Hair removal for 9 year old girl?

[Plinkyplankyplonk]

Im totally unprepared for this part of parenthood as my own childhood was abusive.

My 9, nearly 10 year old has suffered from precocious puberty for 3 years. She has pubic hair, armpit hair and quite hairy legs.

She has said that she won't wear dresses or skirts but I told her it really doesn't matter. So at this moment in time we've not talked about hair removal of any kind.

Do I leave it until she mentions it? Do I offer her hair removal suggestions? Which is the safest? She's still young and naive. I don't want to have her feel like she HAS to remove her armpit or leg hair, but similarly I don't want her getting bullied either.

She's also ND so she attends an SRB rather than mainstream and she will be going to a complex needs school for high school.

Any advice would be great as I have no idea what I'm doing.

Do you never remove your hair? The easiest way to bring it up is to mention something like "I'm just going to have a shower, I'll be a while as I want to shave my legs". DD has the Usborne what's happening to me book, and I think it covers it in there. She has decided against it, but has promised to ask me first if ever she decides she wants to. She was put off shaving when she saw me cut my leg so I tried out the other methods for her and showed her how they work (on me). She's decided to leave it for now!

I’d leave it to her to bring up.

i don’t shave, but bought disposable razors and shaving gel and left them in the bathroom. I don’t think they can do too much harm beyond the odd nick with a safety razor if they decide to give it a go.

Is her refusal to wear dresses and skirts because of her hair? If so I'd suggest it. If not then I'd leave it until she mentions it, otherwise the sheer fact of saying it may make her think she should.
Many kids don't remove hair, my 17 year old doesn't, but she's not particularly hairy.

Disposable razors and no one to show them how to use them is a terrible idea. You can do a lot of damage with a bad razor. Have you had a proper conversation with them or have you just randomly left them in the bathroom for them? The latter sounds like something my mum would have done to avoid ever having to have a serious conversation with us.

Ask if if she wants to. If she says no, let her know that she can ask for it if she ever wants it.

I disagree with the advice to wait until they bring it up. No matter how hard you've tried to encourage open conversations with me your kids, some young girls will feel embarrassed about this kind of stuff and may spend a long time needlessly worrying about it.

Instead, I would bring the subject up in a low key way. You can say something like "DD, I was thinking that you are at an age when some girls decide they would like to remove some of the hair under their arms and on their legs. It's totally up to you, and you definitely shouldn't feel you have to. But if you do, just let me know and we can look at the options for you". And then just leave it there and see what she says.

@pastaandpesto completely agree with this. I never spoke to my mum as I was embarrassed and so I stole a razor and caused some bad damage on my legs. I think being up front and asking out right might be best.

My DD11 has quite hairy legs - but blonde/light brown. No armpit or pubic hair visible when she wears a bathing suit.

We’ve talked about how I choose to shave my legs and under my arms and I’ve used wax, sugaring, laser and electrolysis and that this is my choice and I decided to do it.

She’s asked me if she should shave her legs - she swims with 14 and 15 year olds so would have heard them discussing it. I’ve said only if she wants to, if she starts it’s something she will need to do frequently because it regrows quite quickly and when she wants to, to tell me and I’ll show her. She’s decided to wait.

If she hasn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t worry about it at this stage, other than for her to know that she can always ask questions if she needs to.

Buy some silky mitts from Amazon they are easy to use and she won't Nick her skin.

I bought mine the mens gillette razor and showed her how to use it. Best quick way.

Thanks everyone, I think I'll mention it in passing that she can remove her armpit and leg hair if she wants to. I'd likely have to do it for her I think. Which I wouldn't mind.

If she does decide she wants to shave you could buy her battery operated lady shaver. that's what I use myself and it is so much gentler on my skin as I get very bad itchy legs if I use blades. mine Is a rechargeable and wasn't expensive as around £20 ish. Also you won't have to worry about her cutting herself. My teen shaves her armpits but doesn't shave her legs yet, but she's not particularly hairy. I've told her to hold off shaving her legs for as long as possible as they say it grows back thicker I'm sure it did in my case as my legs are hairier than any man's if I let them grow after years of shaving lol.

My 9 yo daughter started getting underarm hair around 6-7. For the past 1.5-2 years, I've been using nair on her underarms. She's able to do it herself now. She started her cycle at 9.7. She's very hairy. I told her to let me know when she's ready to shave her legs. It's up to her.