puberty questions (girls)

[Anonymous]

OP here - update: my DD just got her period. She will be 11 next week. So it was about 14 months from when I first noticed anything until now.

I really thought it would take longer, was hoping more like 2+ years, because she is soooo thin & really has no body fat, which I thought was a necessary prerequisite. She's still about 10th to 15th percentile for weight & is skinnier than all her friends. She doesn't need a bra - still not much going on there. (Of course, I am an A cup, so she better hope she inherits boobs from Grandma or something.) She does not consume a lot of dairy, either, and we use only organic milk. We don't eat much red meat & my DD does not eat meat at all. Everything I read lists possible causes for early menarche and not a single one applies to us! I guess I should stop trying to figure out how this could be my fault . . . .

I'm sad it's so early, but at least she's going into 6th grade & I'm sure she will not be the only girl in her grade who has started. More importantly, she was prepared & knew what to expect & told me about it very matter-of-factly. So I'm glad we talked about everything early on, read the American Girl book, etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing the news, OP. I hope your DD is feeling okay. At least it happened before school started. I remember when you started this thread b/c my DD seems to be on the same trajectory. I agree that the American Girl book has been very helpful. Best wishes to you and your DD.

[Anonymous]

She may not have another period for a few months or longer ... I had a first period at 11 2 months and then never had another until close to 12.

[Anonymous]

Hope you took her out for some ice cream to celebrate. She may be surprised to learn how many of her classmates started this summer, or will be there to lend an ear when a friend starts at school and is feeling nervous about her first time. Great that she was able to tell you about it, that it didn't start at school, and that she felt well prepared. Perfect scenario. Hope it goes as well for my DD! Fingers crossed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If poeple would stop feeding their daughters beef and milk from hormone suplimented cows they would probalby not be entering puberty at such young ages.

Organic milk and beef, and non-sedentry lifestyle go a long way in allowing girls to be girls instead of staring mensus at 9 or 10. Body fat has a lot to do with when girls start puberty.

WRONG! I thought the same thing but my DD is a vegetarian and has rarely had dairy that isn't organic except for the occasional ice cream or frozen yogurt or cheese pizza when we go out. She started breast and underarm hair growth at age 9 and got her period at age 11 which is average now. She also definitely has not had a sedentary lifestyle and is not fat. My new theory is that girls are exposed to a lot of unhealthy estrogens which leach into our foods from plastics and we also get of lot of exposure to hormone receptors from things like parabens in shampoos and other cosmetics. There could be a lot of other environmental factors causing excessive estrogen as well. This also explains why boys are developing breasts.

[Anonymous]

OP- just be happy you were there for her Enjoy a good laugh ...

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ed64755ab1/her-first-period

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

WRONG! I thought the same thing but my DD is a vegetarian and has rarely had dairy that isn't organic except for the occasional ice cream or frozen yogurt or cheese pizza when we go out. She started breast and underarm hair growth at age 9 and got her period at age 11 which is average now. She also definitely has not had a sedentary lifestyle and is not fat. My new theory is that girls are exposed to a lot of unhealthy estrogens which leach into our foods from plastics and we also get of lot of exposure to hormone receptors from things like parabens in shampoos and other cosmetics. There could be a lot of other environmental factors causing excessive estrogen as well. This also explains why boys are developing breasts.

I would be shocked if it is from plastics. More likely if it is from environmental hormones (food, etc), it is from hormones in the water supply. For the girls, it could also be a sign of good nutrition. What I do know in I do not remember 5th graders with breasts, but I do remember my sister had them when she was in the sixth grade, because people used to call her BT. That was in 1972. Now, my sister was an october child, and today, that would have been in the 7th grade.

To be honest, I never noticed when breast buds developed before I noticed them on my rising 4th grader. And she has had mostly hormone free foods.

[Anonymous]

I think this is a great discussion to be having. I just wanted to add for parents to take seriously their daughters complaints about pain related to their periods. I have endometriosis and people did not really take my pains seriously when I was younger and in many ways I grew up thinking debilitating pain around my period was "normal." My mom would tell me that everyone cramps up or feels pain during their period.

Only later in life when I was in the fetal position in my bedroom contemplating going to the hospital due to the pain and I asked my mom what she did when pain was that bad, she said it never was for her. She had simply not known the extent of my pains. There are girls with endometriosis who need to miss school around their periods or other times with severe pelvic pain. If you suspect your DD to be in serious pain, be sure to take her to a specialist (many doctors don't know much about endometriosis) to get examined. I would hate for other girls to go through what I did as a teen for no real reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

WRONG! I thought the same thing but my DD is a vegetarian and has rarely had dairy that isn't organic except for the occasional ice cream or frozen yogurt or cheese pizza when we go out. She started breast and underarm hair growth at age 9 and got her period at age 11 which is average now. She also definitely has not had a sedentary lifestyle and is not fat. My new theory is that girls are exposed to a lot of unhealthy estrogens which leach into our foods from plastics and we also get of lot of exposure to hormone receptors from things like parabens in shampoos and other cosmetics. There could be a lot of other environmental factors causing excessive estrogen as well. This also explains why boys are developing breasts.

I would be shocked if it is from plastics. More likely if it is from environmental hormones (food, etc), it is from hormones in the water supply. For the girls, it could also be a sign of good nutrition. What I do know in I do not remember 5th graders with breasts, but I do remember my sister had them when she was in the sixth grade, because people used to call her BT. That was in 1972. Now, my sister was an october child, and today, that would have been in the 7th grade.

To be honest, I never noticed when breast buds developed before I noticed them on my rising 4th grader. And she has had mostly hormone free foods.

I see your point. The reason I believe that is because I know someone who was involved in breast cancer research who said that she had watched cancer cells grow at an alarming rate in a plastic petri dish and that they had determined that the plastic itself was giving off a chemical resembling estrogen. From that time, my friend has thrown out all of the plastic in her house and advised me to do the same. Of course, a lot more research is needed before we will hear any of this. But really, it is more likely that there are multiple factors causing this.