to think bras and deodorant are not necessary at 7 yrs old?

[PuffyPigeon]

Dd had a friend sleep over last night. She's just turned 7. She made a big deal of showing dd how she was wearing a bra (bra shaped crop top) and how she's more grown-up than dd because she has her nails painted, she wears deodorant (bought it in her wash bag) and put moisturiser on this morning! Thankfully dd looked as bemused as me but AIBU to think this is all way before it's time at 7? She isn't smelly or developing btw, she's tiny and looks much younger than she is.

It's difficult to know if a deodorant-wearing person would be smelly if they were not wearing deodorant.

Crop tops and (weekend) painted fingernails aren't unusual at that age. I do think regular use of moisturiser is unusual but was probably inculcated by parent/older sister or at a pamper party. Though isn't the received S&B wisdom that you cannot start too young?

Dd came home from school on Friday asking why she had to wear vests when her friends wear bras. They're 5 and 6 (year 1). It took a lot of explaining that the girls probably weren't wearing bras but really short vests as she swore blind they said they were wearing bras and couldn't get the concept of a crop top.

If needed deodorant etc is fine at any age. Better that than being teased at school as 'sweaty Betty'. Kids can be very cruel.

My 8 year old will need a bra soon. She is the first girl in her class to be wearing a crop top though. I don't think it's beyond impossible that some girls will need bra and deoderant at 7!

(DD is not happy to be the first to develop in her class and very self conscious - I think it's great that OP's guest is so unbothered)

Isn't this why impulse and crop tops were invented?!
assuming she doesn't really need them of course

My 6 year uses moisturizer so do my 3 year old have done since they were babies. atopic dermatitis.

I agree with damnautocorrect. Impulse and cropped tops all the way.

pumpkinpositive - moisturiser is not recommended or needed for adults with healthy skin. It may make people feel more comfortable but it makes no difference. It does not protect against UV or 'pollutants'.

it is sunscreen that protects against sun damage.

How are children going to get enough Vit D if their faces are covered in sunscreen from early morning?

I leave mine without anything on the skin, because they need to have face/arms/legs exposed for 20 min at least a day to get enough, and if you slather them with cream before leaving for school and they wear trousers and a shirt, there's no chance!

Mine don't burn easily though, so there's no burning risk to weigh up.

This is very interesting.

All the 8 year olds in my dd's class are very slim and not at all developed. I wonder if it's a weight issue.

Notcontent - In some cases maybe, but not exclusively.

I was wearing bras and deodorant at 8 and my periods started shortly after my 10th birthday. I was pitifully skinny as a child and I am a size 8-10 now.

I was in the minority at my school, but certainly not the only one. I can still remember the look on my aged headmasters face when parents started requesting sanitary bins in junior school! This was 20 years ago, but I don't remember any of my fellow early developers having weight issues either.

My DD is 7 and she doesn't wear bra tops, use deodorant or moisturiser and she never has painted nails, nor do any of her friends as far as I know.

At 7 they are just little girls and don't need any of the above unless they have a problem with body odour.

Even my 10 year doesn't do any of that, she has just asked if she can have a crop top (not a bra shaped one) for PE days in the summer when she wont be wearing a vest.

My 8 year old has crop tops - they aren't bras and she loves them.

I sometime paint all 3 DC nails - including DS though I use black or pirate stickers on him because it a fun thing they enjoy doing with me - and I'm not one for a lot of makeup.

I'm starting to think about deodorant for DD1 - at 8 because I've noticed she is a bit smelly some days and she'll being doing an activity based school trip soon.

She isn't over weight at all - but is starting to develop but the women in my family do early that and have big breasts.

She does have moisturiser - younger two have some for eczema but she asked if she could have a bottle of my body moisturizer and as she has little bit of skin on dry elbows and because it made her very happy - I said yes.

So I don't seem them as odd things to have. However I am always a bit at the amount of boasting and one up man ship that her friends seem to do on social occasions.

Notcontent it might not have been the case in your case but in general, heavier weight is associated with earlier puberty and there are also ethnicity differences as well.

These are just general % though, as you rightly say, individuals within that may vary enormously.

My ten year old has needed deodorant for about 6 months, I've started her using the PitRok one which doesn't have anything nasty in it (not an anti-perspirant) and it's really effective for her. Crop tops are under discussion, she's not that fussed about them as no-one else seems to be wearing them and she says she would know as they all change for PE together. I've told her we will get her some if she likes.

Yes, I guess our genes play a role. My 8 year old isn't smelly yet, but I have started telling her to give her underarms a proper wash with soap at bath time, whereas in the past it was really just a quick splash with water...

Scootica
no one needs to wear deodorant unless they have an odour problem

quite right but as a TA working with 7 year olds some of them do. your child might not but some do so it's perfectly good parenting to provide your child with what they need.

my dd was/is rake thin and tiny but started developing at 9 and started her periods at 10. she shaved her legs and pits too as she wouldn't want to be teased.

every child is different and the age is irrelevant.

op no I think it's really not for you to comment of judge.

I thought it was unusual in 7/8 year olds as well.
Until my 8 year old's breasts started growing.
She's fairly average sized amongst her class mates so not size related in her case. Assume it may be genes (I was early to develop, but not as much as her).

never understood this obsession with not giving a child what they feel they need as regards crop tops/bras/deoderent/shaving etc.

such little stuff to sweat! no pun intended.

never understood this obsession with not giving a child what they feel they need as regards crop tops/bras/deoderent/shaving etc.

such little stuff to sweat! no pun intended.

TTT, from diet. You can't get adequate vitamin D from sunlight in most parts of the UK anyway.

Little friend needs to learn some manners. Any child that bragged about how 'old' she was and how 'young' my child was would be politely escorted right back home.

Almondcake -not so in Scotland, Health visitors now recommend Vitamin D drops!

The different perceptions are interesting. In my DD's class (she is 9), although they like to think of themselves as grown-up in some ways, the only girls who wear crop tops (at least according to my DD) are 2 girls who have started to develop. Both are on the larger side (although I appreciate that is not always the case). There seems to be no kudos in wearing them in DD's class, and if anything the opposite. Quite a few of them do keep deodorants in their p.e. bags (including DD) - DD definitely now does smell a bit after exercise.

Almondcake I might have got this wrong, but not that many foods have vit D in (eggs, oily fish) and I thought you did need to go in sunlight in the summer (the winter you use up your stores/little bit in food).

My Gp told me recently that most people in the UK are vit D deficient, I wouldn't personally be slapping moisturiser plus sun protection on my children's faces every single day, but only when there's a burn risk.