How old were your dds when they started to...

[Miaou]

...develop in the chest area?

I noticed the other day that dd1 is no longer as "flat" as she was. She is 8. Seems a little on the early side to me but I can't remember how old I was when I started developing a bust.

I thought I was going to be quite relaxed about it all but tbh I find it all a bit ... well I don't know really. I suppose it is just evidence of the fact that my child will become an adult someday (which of course I can conveniently forget most of the time!)

Anyway, someone please come and reassure me that I am not an overly neurotic hormonal parent, and to get over myself . And how old your dds were when they started to develop a bust. Gawd.

Miaou - a bit late, but I was wearing my first bra - a 30B at age 10. So 8 wouldn't seem unreasonable.

Hopefully she hasn't noticed them yet... she'll be wanting bras and things soon!

I remember being the first girl in my class to wear a 'trainer' bra at age 11. Remember it rained and soaked my white shirt during a sports day and I was so proud because everyone could't fail to notice I was wearing a bra! Hate the things now. I also started my periods at 9. I developed very early and was always the tallest girl in my class until about age 14 when everyone else caught up with or overtook me.

I remember having to wearing a bra in primary school, prob around 10.

Still have not got mine yet and I am 38 - no hope for my dd. I only started wearing a bra at 13 when I noticed I was the only one wearing a vest.

Oh - just noticed the weight thing. I was very underweight and got my period at 11.5. Therefore no boobs but a period - how unlucky - my poor dd

I am only 7 1/2 stones now, I was about 6 stone when I started my periods at 14. Misdee actually started her periods before me and she is younger than me. I am dearding the dds getting their their periods. They freak out when they see my 'bottom bleeding' now I just said that big ladies bleeds but it doesn't hurt.

That was weird - I clicked on this thread, had totally forgotten it was mine in the first place!!

I am a little concerned because I don't quite know how she'll react - she is not a girly girl at all and I don't know how she will take having something so quintessentially "female" happening to her without her asking, IYSWIM!!

Last week she was talking about how different she would look when she goes to secondary school, so I took the opportunity to say "you might have boobies by then!" She just laughed nervously and went very quiet for ages (I was keeping quiet so she might elaborate her thoughts on the subject but it was not to be ).

Anyhow, I will just leave it for now and see if she brings the subject up. Not sure if she's noticed tbh.

oh my dds can't wait to have boobies!! They are always saying taht when they are big and have boobies they can wear a bra pmsl!!!

It does seem to vary hugely. Dd1 is 10.5 and still completely flat, but tall and sort of in the middle for weight not skinny but not fat either, and quite muscly. But there's a family tendency to start late I was 14 when I had my first period, and some of my sisters and cousins later than that (as you can see, I've been doing some research!).

But most of dd1's Y6 friends are more developed than her, and some of them would have started breast development at about 8. One girl in her class started periods in Y5, and has proper boobs and pubic hair -- she's a tiny runty little girl in all other respects, can't possibly weigh more than my dd1, so that figure of 7.5 stone can't be absolute. I remember reading somewhere that it was to do with percentage of body fat? So the absolute figure would vary according to the child's build.

Ys 5, 6, and 7 are amazingly varied when you look around. Some of last year's Y6 could have passed themselves off as 14 (strapping 5ft 7in girls, and busty with it) whereas another of my dd1's youth club friends is in Y8 and looks as if she should be in Y4.

The things you learn on MN, eh? I never knew the 7 and a half stone thing before, but I took the opportunity to pass that info on to our kids today, since dd is 7 (years old, not stone) going on 8, and presumably some of her classmates will start budding soon.

Miaou, you might also find she can cope better with the idea as she approaches secondary school. Dd1 was very anti the whole idea of growing up until we started going to secondary school open days in Y5 and she saw (a) that all these older girls hadn't turned into freakish Kevin-the-teenager types and (b) how much extra freedom they got and what a lot of fun they were having.

She's now counting the days until she starts secondary school, and has accepted that the whole boobs and periods package is part of the deal. Could you perhaps find some older girls for your dd1 to hang out with? Or some kind of activity or summer camp where she can mix with older children? It's particularly hard for oldest kids in a family, as they don't really have any role models for how to deal with teeenagerdom and all that goes with it.

thanks for the advice, frogs!! We are quite lucky in this respect - dd is in a composite class and works with the children in P7 so spends a lot of time with older children. Her closest friend is 10 (though I don't think she is "developed" at all either) so I guess she will hear/see plenty over the next year or so.

At the moment it would be fair to say that I am worrying about nothing - or perhaps to be more accurate I am preparing myself for the possibilities! I hope dd1 takes the same pragmatic approach to puberty that your dd1 does, frogs .