To be freaking out that DD has gotten her period!!!

[hungryhippo90]

Just exactly that!!
She's a big girl, 4"11and size 5 shoe. She looks about 12 by most people's guesses. I'd expected it to come soon-ish because she's started to get hairy legs. But I thought it would be in a year or so, which would put her at the age when I got my period, but she's 8. And this seems far too young..

Am I bu to really be freaking out about this?

To the poster who criticised the use of 'gotten' - it's creeping, AFAICS, into British English from the US, where it was originally taken from early modern English. I'm not a fan, but linguists mostly agree that a descriptive rather than a prescriptive approach to language change is the way forward. Don't like it, don't use it :)

hungryhippo90 How is your daughter? Have you collected her from school yet?

Nice rewriting of what you actually put initially Edmund... What hereto put is a good and valid point. 'get a grip and get off mumsnet ' wasn't anything like that. But you carry on making out everyone else is being hysterical and horrible to you when all you were trying to say was the same as hereto.

You sound as if you're dealt with the situation well OP, coming on here to ask for advice and have a bit of a wtf moment.

The extra little treats like nice toiletries are a thoughtful touch. I don't know what pain relief is appropriate for an 8 year old, but I'm sure you do. Would be an idea to have some on hand in case of cramps?

Ask DD how she feels about what's happening to her. She sounds like a grounded girl, taking it in her stride. A little girl to be proud of.

'Gotten' is not a word.

'Has got'.

Oh do piss off.

'Gotten' has always been used in Ireland.

YANBU. Can't believe some of the posts on here - ignore them OP. While starting so early does seem to be increasingly common, I think it's such an inconvenience at primary school where there are not routinely going to be sanitary bins from a purely practical point of view! On the positive side at least you had already raised the subject with your DD, now she needs you to spring into action and be super supportive to help her deal with it. Find some protection which suits, find a way of taking it to school discreetly, teach her about being prepared, remind her that she can always go and talk to a female teacher if she gets caught out (I stressed to DD who was 11 when she started that it is something which all women have to deal with and any woman will be sympathetic if you get caught out). Also make sure she's not in any pain and find a suitable pain reliever if she needs that - no one should have to suffer! And then make a huge fuss of her so she remembers it as a lovely day in years to come. And remind her that it will happen to everyone eventually and she will be the expert! And as for posters criticising you for coming on MN (when presumably your DD is still at school) isn't that exactly what MN is for? The parenting moment which takes you by surprise and you look to the army of mums out there and find out that actually you are not alone. to you both.

Oh her reaction has really made me well up, what a little ⭐️ she is. Well done you for preparing her so well, by 8.

It is too young, at 8 they shouldn't have to be worrying about all of this.

It's a ridiculous system this bleeding every month for the 1/2/3 times in your entire life you'll have a baby.

11 yo here knows all about it (of course) is unfazed talking about it, has pads etc but she's still very unselfconscious about swinging on the bars & doing handstands - she's very much 'they're just pants' which I love. She will cope just fine when it happens, but it does change how carefree (no promotion intended 😁) they can be and it's crap.

At 8 I would definitely take her to the doctors because it might not be her period and if it is they might want to do some tests to make sure everything is ok.

💐🍸 for you.

I hope the house ticks all your boxes!

Op, you're doing great.

I'd be a bit gunked too and not know where to turn. My dd was 10 & my first so she was a bit older.

My main concern was the hygiene issue. Would dd realise she could smell if not washed properly, did she realise she needed to change the pads often, would she try to keep one on all day to avoid having to carry a pad to the bathroom - my list of "freak outs" was never ending!

If that makes me 'mean', 'unhelpful' or an 'idiot', fair enough.

It does Edmund.

I'm never sure if there's a competition on here to be the biggest arsehole or to be the most cool blasé person in the world

Yes, quite!

Posters who are saying their dd's were 10, the OP's dd is 8 of course she's allowed to freak out a bit. Hopefully she'll freak out on here then be nice and calm for her dd. I know mother's of 12 year olds who found it hard let alone 8!

All the best OP

Your DD sounds very mature and well prepared.

I just thought I would mention that my DM (sadly departed) also started her periods aged 8 (back in 1933) and when she was away at boarding school - must have been an awful experience for her . I started my periods aged 13 and DD aged 14, so we seem to be bucking the trend with starting later rather than earlier. We were/are all very slim, so not a weight issue.

MitzyLeFrouf ok, cheers, fair enough.

blimey, bless her. I hope she is ok. I have an 8 year old and didn't have any idea periods would have to be on the radar!
My daughter is petite and I started at 15 so we have some time but I can totally understand why you might be freaking out.
Does she know about periods? Sending hugs and calming thoughts.
Again, I hope she is ok.

hungryhippo90 sorry I didn't realise that you had commented so glad to hear that she is ok, she's lucky to have a mother like you.

YANBU - 8 is young. Good luck OP just be calm and matter of fact and hopefully she'll adjust quickly

So glad she's unfazed by it, you must've prepared her for it really well

She sounds great op you've clearly done a good job.

Wow, she sounds very sensible and mature. Clearly you are a great mum and doing everything right.

She sounds like she's taking it in her strudel op. That's good.

Stride obviously

Taking it in her strudel sounds brilliant though!

Ah bless her, she sounds awesome, very grown up and sensible. Glad she's calm and collected.

Well done for preparing her already. I freaked when I got mine at 12, so can't imagine if I'd had mine so young and not had any idea what was happening.

Hi, op. Not RTFT but my dd started her period 2 weeks before she turned 8. I'd already been to the gp about her breasts developing before this but it was still a huge shock. The paediatrician agreed that she was a bit too young and she now has an injection every 3 months to delay them. Maybe it would help to go to the gp and talk it through?

Also they did do tests etc before deciding this, it wasn't just a simple decision.