Help. I need some information on early puberty in girls

[Crankyshank]

I hope this won't upset you, I'm not trying to be judgemental truely. I have read many scientific essays (medical and anthroplological) that say girls that live in the same household with their biological fathers develop later. It isn't just any male living in the house, it has to be the biological father. It is kind of natures way of saying OK daddy is still here to take care of you, so you don't need to develop yet to attract a mate to provide for you. My parents were divorced and I got my period on my 11 birthday (what a great present) all the other women on both sides of my family didn't get theirs until at least 14, my mother was 18. She thought I was a freak. Which I am .

That is definitely not true. I was 9 and lived with my biological parents. My sister was 11 and lived with the same parents. In fact my friends that also started early (although not as early as I did) all lived with their biological parents as well.

 

[Freyja]

DD is 9 and still has a looong way to go. I hope she´s no where near puberty yet. I was an early bloomer and know that it´s NOT fun.

 

[tink38]

I hope this won't upset you, I'm not trying to be judgemental truely. I have read many scientific essays (medical and anthroplological) that say girls that live in the same household with their biological fathers develop later. It isn't just any male living in the house, it has to be the biological father. It is kind of natures way of saying OK daddy is still here to take care of you, so you don't need to develop yet to attract a mate to provide for you. My parents were divorced and I got my period on my 11 birthday (what a great present) all the other women on both sides of my family didn't get theirs until at least 14, my mother was 18. She thought I was a freak. Which I am .

Ummn..okay. I got my first period when I was nine and my parents are STILL married.

 

[LisaR]

DD started developing at 7. She is 10 now and has yet to start her period but has symptoms like clockwork every 6 weeks so it is a matter of time.

I took her to the doctor when she was 7 because I was concerned. The doctor said it is very common in:
Black girls ..........dd is white
Overweight girls..........dd is thin as a rail
Girls that eat a lot of meat.........dd is a veg head

Apparently their statistics are a little off.

 

[cats mom]

I watched something on the news last week about early puberty in girls. It seems that the normal age for a girl to enter puberty now is between 8 and 9 years old. They said that it has to do with food additives. It was a story on one of the network news stations. You might be able to find it. The story was saying that it is a problem because the girls aren't really mentally prepared to handle their body changes at this age. I also saw something about the estrogen in many shampoos having an effect on when girls start puberty.

Here is a link to a story about this:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/children/03/31/early.puberty.wmd/index.html

This article made an interesting point about younger girls being more receptive to talking with mom about the changes they're going through since they don't have that teen age friend base to get information (or mis-information) from.
(trying to find a bit of a silver lining for you)

My DD's were at the other end of the spectrum. They already "knew it all" because it seems ALL their friends went through puberty long before they did. They were not interested in anything I had to say. I just kept getting "yea, mom I already know that"

I do think you're wise to schedule an appontment with an endocrinologist just to rule out something else going on.
Sounds like it is not uncommon though.

 

[MAKmom]

My husband wants only Organic meat in the house. He says he wants flat chested daughters.

 

[daisyduck123]

My DD11 got her period at age 10. (and not one pound overweight).

The month she turned 6 and a half is when I began to wonder what was up. That month is when she started needing deodorant..I mean really needed it. One night, she'd been out of the shower for only about a half hour & I could tell she didn't have her deodorant on. She hated it but needed it every day.

 

[punkin]

I watched something on the news last week about early puberty in girls. It seems that the normal age for a girl to enter puberty now is between 8 and 9 years old. They said that it has to do with food additives. It was a story on one of the network news stations. You might be able to find it. The story was saying that it is a problem because the girls aren't really mentally prepared to handle their body changes at this age. I also saw something about the estrogen in many shampoos having an effect on when girls start puberty.

Here is a link to a story about this:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/children/03/31/early.puberty.wmd/index.html

It may be common, but I cannot agree that it is "normal"

 

[mckinley]

My daughter is turning 6 on the 30th of this month. She is going to be an early bloomer as well. I already have her wearing training bras or an undershirt with some of her shirts if she doesn't it looks really bad. She is really tall & going to be big boned. She is not overweight though.

 

[CheshireVal]

A friend's daughter started developing body odor at 6 years old-- not something usually seen until puberty.

The doctor told her to only buy organic milk from now on.

So many girls growing up way too fast.... when I have kids, I'm going to shell out for the organic milk, myself.

 

[caitycaity]

It may be common, but I cannot agree that it is "normal"

what the heck? are you a doctor or something? i started puberty around age 8 and got my period at 10. so did my mom and so did her mom! i guess we are abnormal? no doctor ever commented to me that i was abnormal or that there was something wrong with me.

My hips grew very rapidly when I was about 8/9yrs old - so much so that I have stretch marks from that time there (obviously, they're very faded now, but still there).

i had this problem too! i didn't even know what stretch marks were.

 

[Nancy]

I hope this won't upset you, I'm not trying to be judgemental truely. I have read many scientific essays (medical and anthroplological) that say girls that live in the same household with their biological fathers develop later. It isn't just any male living in the house, it has to be the biological father. It is kind of natures way of saying OK daddy is still here to take care of you, so you don't need to develop yet to attract a mate to provide for you. My parents were divorced and I got my period on my 11 birthday (what a great present) all the other women on both sides of my family didn't get theirs until at least 14, my mother was 18. She thought I was a freak. Which I am .

Not sure how much research went into this one. My girls live with their biological father and mother (me) and #1 had hers at 14, #2 got hers at 11 (she had hers before her older sister did) and #3 got hers around 12. It's great in my house...we all follow each others cycles, it is non stop in my house...we are hormone city!

 

[Nancy]

A friend's daughter started developing body odor at 6 years old-- not something usually seen until puberty.

The doctor told her to only buy organic milk from now on.

So many girls growing up way too fast.... when I have kids, I'm going to shell out for the organic milk, myself.

I have a friend that didn't let her kids drink a lot of milk, they took calcium supplements. My kids drank milk, but not a lot. #2 can't tolerate it and she started the youngest of all of them. I just think it's the environment and all the additives in our food...I hate the fact that my kids (at least 2 of them) had it so early. I really hate that my 13 year old looks way better than I did at that age...she had a very cute figure...I was still flat as a board back then!

 

[kbkids]

Oh, so not ready for this. DD is 8 and starting to develop a little too. If she's got on a clingy shirt, it's very obvious. She had to start wearing deodorant at the age of 6 too. And yes, if she forgets, we notice.

Yesterday, we were walking out of church. She was a little bit ahead of us and had on a black skirt that is kinda tight on her - not in a bad way, just fits snuggly. Anyway, she's got this little twist in her walk anyway, and that skirt just totally emphasized it. DH looked at me and said, "That can't be my little girl up there!!"

 

[Tammy1966]

OP I just want to say that you are not alone.
I took my DD to the doc when she was 8 because dd was complaining that she had these little lumps near her breasts. Did I feel like a fool when the doc checked her over then said "It's ok mom, it is just breast buds" My mouth just hung open. My DD is now 12 in a C cup and her period that isn't regular for a year now. Do I think it is the milk/ beef who knows! My concern is her well being because others who haven't got what she has are very very cruel.

 

[AmyBeth68]

I just came back for the doctor with my DD7. I took her because her left breast was swollen for 2 weeks and I though she hurt herself or something. Well, no. It is actually growing. She only turned 7 in November. I am horrified. She's my baby. The doctor took blood, but she said that really all they do is monitor her growth. Nothing else. Has anyone had to deal with this? Should I take her to an endocrinologist? She's perfectly average in height and weight (actually a little underweight but within norm) and this just blindsided me.

I can totally relate . I just had my DD age 6 to the doctor last week for the very same thing. I noticed her left breast was lumpy...I was terrified. My doctor told me that it is most likely a reaction to estrogen and that it can happen to children as young as infants. He said it is common and not to be worried. However, he did say that there is a slight chance that she is developing early puberty. Basically I've been told to watch for any other signs and she gets re-checked in a few months. I'm hoping that his instincts are correct, the idea of my little baby starting puberty just breaks my heart. She also is thin as a rail and as far as I can tell shows no other signs of puberty?! My sister developed early though so there is a chance.

 

[AmyBeth68]

OP I just want to say that you are not alone.
I took my DD to the doc when she was 8 because dd was complaining that she had these little lumps near her breasts. Did I feel like a fool when the doc checked her over then said "It's ok mom, it is just breast buds" My mouth just hung open. My DD is now 12 in a C cup and her period that isn't regular for a year now. Do I think it is the milk/ beef who knows! My concern is her well being because others who haven't got what she has are very very cruel.

Tammy,

At what age did your DD actually "develop" and also get her period. I'm getting worried. Sounds like the same lumps that we noticed in my baby .

 

[ashjohnson80]

I also got my period at 10 and I wasn't overweight at all at that age. I was also the tallest in my class and everything else developed early too. And now I'm not a tall person at all I'm only 5'4 on a good shoe day. But all I really wanted to say was *hugs* for you and your DD.

 

[chris1gill]

You guys are scaring me... I also developed quite early, I was 9, almost 10, it really was quite awful to be so young.

Anyhow, I have an 8 year old, almost 8 & a half.... I don't think she's developing, she's thinner than a rail & quite tall for her age (just as I was)... I don't know how to bring this subject up with her?

Can a mom that's experienced explaining all this with their DD PM me, I need some advice as to how to broach the whole subject with her.... I know I have to... we've discussed the birds & bee's, but not this particular subject I guess I hoped that if I didn't tell her, it wouldn't happen

 

[MAKmom]

Remember that non organic milk & non organic milk products, cheese, Icecream are filled with hormones to make the cows produce mass amounts of Milk. They were also there when we were kids but not as much. I'll look the figures up today.

Milk products are in almost everything you buy, read the lables.

A neighbors 2 years old started getting breast & the DR said it was the chicken, they gave up red meat. The non- organic chicken have the big breast.

The Food in mainstream supermarkets is junk. Kraft is horrible read the lables most of it is filled with MSG & dye.

If you are among the luckey with a Trader Joes try it Please. You will eat better & save money.