DD (10) has just started her period

[WendyCope]

She is nearly 11, but it seems quite young? I was 15!!!

Do you mind me asking whe your DD's started their periods?

She's delighted I am in shock

My dd is 13 yo and not started yet which has surprised me as she is tall and well developed, she says she is one of the last of her friendship group to start. I think 10 yo is young and can understand your feelings op

SuperPixie Thank you

I was 11. That was 30 years ago and I think a couple of the other girls were 11 too.

I'm surprised your school haven't prepared you. My niece had to carry a spare pair of knickers with her from the age of 9. When parents complained it was too early the school said "Look, some girl is going to start this year, it could well be your daughter. Last year we had 3 girls start at 9."

I was 11. My mum didn't even have the talk with me, it was at sec school that I learned what a period was.

ahhh and Girlie Thank you. I really think Girlie that that is the case, DD's are mch younger now, 13 plus seems 'average' to me. Certainly not 10.

I was 13 when I started and I was the last out of all my friends, some started at primary school. Do you know I’ve never considered the correlation between starting my periods and growth. Now I think about it, I wore size 5 shoes at 13 and I still do.

Thanks to everyone for the replies, I really really appreciate them. Sorry not to name check everyone.

Elspeth very interesting, Dreamz you are describing my mother! Terrible!

I better go and bake a cake or something!

I was 11 and I was the littlest in the class!

I know it seems young, but it's very normal. I was 13 and it seems so much older.

A girl in Peru gave birth at 7

@WendyCope honestly it wasn't so bad as my mother had me prepped and ready to go when I came to her saying I'd started. She had a book on puberty and loads of resources for me, so I knew what to expect.
I was the first girl in my school to start, by the time everyone else had started, I'd had mine for two years and had at least a B to C cup.

I started my periods when I was just 10, about a week after my birthday. Don't worry about the growth thing, I was fairly small height wise, caught chicken pox, measles & mumps straight after each other just before I was 12, was off school for nearly a full term & shot up nearly 6 inches in height by the time I went back to school.

DD was 10 (4 months from being 11) - although it was a surprise being relatively young she wasn't the only one. some of her school friends were in Y6 - usually just turned 11y in their cases when they started.

DD knew all about it so came to tell me quite calmly. She'd been developing in other ways for a while before that, though was still quite petite.

It was fine. She got on with it all really well. We packed her a small make up type bag for her her school bag, with supplies in inc clean pants and Calpol Melts - these were easier for her to take than normal tablets, and didn't need water.

We did tell her teacher so she could be more aware of needing a more private place to change, etc.

I was just turned 10, over 40 years ago, so it’s not a recent thing

Bless her. Some of the period pant brands do young teen sizes, perhaps try her with those? She's unlikely to then have to change at school and will make it easier for her especially with lack of privacy to change for pe etc.

My dd is 9 and hasn't yet but is being monitored by consultant for signs as they may give her medication to slow her down as it will stunt her growth. She's in year 4 and I'm dreading it as she's too young to be dealing with it. She likes to swim and dance and I just think it will be a nightmare.
Great that your dd is so happy!

I was just 9, which is far too bloody young. My eldest daughter was 12.5, and the youngest is about that now and I suspect it won’t be long now. I think that she is younger than most in her class. I have a wash bag with some pads, wipes, some hand gel, spare knickers and some deodorant just in case her period hits at school.

Oh yes.... definitely keep checking in and talking about it too!

I was 12.

I was 9 ☹ also was in a proper bra, not training. Was not fun at all.

I was aged 9 or 10 so I don’t think it is that young, I’m afraid.

In hindsight whilst I thought my mother was OK - she was nice about it and pads came in regularly to the house for me to take - I would do things differently with my daughter.

I would a) show her how to make up an emergency pouch for school and b) show her how to dispose of the pads.

I had a lot of accidents at school and wasn't prepared at all. And my Dad did a lot of recycling which meant sorting and rummaging through all the bins. It meant I developed this massive embarrassment about putting pads in there and disposing of them became this furtive shameful thing.

DD had just turned 9 but tbh I was expecting it (all the hormone signs). She was ready for it as we had been talking about it for a long time, and when it happened she picked out a fancy pencil case that we filled with pads, spare knickers and wet wipes so she was able to take it to school.

She coped amazingly well - even became the "guru" of her class to some of the other girls who started the year after. These days (she is now nearly 13) the little bag she takes to school also has paracetamol in it (only ever 2 at a time - not a box!).

I have a family of sisters and we were all in primary school (9/10/11) when we started ours so DD starting so young just seemed normal.

DD started hers at 10 - I was not expecting it as she hadn't had her growth spurt (overtaken me now aged 14) or had any chest development(still not very much there.) I think it was easier as she got used to it while still in the relatively nurturing primary school, and was happy to talk to me about everything. Some of her friends had started already so she wasn't odd. Dd decided to try tampons early on for a holiday, and she much prefers them now, so don't dismiss them because of age.

My dd was 10 and the smallest and youngest in the class,she did grow a bit but she’s only 5ft 1

DD started just before her 10th birthday.

The best piece of advice I can give is to invest in some period pants - it is so difficult at primary school to manage with pads etc. Although pricey, this has quite literally changed a difficult experience to an only slightly annoying one! I am so envious of this generation with the option to manage without sanitary products.

The other thing is that her periods are not remotely regular and come heavy and not heavy! No consistency at all! With heavier periods she wears a pad inside her period pants and then disposes of it at lunchtime.

I figure at least it's easier than it arriving in the first term of secondary like mine did!

And she has grown quite a lot since it started too so don't worry too much about that.