When did your son/daughter go through puberty?

[Anonymous]

I have a 10.5 year old girl who is going into 5th grade. She is nowhere near puberty. She still looks like a little girl - short, skinny, no breast buds. I assume she will start putting on some weight and grow taller in the next year or so. Right now she is only 70 pounds and 56" tall. FWIW we are Asian and I didn't get my period until 13 years old.

[Anonymous]

One note: girl’s puberty doesn’t begin with her period starting. That comes towards the end of puberty.

That said it’s usually the event women remember, and not the usual beginnings of puberty such as breast buds.

FWIW my daughter was just shy of 14 to start her period. I was 12 1/2. And my mother was 10.

[Anonymous]

There is a range.

At age 10 my DD was very much still a child and weighed 60 something pounds.

She started her period a week before she turned 15, so was very much on the late end of things. She seemed to start puberty at 12-13 but at that age I was obviously not seeing her undressed or anything. Many of her friends were finishing puberty as she was just beginning.

This is not something I would worry about at all (especially at age 10) unless the ped has concerns.

As you probably know, most girls seem to start their periods around age 12-13 so puberty would start some time prior to that. But not everyone is “average”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 10.5 year old girl who is going into 5th grade. She is nowhere near puberty. She still looks like a little girl - short, skinny, no breast buds. I assume she will start putting on some weight and grow taller in the next year or so. Right now she is only 70 pounds and 56" tall. FWIW we are Asian and I didn't get my period until 13 years old.

Your daughter is just about the same height and weight as my almost 12 yo, rising 7th grader, though she's only 54". She hasn't started puberty yet. I'm sure it's coming eventually.

[Anonymous]

Did your ped say she’s within normal range? It sounds like she is. A random smattering of replies here isn’t necessarily going to help. For example my kid got her period at 11 but the ped also said she was within normal range. It’s a range.

[Anonymous]

White-Asian DD's first tiny signs of puberty started at 12, period right before turning 15. I (also white-Asian) got my period at 14, my white European mother got hers at 17.

Your daughter is perfectly normal, and it's way too early for you to be concerned, OP.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth are you bringing this up if your daughter is undeveloped and not likely to get her period before 13? It runs in families, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did your ped say she’s within normal range? It sounds like she is. A random smattering of replies here isn’t necessarily going to help. For example my kid got her period at 11 but the ped also said she was within normal range. It’s a range.

+1

I think it is fine to ask parents who have BTDT (especially if your kid is an outlier/unusual and you are worried) but honestly OP your DD is in the very normal range. Nothing whatsoever to worry about unless your doctor has concerns.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the reassurances! I am not overly worried about DD but I do know that she is very self-conscious about the fact that she hasn't developed yet at all and all her friends have. Many of them have noticeable breast buds/breasts and are significantly taller than her at this point. I think she feels like a little girl next to them and desperately wants to "fit in" with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 10.5 year old girl who is going into 5th grade. She is nowhere near puberty. She still looks like a little girl - short, skinny, no breast buds. I assume she will start putting on some weight and grow taller in the next year or so. Right now she is only 70 pounds and 56" tall. FWIW we are Asian and I didn't get my period until 13 years old.

She’s a ten year old Asian child. She’s normal. 13 years old is a pretty common age to get your first period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the reassurances! I am not overly worried about DD but I do know that she is very self-conscious about the fact that she hasn't developed yet at all and all her friends have. Many of them have noticeable breast buds/breasts and are significantly taller than her at this point. I think she feels like a little girl next to them and desperately wants to "fit in" with them.

Even among her Asian friends?

[Anonymous]

I am kind of surprised that "all" of her friends have developed, tbh. That is not consistent with what I have seen with my DD's peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am kind of surprised that "all" of her friends have developed, tbh. That is not consistent with what I have seen with my DD's peers.

Ditto. In 5th grade most of the girls still seemed like kids. Girls this age are usually very private and are not changing in front of each other if they have a choice.

I really don’t see how this could be that big of a deal TBH. In a year or so, maybe.

My DD was a very late bloomer and had no issues with it at all. She has always had a lot of friends and was never teased about it or anything like that. She was glad to not have to deal with it at that age. I think her very early blooming and/or very tall friends were actually more self conscious about it at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the reassurances! I am not overly worried about DD but I do know that she is very self-conscious about the fact that she hasn't developed yet at all and all her friends have. Many of them have noticeable breast buds/breasts and are significantly taller than her at this point. I think she feels like a little girl next to them and desperately wants to "fit in" with them.

Perhaps I am projecting but this sounds like your issue, not hers, OP. It is very normal for her to not be at all developed at 10. Maybe a couple of her friends are but unless they are all old for the grade, I sincerely doubt it is all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am kind of surprised that "all" of her friends have developed, tbh. That is not consistent with what I have seen with my DD's peers.

Some ethnicities develop much earlier than others.