For worrying about my hairy daughters?

[compulsivegoogler]

Ok. A bit of background. I've always been hairy myself (not helped by having olive skin and dark hair), take after my dad unfortunately who has to shave twice a day.
I have no medical or hormonal problems. Completely clear of PCOS and managed to conceive virtually instantly with both children despite being aged 37 and 38 respectively.
I started getting pubic hair aged 9 (although didn't start my periods until 12) and progressed to thick leg/arm hair from a similar age if not younger.
By 15 I was plucking chin hairs. Never had a mustache strangely enough...but anyway, it's not about me. I have had to adapt to a life of epilating, tweezing and shaving to face the world but to my horror, my girls aged 3.5 and 2 yrs have hairy legs already.
I am really upset for them and am scared they will blame me in later years for passing on the "hairy" gene to them.
I was bullied at school for being hairy. It wasn't character building, it was soul destroying and depressing. I don't want my girls to go through that.
Apart from saving up for laser hair removal sessions for them, what can I do?
I feel so guilty. I almost wish I'd had sons. Boys are allowed to be hairy.
Am I overeacting?

You are not being unreasonable at all.

I am v dark and v hairy and my dd (6) has very hairy legs. She is very proud of them!

But yes I worry about all the embarrassment and angst she might go through as a teen. I intend to bleach them when she starts to feel self-conscious and wax when she's old enough. And build her self esteem like I always do anyway.

The upside is she has the most beautiful head of hair (if a little wild at times) you have ever seen.

I think you should take comfort from the fact that they have the fortunate fortune of having a mother who knows what it is like and who can help them do something about it rather than just ignoring it.
You have been through it, so know how they will feel if issues arise and the best course of action. :)

this thread makes me rather sad. is it at all possible that our daughters grow up not being ashamed of their own body hair.

I'm another hairy one!
My DD1 is 9 tomorrow she is very hairy like me!
The last year or so, she has been teased about her legs :( And it started to affect her more and more, so much so that by the end of the summer hols, she asked if she could come with me to have her legs waxed!
We compromised, I bought some Veet hair removal cream, and we had great fun dehairing her legs
She was so so so pleased with the outcome, and we only had to do it again a month later !
I am adamantly against shaving, for a hairy one, it grows back thicker and thicker each time. I was shaving almost daily until I discovered the joys of waxing !
We will carry on with the cream depilation until she is old enough to wax!
Luckily DD2 has fair, fine hair on her legs!

I don't think they'll have any problems because you care enough to help to them deal with it. My dd (11) is the same (although she's blonde) but so she could wear sleeveless tops this summer we had to VEET the armpits. Far better that she knows what to do and that it needs to be removed than worries about it. PS: Although you're not keen on being hairy, it hasn't stopped you having two gorgeous daughters has it?

Thank you for the advice. Some excellent points. Am going to stop thinking about it, definately stop examining their legs (a sure fire way to make them paranoid) and help as much as I can emotionally and practically in the future IF it's a problem to THEM.

yes, agree you are doing the right thing - i have passed on my horrendous eyesight to dd aged 3 ,and i feel dreadful - but there are worse things.
children can be cruel and if it wasnt hairy legs it would be something else.

I think it's something to say quiet about but talk openly to your daughters once they become aware. Don't have a fixed age of when you allow them razor access, don't oush it on them, but be ready when they come to you. I remember my mum saying I couldn't shave my legs until I was 12/13 and I was mortified in PE, a group of us being quite mature in some ways. I secretly shaved from 11! I think that's why he thought I didn't need to...

My mum passed the hairy gene to me, but at least I was used to seeing her remove hair from all over so just copied when it started to bother me!

Sadly I have the dire hormone gene too and have passed that along to my DD1, she does have very coarse hair on her legs already at 8 but I am thankful it is at least blonde at the moment.

My mum would never let me have deaodrant before 13/14 despite the fact that it didn't matter how much I washed I still smelt BAD, she just used to accuse me of not having washed!

I think the key is to listen to them and what they want/bothers them and try not to have a "age" set in your head that they are going to need theses things.

Also very hairy. I agree that they will see you coping and feel better about removing it than embarrassed.

I think epilators are great for legs (do very short hair better than wax and you can do it at home). Shaving can make your skin discolour after a few years and also the feel of stubble is as bad as being able to see it I think.

IMO facial hair is best removed with mircowave wave wax that you just peal off (no strips). Smooth Appeal or similar. Really easy and quick and doesn't leave you with chemical burns!!

I was told that my dark hair and olive skin wouldn't work that well with lasers and also that it had to be a certain length..no thanks!

I have a hairy son with huge eyebrows at 6. It's all I can do not to pluck them as I really worry about him being teased!I hope that he will grow to love them and then he won't care...

Ooooh - me too. I'm mixed so have olive skin but my mum's asian hair. God - thick black hair on relatively light skin.

My mum NEVER told me what to do as she didn't have that problem as she's so much darker than me.

I'd say my biggest regret was shaving my legs. Soooo bad.

My biggest triump was not shaving my arms.

Upshot - leg hair nightmare - arm hair is fine (relative to my skin tone) and livable.

Never ever ever get them to pluck or shave their tash - nightmare - they can bleach when teens - if they have olive skin just use the bleach for slightly less time so they don't end up with a blonde tash.

When they are teens and no younger - get them waxing.

I've been waxing legs for years now and now my lower calf have nothing - not bad for someone with asian background and pcos.

My ds who is four already has quite pronounced back hair!

But I think the important thing is to give the message that hair is normal - well it is - and when they cannot handle it (and ensure it's not very young) - show them how they can handle it.