DD(5) has increasingly hairy legs.........normal?

[summerholshell]

Morning

Well DD has always had more hair on her body than average I suppose, especially on her back, mainly at the top. I even took her to my gp about a year ago and she said she thought it was normal.

In the last couple of months though, her legs are becoming increasingly hairy and the hairs are actually quite dark and very noticable. It's not course or anything, but nevertheless it's worrying me.

She has behaviour issues shall we say and I always thought she might have some kind of hormone inbalance, but the GP said that I can't think about that being a factor until she's hit puberty I'm not really sure how accurate that is. So i'm wondering if it is something like an imbalance of some kind, could this be affecting her body hair?.......

Has anyone got any advice or experiences with this? Am I right to be concerned?

Thanks for reading.

If you're concerned, go back and ask for a different GP. They're not always right. Sometimes they make a perfectly valid call based on the evidence and likelihood but it happens to be the wrong call for the individual concerned. As her mum, your opinion on this matters and should be taken into consideration.

I have hairy dd1 too , she's now 8 and i'm tempted to let her shave her legs, she has very pale skin but dark hair, her back is hairy too but i'm not too concerend, her half brother was the same (very hairy) but its upsetting if it starts to bother her (my dd is not too bothered).

I think i'm concerned more because she has social problems anyway and is already a bit of a target for bullies. Now this is kicking in, i'm really worried that it's just going to give them a bit more amunition.

Also, I remember when I was about 9 or 10 and I was running around in the playground with my friends and one of my friends pointed out that I had really hair legs and that I should shave. I remember looking down and thinking "where did all that come from?" I really had never noticed it before. Probably because I didn't see it as a problem. I started shaving at that age and I still remember the horrible rash and itchyness that came with the dreaded dry shave Horrible!!

I've been thinking about possibly gentle bleaching for dd (if there is such a thing) if it becomes a real problem. Is that really bad?.....

I've had similar with my own DD & she has had problems with taunting over it which started very young at about 6yrs - I have wondered about a Thyroid problem as its rife in my family, but again the GP said that its all normal & after a few years, I think it probably is amongst the darker haired/eyed DCs.

The DCs taunting my DD were all very fair & I noticed looking around the darker DCs that a lot are very similar to my DD, it wasn't that my DD was different, it was just something that those DCs doing the taunting could pick on DD for IYSWIM - kids being kids, there will always be something they can single another out for, no matter how silly it is, so you can't protect her from taunting, personally I've found it works far better to teach my DD that its all normal & just the way some people are, get used to it & get used to taking no notice because it"s the quickest way to get them off your back & winds them up far more than arguing back

That said, I found out about it all because DD cut herself trying to shave her own leg without my knowing - using her Dads razor :( - she was so upset that I also looked into how was best to deal with it, as she was already now very self conscious over her legs & even arms :( - I found out that it's not at all uncommon, though usually kicks in a bit older & I bought my DD some Silky Mits they are safe for her to use herself, which I found helps her to feel in control & less embarrassed, they also just thin the hair out & make it less noticeable, so not so drastic from a Mum point of view.

DD is now nearly 10 & she did upgrade to getting a lady shave for a birthday gift a couple of years ago, which uses depending on what she's feeling like or wearing, she can go through months of not caring & at other times she will, but thankfully she insists she does it for herself, she is very aware of clothes etc so I believe her :)

If your DD isn't bothered yet, then I personally would just leave it, but keep a close eye on her & the dynamics with her friends, girls certainly keep you on their toes with their friendships, so it will most often be pretty easy to spot who the taunting culprits are likely to be - & if they are fair haired/skin or other less hairy skin types, then your DDs legs will be different to theirs, so it may become an issue early as it did for my own DD & thats probably the best time to address it with DD.

Also you might want to think about a moral story book, that empowers her a bit - I think my DD liked Rainbow Fish at the time, but theres lots of other I'm sure - if not just make her one up :)

Thanks rock. Ahhh, yes......silky mits. I forgot about those. Mainly because they would be absolutely useless on my course, dark hair. Aren't they quite uncomfortable to use? Effectively, aren't they just sandpaper?

Roll on winter ey! When they're in tights and trousers again, you don't have to worry so much I guess.

OP, if she isn't bothered by it, please don't make her feel like she HAS to get rid of the hair, or that there's something necessarily "wrong" with being hairy. I understand you don't want her to be bullied, obviously, but I wouldn't encourage her to shave or whatever at that age.

Luckily no one has noticed dd's hairy legs, my dd has social problems too but she has a diagnoses of Aspergers, dd has never really noticed (only when i have said 'oh, your backs quite hairy' (said it without thinking), i know several kids dd's school who are 10/11 and have very hairy legs and don't seem bothered by it. Maybe you should take her to the gp and also mention the social problems she's having as well as the hairy legs?

Ds has quite hairy legs, he's 5 too, but is dark blonde so his hair on his legs is bright blonde.

My 6yo DD has dark hairy legs, plus hair on her back too. She isn't particularly dark, although she has sallow skin (she is green eyed with light brown hair) but I think she is going to be dark when she is older.

She isn't particularly bothered about it at the moment, but I'll let her shave when she asks to, as I know how cruel kids can be

yellow, god I would never make her feel paranoid about it!! My first plan of action will be to re visit our gp and hopefully, rule out anything more serious than just purely being a hairy child.

I'll be honest though, i've never noticed it on other girls her own age. I guess if this was 3 or 4 years down the line, I would think it was just the normal process of bastard puberty.

Also, it's been mentioned by several friends and family members recently too, so I know it's not just me being neurotic and seeing everything through a microscope!

It doesn't make any sense though, cos she's got mid brown, almost golden hair on her head so you'd think the rest of her body hair would be similar. I just hope that she doesn't notice it for a long time, or more to the point, that nobody else brings it to her attention As we all know, kids can be cruel, but girls work in gaggles and if they see a 'weakness' they'll attack.

There was a thread on this quite recently with lots of good advice here .

My DD is 4 and has quite hairy legs! She is mixed race. I'm probably a similar colouring to your DD as are my sisters and we all had black hairy legs, mine is worse near the bottom of my legs but blondish on my thighs.

I don't think it's anything to do with puberty, leg hair, mine only got worse after I started shaving.

I probably should have added my own DD isn't "dark" as such, her hair sounds a very similar colour to your own DDs in that its golden brown, honey blonde officially (she's obsessed with those colour chart things - but the roots of her hair, like mine do grow through very dark & then lighten, she does have dark eyes, brows & yes she definitely has long thick dark eyelashes that others envy - but she's not dark skinned at all - but her body hair is as dark & thick as her hair roots & lashes, so if anything makes it look worse than it is.

Thanks rock. Ahhh, yes......silky mits. I forgot about those. Mainly because they would be absolutely useless on my course, dark hair. Aren't they quite uncomfortable to use? Effectively, aren't they just sandpaper

Silky Mits were a saviour around her for years, easy to use, not uncomfortable & as she's not CUTTING the hairs, no blunt roots to grow back through making it all look worse.

Also I should add after reading the thread in the link - DD is now older & far less bothered by her leg & arm hair than she was, but thinking on it after reading the link - YES hers too is a lot more sparse than it was & she seems to have grown into it :)