Girls getting their "cycle" earlier and their height?

[asta]

The height/puberty connection is well established. The estrogens associated with puberty cause the bones to mature and the growth plates to fuse.

The height/puberty connection is a well known and established fact. Hormones cause growth plates to fuse and it is unusual to gain much in height beyond the onset of puberty. What I don't agree with is tying early puberty to being overweight or to what we eat. I have two girls, three years apart in age. The older started her period at age 12 1/2 and the younger one started hers on the day she turned 10. Both girls were raised on the same food, watched the same TV and are very similar in size. I have read everything blaming early onset puberty from milk to what media we let our children view. Our personal experience tells me that these theories are just not true. In our case, I am more apt to blame it on whatever goes on with female hormones that causes women who live in close proximity to menstrate at the same time. I wonder if this might have encouraged my younger daughter to get her period earlier than she might normally have.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Well my mom got hers very late like 16 and was like 5'0". I got mine at 12 and I am 5'3"...I was also overweight as a teen, where as my mom was a stick figure as a kid.

DD13 has been in puberty for over a year and she is growing like a weed!! She is 5'1" and over 100 pounds. She hasn't gotten her period yet..but if her mood is any indication is is just a matter of seconds . I expect DD to be much taller than me, since DH is tall and so is MIL.

 

[honugirl]

I was overweight as a teen. Didn't start my period until I was almost 16. I'm 5' 5 1/2" tall.

I don't believe the bunk about hormones in our food doing stuff to us. With all the soy in stuff, I should have estrogen levels through the roof. This is not the case.

I'm also borderline deficient in growth hormone. Would be nice if I could get some more through my food, it would really help me a lot!

Oh yeah, I'm only 31 years old, so I've grown up on Wonder Bread and all the other stuff that's supposed to be the problem.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My DD12 doesn't fit this theory. She is still impatiently waiting. Silly girl!

I've also read about plastics (plates, and containers when heated in microwaves) being linked to early puberty.

Lori

 

[imabrat]

I got mine at 11 and I'm 5'3 1/2. I am completely done growing, we learnt this from my surgeons when I had my bone cancer. My sister got hers at 11 too but she's at least 5'5 and she's still growing. She grows at least an inch every month.

Maybe their cycle has something to do with it, but I would be genetics has a lot more to do with it. Who knows.

 

[Geoff_M]

I've also read about plastics (plates, and containers when heated in microwaves) being linked to early puberty.

I think you're referring to what's collectively known as the "endocrine disruptor" theories... that chemicals leeching from various plastics are wrecking all manner of havoc on the reproductive systems of creatures both human and reptilian. While they created a lot of heat and smoke (along with a lot of scary Newsweek magazine stories) a number of years ago, scientific parties that were "concerned" about such possibilities have largely set them aside after further research into their merit and since moved on. They join other such media driven scares such as cell phones causing brain tumors.

 

[Christine]

I don't really buy into this theory as there are many tall people who got their periods early. It is true that after you get your period, you will only grow another inch or two.

I got my period at 12.5 and I am 5'7". My DD got her period at the exact same age and she is 5'5" (she has a short dad).

 

[IDoDis]

I think what posters are missing information-wise here is the difference in height between the onset of menses and how much more growth occurred AFTER that. It's not really a short-vs-tall issue when a girl starts, but how tall she was when she started and how much she grew afterward. I'm not really seeing info like that in the posts.

So, how old was your dd (or you) when you started, how tall were you (or your DD) when you started, and how much did you grow after that?

 

[georgina]

I think you're referring to what's collectively known as the "endocrine disruptor" theories... that chemicals leeching from various plastics are wrecking all manner of havoc on the reproductive systems of creatures both human and reptilian. While they created a lot of heat and smoke (along with a lot of scary Newsweek magazine stories) a number of years ago, scientific parties that were "concerned" about such possibilities have largely set them aside after further research into their merit and since moved on. They join other such media driven scares such as cell phones causing brain tumors.

There still is research into "environmental estrogens" from sources such as pesticide runoff in streams, birth control pills, and plastics. While the media does tend to blow things up and then move on, the matter is far from dismissed.

Oh, and sorry about your hockey team losing!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

My pediatrician told me that once a girl starts her cycle, she will only grow one or two more inches. I was pretty surprised by this, I had never heard it before. .

my doctor said the same

 

[MrsPotts]

I started the summer after 6th grade and had already hit 6'!!!! Didn't grow anymore after that thank goodness. I am taller than both my parents and younger sisters. Maybe that story about the milkman is true.

 

[Green Tea]

I think what posters are missing information-wise here is the difference in height between the onset of menses and how much more growth occurred AFTER that. It's not really a short-vs-tall issue when a girl starts, but how tall she was when she started and how much she grew afterward. I'm not really seeing info like that in the posts.

So, how old was your dd (or you) when you started, how tall were you (or your DD) when you started, and how much did you grow after that?

I said the common thought didn't hold true for my daughter. She has continued to grow; about 6 inches more, and has not stopped growing yet.

I found it interesting that she was by far the tiniest of her friends, and the earliest starter. She is now the tallest of the group, and hasn't seemed to stop growing where as her friends seemed to follow the traditional pattern of height growth pretty much being complete at the onset. She is still waif like, yet getting taller.

 

[Aisling]

My DD12 doesn't fit this theory. She is still impatiently waiting. Silly girl!


Lori

That's so cute, and brings back memories of when I was 12 and the last of my close group of girlfriends to get my period...I remember actually praying to God for "it" to happen. Well, God made me wait one more year.

About the height/weight, of the three girls in my family, my two overweight sisters got it at ages 10 and 11. I was barely 100 lbs and got it at 13. We're all around the same height at 5'3.

My mother was 11, 5'4, and 150 lbs.

My grandmother (her mother) got it at 16, was 5'9', and was 200 lbs!

Everyone's statistics are so interesting, but I see a lot of variation to come to a height/age correlation.

One thing I do know is that in the Philippines, the averge age of first period is 11. (My DH is Filipino and his father is a physician who says this is true.) And those girls are short and skinny! Maybe there's a genetic racial factor in there, too.

 

[boltfans]

I think a girl's height has way more to do with genetics than anything else. I come from a line of short people so my height of 5' 3" is not surprising at all. My mom is 5'2" and my dad was 5'8". I got my period 2 months before I turned 10yo and was about 5' at the time, so the growing just a couple of inches after that held true for me. My mother was 10yo when she got her period, about 5' as well, and then grew 2 inches. My grandmother, however, was 14 when she got her period and topped out at a whopping 5'1".

Regarding weight, I know I was about 75 lbs at the time, but can't say what my mom or grandmother weighed. I know neither of them were heavy kids or teens though, so I can't imagine them having a ton of body fat, but who knows.

Oh, and FWIW, my mom and I were both in the 90th or so percentile for height as kids, till puberty that is. I was always the tallest kid in my class, from preschool till 5th grade. Then I pretty much stopped growing and people caught up to/passed me by. But typically, the taller girls had taller parents and the shorter girls had shorter parents.

 

[clgwli]

I think what posters are missing information-wise here is the difference in height between the onset of menses and how much more growth occurred AFTER that. It's not really a short-vs-tall issue when a girl starts, but how tall she was when she started and how much she grew afterward. I'm not really seeing info like that in the posts.

So, how old was your dd (or you) when you started, how tall were you (or your DD) when you started, and how much did you grow after that?

I stopped growing before my menses started. I made a mistake though the three of us were 12 when we had our first not 11. I made a math error. My two friends I mentioned both grew about 2-3" after theirs (yeah I know too much about them but we all were in the same sport together). The gymnasts I know stopped growing several years prior to getting theirs. They are the only ones I personally know were in high school when they got theirs. Most of my friends grew a couple of inches from Jr High to highschool. I was the odd one who did not. However most of my friends were about 13 or 14 when they got their first period. The only ones who seemed late were the (2) gymnasts who were very late by comparison in getting theirs and they were not growing at all prior to that.

So I am not sure I see much correlation either. The early ones in my group weren't necessarily done growing and the very late ones were not growing anyway by the time they got theirs. I think we all stopped really growing by high school. Some of us just got our first a year or so earlier than others.

As for the weight thing. I did not reach 100 pounds until I hit my freshman year. I was right around 90 when I had my first period. But at 5 foot tall that's probably a correct fat ratio.

 

[Ohiodislover]

My DD has grown at LEAST 3 1/2-4 inches since she started 2 years ago, at age 12.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I had read about this soon after my daughter was born. She is 9 now and drinks organic milk most of the time. Yogurts are usually organic as well. Meats, we do organic when we can.

In 2-4 years, we shall see how it turns out.

My kids are pipsqueaks anyway.

I started at age 13 and I am 5'4"-5'5"--I found out 2 years ago that I do have a mild scoliosis. With PT and Pilates I am more consistently 5'5".

No idea when my the females in my family started, but they are all in the 5'2 to 5'5 range.

I believe part of it is genetics--but I do believe the hormones cause earlier onset of menses. I have never heard that early menses means that you would be shorter. My kids are screwed either way.

I detested milk growing up and refused to drink it (I can sense the temp change as it warms and it just grosses me out ).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I agree. Why would anyone not want their daughter to understand how her cycle works? I thought we moved out of the dark ages a while back.
.

I found the book at a library sale for a buck and picked it up. My dd was 8 when we got it and she is 9 now.

She has known for a while about "mommy diapers" (as she called it when she was littel ) and the uber basics of the monthly visitor.

I previewed the book and have opted to withhold it. That particular section is pretty graphic.

She hasn't even begun puberty, so I don't need her to see a tastefully drawn "how to" photo for tampons. But I opted to just shelve the book for later learning as opposed to gluing.

I can't beleive that mom glued the pages together--it kinda defeats the purpose of the book, you know!

 

[golfgal]

Ok, from my experience, everyone's child that people have posted about here is getting their periods about the time that we did when we were younger-between 10-12 and that was later then our parents got theirs. I was one of the latest to get mine and I was just going into 7th grade, so 12 1/2. Most of DD's friends were at least that when they got their periods. DD didn't get her's until she was 13 1/2 (to the day even). The tallest girl in her grade was the first one to get her period at age 10 and she has grown a LOT more then 2 inches in the past 5 years. She has grown at least 6 inches since then. I think kids are entering puberty LATER then when we did. I know when I started 7th grade I needed a REAL bra and most of DD's friends wore bras because everyone else did and no one needed them . DD certainly didn't "need" one until about 4 months ago.

Since DD hasn't had her's for very long yet I don't know how tall she will end up. She has grown about 2" this past school year. I was well under 5' tall when I got my period, grew some over the next couple years and then grew 4" between 9th and 10th grade.

I have heard they will continue to grow for 3 years after the start of their period on average. I have not heard anything about how much they will grow. I have also heard that 100 lbs is the magic number, give or take, for the body to have enough fat to start menstruating because estrogen is stored in body fat.

 

[WDWBarb]

I'm 5'10" and started around the age of 12. DD is 5'3" and started at age 10. Her pediatrician told me when she started her period that she would have 1-2 years of opportunity for growth since puberty signals the body that it's time to stop growing. I didn't believe him because she was just over 5' tall at the time. He was right.

He spoke about how many girls now are starting so early and it's making them shorter and shorter. He mentioned hormones in foods - specifically milk, chicken, and beef. He said it was a theory but as good a theory as any.

There are some girls who start their periods early but still grow very tall because they have their growth spurts either before they begin puberty or shortly thereafter.

It's so weird that DD barely comes to my chin! I always assumed she'd be tall.