It all just depends on if she is developing or not. There are still girls in my grade (7th grade) that do not wear bras. They do not need to, so they don't wear them. So, let her decide. Don't push her into wearing one, and don't let her step-mother push her into wearing one!

Answer 7

I didn't until I was... I don't know..right before 6th grade, so that was when I was 11. I really thought that i needed one as all of my friends were wearing them and I was concerned but too scared to ask my mom and I didn't have any camisoles. Finally she said something, thank god.
** I am also very small and petite.

Answer 8

I think this is a judgment call, but I would also recommend that you try your best to make this "bra shopping affair," into a fun "going into womanhood" thing rather than an embarrassment. There are probably other girls in her class that are not as developed, and you don't want her to be embarrassed. Take her out to lunch and talk to her about how exciting it is to see your little girl growing up into a young lady.

Answer 9

If you see her breast bumps under her shirts, she should start now. All girls develop at different ages, if she is developing early then she should wear a bra, if not, there is no need to rush it..... she is a little girl, not a woman.

Answer 10

I would get her some kind of bra. Since she is changing for PE she needs to be at least wearing something.