When should a 9 year old shave her armpits?
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Anonymous
You realize 9 and 11 are two years apart, correct? |
Anonymous
NP. +100 |
Anonymous
New poster. I just took my about to be 10yo to the ped last week & this was exactly what she told me. My daughter has pubic hair but none under her arms. Ped said period unrelated to hair but would come roughly 2 us following breast buds. |
Anonymous
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You've mentioned it to her and she doesn't care. Drop it until she brings it up again.
9 is not too young to have under arm hair or pubic hair or a period. I had all of those at 9 and I was monitored be a pediatrician. That's it, just monitored. My mom didn't shave her legs, so neither did I. I still don't. I wasn't excessively hairy, but I did have dark hair. I was never ridiculed in school. And yes, I am married. I am American and I firmly believe that our society is teaching girls that the only way to exist is to change themselves and look like everyone else. Conform to what others say is pretty. If you are too fat, loose the weight because you can't be fat and pretty at the same time. If you are too developed at a young age, hide it. If you have hairy legs, shave them. If you are disfigured in any way, cover it. We are not teaching girls that their natural body is just as good as one covered in make-up. |
Anonymous
Armpit hair is not unusual at all by age 9! Anything after 8 is not precocious (or precious  .
Girls don’t know to ask until they have already been made fun of. Offer by the time it’s noticeable. |
Anonymous
| As soon as there's hair. I remember being about 11. |
Anonymous
| When she wants to. NOT when you shame her into saying she wants to. |
Anonymous
| I literally had no idea that women grew hair in their armpits until I started to get hair there, and it totally freaked me out. I didn't even realize it was hair because the concept seemed to unrecognizable to me. I thought I was a freak of nature getting weird marks under my arms until I finally realized it was hair. I didn't have a great relationship with my mom about stuff like this, and I didn't feel comfortable bringing it up to her. I was in dance and remember noticing it for the first time because I had to wear a leotard for a recital. It was awkward. I don't remember when she let me shave it or told me that most women in the U.S. do shave, but it was totally new info to me. Just another perspective that might be the case for some girls. |
Anonymous
Age is irrelevant. Armpit hair on a girl should not be visible ever. |
Anonymous
| When armpit hair appears. My daughter started having it around age 10, I think? I just handed her a razor and said, honey, you are growing, and that comes with armpit hair. In our family, we remove armpit hair. This is how you do it. I showed it to her and that was that, it became a part of her grooming routine over time. I think when you present certain things as facts of life, kids take it very well. Just like we brush our teeth, we remove armpit hair. This is the norm. |
Anonymous
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My mom never explained to me about shaving, a friend explained it to me when I was 11 and I was horrified and very mad at my mother. I didn’t even discuss it with her, I just stole her razor and shaved. Later that year when I got my period, I borrowed supplies from a friend and didn’t tell her for months because I figured she didn’t give a crap about it since she couldn’t explain about the shaving like the other moms. This pattern continued and I never went to her about anything dealing with my body, including sex.
So, maybe I’m a bad example, but, the point is—I felt betrayed that my mom didn’t explain the basics to me and I ended up asking friends for advice instead of her. Not saying, you need to order her to shave, but, it’s worth it to discuss her changing body with her and discuss why you (mom) choose to shave or not and then let her decide. |
Anonymous
I hope you don't have children, and I hope you're in therapy for your body image issues. |
Anonymous
| Oh ladies, you're all so old. Armpit hair is back in style. Google "rainbow armpit hair" and start clutching your pearls. |
Anonymous
. There's your answer. Seems like a lot of the later posters didn't read carefully. Glad to see that you're ok letting it go. When she does decide she's interested, you can help her with the mechanics. |
Anonymous
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OP, my DD is 9, and had hair. Also getting pubic hair, which is freaking me out cuz she’s still my baby! Anyhow, she brought it up to me once, like hey mom look at this. I think I told her that some girls shave it but she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to. She didn’t say anything else right away, but last night she was in the shower and called me in. She wanted to show me her armpits; I took my razor and just said let’s take care of that. Two seconds and it was over. No questions, no comment.
FYI, my sister got her period just after she turned 10. It happens. |