Early Puberty?

[HappyMumLdn2]

Not sure if my 8 year old son has started early puberty or if these are normal things to happen with most children. Is it bad to have early puberty?

First and foremost are his mood swings! He can go from really happy to feeling quite upset or frustrated over the silliest of situations. He's always been a little bit of an anxious child anyway, but not with these mood swings. This last month has been a nightmare!

Also I noticed for the first time tonight that he had a BO smell from his armpits. In the past he's been sweaty from being active but never any kind of smell to it.

Lastly when I took him to have his bath to make sure he gave his armpits a proper wash, I noticed that he actually has a quite a few blond hairs over his scrotum. They're not thick or dark, but they are quite long, maybe about 1cm. They're quite sparse. They're obviously longer and more noticeable than the tiny hairs everyone has over their body so I don't think it's that.

I'm not sure if this makes any difference but he is quite small for his age. He's the shortest in his class (albeit his class has a lot of tall kids with tall parents) although I'm around 5'7, not exactly short, but his height sits at the 9th percentile.

It's quite surreal and I am not sure whether to be concerned or if this is normal. If anything I would have originally guessed him to have delayed growth.

[Squaddielife]

Hiya

I would take him to your GP to be checked out.

My son is 8 1/2 and can smell 'manly' - so much so that I bought him some kiddie deodorant to use (probs twice a week) as I didn't want it becoming a problem at school. He also has a few sparse hairs down below.

I took him to the GP who ran some tests (all within normal range) and referred him to paed who said there are signs of changes but it's most likely just precocious adrenarche which in itself isn't a problem. He's been referred onto the Endo team at Alderhey to make absolutely sure though.

Precocious puberty can be an issue but it is rare in boys and can be treated pretty simply. Part of the issue is an early growth spurt which hasn't happened in your sons case by the sounds of it (or mine). If they have this early growth spurt it can compromise the height they reach as an adult.

Anyway, I wouldn't freak out. Take him to the GP to get some reassurances.