Delayed puberty in girls - DD15 - anyone have any experience / advice?

[basilbrush]

[Have also posted this on Teenagers board]

DD15 is distraught as she has no breast development (she is nearly totally flat, the nipples are slightly raised, that is it). We think she had her first period in December - there was a very small brownish blood stain on her knickers which she showed me - but nothing since.

She was underweight last year due to stress / anxiety but has worked very hard to put on a stone since then but is very upset that she still has not developed as she she feels she should have. She is very short for her age (4 foot 11) and has always been short.

The GP has just referred her to hospital for an ultrasound - I presume this is to check there is nothing physically wrong with her ovaries / uterus.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation? My gut feeling is that they will just tell her to go home, eat more and be patient. We have been trying this tactic for months but she is increasingly distressed and socially reclusive as she is so embarrassed about her body.

I've read that a short course of hormones can be given to 'jumpstart' puberty in some cases but I don't know whether I should be pushing for this from the doctor or whether this would be potentially irresponsible / dangerous and I should just keep telling her to be patient?

Any insight very grateful received!

She's only 15! I didn't have my first period until I was 16.5 - and I'm sure I wasn't the only one around that age.

You’ve addressed the weight and consulted the GP. My MiL didn’t start puberty until she was 16 and had no problems. IHTH.

It could be her weight, her genes or a combination of both.

Or it could be something more significant.

You are doing the right thing by getting her checked out. Don't be fobbed off.

Support your DD in a healthy lifestyle - good foods and exercise - to help her MH.

For some teens they need a lot of calories to kick start puberty so I'd focus on making sure she's eating loads.

That said when I was 15 a few of my friends hadn't started their periods or got boobs yet.

They're fine now as adults.

Very slim younger dd started had her first period at 15.5. I think menarche is linked to body weight (or perhaps body fat). Is your dd very slim?

Sorry, just read that she was underweight last year. I imagine it’s just a question of time if her weight is in the normal range now. In the past, girls typically started their periods much later than they do nowadays.

It's probably weight related if she is very small and slim. I'm sure I read somewhere that girls often don't start their periods until they hit 7/7.5 stone and that's certainly been true for a number of girls I've known. I think fat cells make oestrogen so there's certainly a link there.

I was a very skinny teen and I didn't start my period until a couple of months before I was 16 and I was very flat chested.

You are right to get it checked and to try to ensure she is a healthy weight, but also she's only 15, still within 'normal' range.

Also girls often start puberty at a similar age to their mothers, we're you also later starting?

@Starlingnest No I was 12 years old when I started

I was very skinny as a child and teen, didn't start my periods until I was 14 which isn't as late as some but most of my friends started at 10/11 so it felt late to me. I was all arms and legs, was 5'4 at about 13 but stayed that hight which is what I am now. I had a very flat chest as I was so slim but at around 16 my boobs went from an A cup to about a C cup and then by the time I was 18 I was an F cup so huge for my frame! My hips also got wider but I was an hourglass figure. Sometimes it does take a bit longer for some of us, puberty last years and I did gain weight in that time but was still "slim" but sadly now mid 30s and two kids later I still have the boobs but also an extra few stone 🙈 I look back at old pictures and can't believe I was ever that small!

another vote for weight. I probably had half a dozen periods before I was 21 and got my weight above 8 stone (I’m 5”9)

The plus side is that post two children in my 40s I have a great body, although that would have been of no consolation to teenage me. I can remember taping loo roll over my nipples to look like breast buds under clothes 🫢

Mine didn’t grow any breasts until 14 and they were tiny and didn’t have a period until 15 1/2 but the GP put her on a special supplements when she was nearly 15 as she was only 6 stone and dropped 2 stone when she had Covid badly. She had a normal diet but then - full fat milk - complan and milk twice a day. A full multivitamin and a supper sandwich of toast, butter and whatever she fancied on top and a hot chocolate or milkshake. Out for tea and cake lots of milkshakes and breakfast was normally poached eggs on toast and a bit of bacon. Some fruit but snacks were mainly malt loaf, nuts, flap jacks etc . It took a while (6 months) but it built her back up. She started her periods at 15 and everything developed normal after.

for her it was about mass - too light or poor nutrition it affects everything your brain function.

I was 16 when I started.

Obviously, no-one can diagnose over the internet (and it would be very wrong to do so) but I think you should ask your GP to investigate the possibility of Turners Syndrome. I have this condition, and your post definitely struck a chord with me. I was your DD (short, and no periods at 15yrs). PM me if you require any further info

I was very late starting puberty and maturing mentally too. I was aobut 14 before I had any breast development and was just past my 16th birthday before I got my first period. My daughters were both skinny kids and one started periods at 13 and the other at 15.5.
It could be down to her weight, genes, etc, but see what the ultrasound says and maybe there is a blood test to check hormone levels?
My neighbour is a consultant paediatrician specialising in growth hormones. I’ll ask her when I next see her.

Tbh I would be looking at growth hormones before growth plates close up.

Hello OP, I didn’t have delayed puberty but was (and remain!) very short and I know how distressing it can be in adolescence.

I think you’re right to seek medical advice. I’m sharing this evidence-based article so that you can see some of the investigations you might want to press for, and how the medics define ‘delayed’

https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-gb/1126

Hi op yes maybe the doctor might advise. My dd was late too 15. Slim sporty girl. Her cycle still irregular. I did read some can start late if they do alot of sports.

I was a very petite, skinny teen girl. I didn't start until I was over 16 and didn't have much in the way of boobs. My parents were GPs and did have me checked, but I always came back entirely healthy and the conclusion was that I was simply a late bloomer.

As an adult, I am 5'2" and a healthy weight with very regular periods, and I conceived first try with every baby.

My niece was similar. Basically no development of any kind at 15 and very short and thin. She started growing and developing at 15.5.

My SIL had taken her to the GP and they said come back if nothing had happened by 16. She’d always been very underweight and I think that contributed.

Dd1 was 15, dd2 was 16 these are still in normal range. At 15 dd2 was like your dd but not underweight, just short and petite. Gp told us at 15.5 to come back when she was 16 for bloods if she didn't show any signs that puberty was ramping up, by 26 she had a bit more development so they said give it 3 more months and sure enough her periods started at she grew inches! Hospital doesn't see them until well past 16 because it's still normal

DD was about a week shy of her 18th birthday before getting her first period.

She was under the fertility clinic at the hospital. She had no end of blood and hormone tests as well as an ultrasound scan.

By chance we had a hospital appointment 2 days after she started and we were told that if she hadn't started they would still have said to give it more time.

It's definitely worth getting her checked out properly. There are always outliers.

Are you or her father short in height? I’d be wondering about that.

I didn't have my period until I was almost 17, breasts didn't fully develop until I was 19 and I went from flat chested to a 28 FF. I have always been petite and underweight. Now I am 5'5", taller than my friends who were taller than me at school and I have 3 children, still technically underweight. She's likely fine!

Thank you for the helpful messages everyone. I do understand that statistically everything will be OK and that she is just a later bloomer. Hopefully the ultrasound will rule out any medical issues...

My main concern is her emotional distress and how she is putting her life on hold because she feels she can't take off her hoodie and wear a t shirt as she is so self conscious. She has turned down invitations to be in a dance group, to go to concerts, parties, even trips into town etc because she says she can't take her jumper off. And now weather warming up it's getting worse. She is fixated on next year's Year 11 leavers dance and how she won't be able to go as she "looks like a baby freak" in a dress. I know all I can do is keep going with the body positivity pep talks and encourage her to eat but it is heartbreaking watching her suffer.

Ironically at her age I had massive knockers (D cup at 15) and hated them passionately....