Brownish Vaginal discharge from 7 year old DD

[Hedgerow7]

Hi, I have done a search on this but most girls posted about seem to be approaching puberty.

DD is now nearly 10 but this started when she was about 7 or even earlier. I know I should have got it checked out sooner.

I assumed she wasn't wiping properly but she swears she is.

It is in her knickers everyday and although it is a sort of light brownish colour, isn't itchy or smelly.

As you can imagine I would hate for her to be examined but can't think what to do. Has anyone any ideas?

pre-menstrual discharge. It could go on like that for a while, a year or so. Totally normal, doesn't need an examination.

Thanks anonymosity. Thing is that if it started when she was about 7, and she's now nearly 10 and who knows when her periods are going to start, is pre-menstrual discharge likely for years? It's not just a year or two we are talking about, well, assuming she doesn't menstruate for another couple of years.

Maybe you could make an appointment with the practice nurse, to discuss? Or even the GP, but without an examination on the spot. If the concensus (by GP) is that its worrying and needs exam, you could always re-book for another day - its been going on a long time, so no urgency I would think. Would dd feel safer checking it out in stages, like that?

I have a 7 year old DD with the same problem, and no itching or pain. She had discharge about 3 mths ago and GP gave antibiotics (no swab taken, or examination). It cleared up, but has just come back. Amount of discharge seems to vary a bit day to day. Did you take your DD to the GP? I am taking mine later today!

PS Have you checked for threadworm? This can cause discharge if they get into the vagina - may be worth giving her a tablet anyway and seeing if it makes any difference?

Thanks ELibean adn Scaredykatt. No I haven't taken her yet. Still deciding but you have given me some ideas. Thank you.

I had this start about 7 and my periods started at 9. It can go n for quite a while.

It's vaginal discharge. Take her to an endocrinologist and get a referral for a hand X-Ray to see if her bones are fusing. The endocrinologist will make a very sensitive examination and measure her etc.

If she has an ovarian cyst this can trigger a vaginal discharge for a while, or if she's eating a lot of tofu or other soya products. (phyto oestrogens)

If she has breast buds she will start her periods within a year or two.

Do get her hand X-Rayed though, as if she's only 7 and puberty has started, she will not grow to her 'full' height, and will need to be treated for precocious puberty by nasal sniffer (hormones) until age 9 or so.

Dorje Is that true you wont grow to your full height if you start puberty early?

Yes. you need to get your child's hand XRayed to see if the bones have started to fuse. if they have then you will need to get treatment for precocious puberty - nasal inhalers of hormones to stop puberty.
They usually advise that these are taken until child is 9ish (now considered normal start of the puberty process).
If you had late puberty (15yo for eg) this treatment time might be extended.

Okay, I think you should take Dorje's advice as as I have already said, this happened to me and I am now unusually short for my family.

Just to update. Swab showed strep A and my DD is now on antibiotics. Apparently, strep quite often lives in the vagina without causing sometimes, and sometimes causes discharge.

oops meant "without causing symptoms"

That's good scardey IYSWIM. You have another few years so!!

Is there any possible side effect like difficulty in conceiving or any other health problem if the 7 years old will go through medication to delay puberty.Because my daughter is also going to be 7 years old and she has some light brown or off white discharge?

How long she had discharge? My daughter also has brown and sometimes yellowish or whitish or off white discharge I am very worried for her.

My daughter (3) had similar. The dr tried to tell me it was normal. I knew it wasn't. Not for her anyway. After insisting on a swab she came back positive for strep A. One does of antibiotics cleared it up quickly. Take her to the doctor.

Thanks a lot.I will surely take her to the doctor.

Hi Hedgerow7,

I wanted to know about the discharge in your daughter.
My daughter is 6, she is having spotting from past month, Swab negative, Pelvic Ultrasound negative. So wanted to check with you.

Hello, I have a 7 years old daughter.

She is been having this light brown stain on her pant for a few months now.
The itch is not intense but it's there.
We occasionally apply vaginal cream( Clotrimazole) on the surface. It will subside and come back again.

I have been so worried what it could be.

Thank you.

I’m amazed at all these responses, please get it checked out. Three years seems quite a while to wait you could always just discuss over the phone with GP first then take it from there. This needs to be looked into, not wanting to scare you but vaginal bleeding in a 7 yr old could be seen as a red flag

I know it’s an old post, has anyone been able to find the cause for this! My DD 7 has been having these brown stains for a while. I have had her hand xrayed and it showed her bones are younger than her age. I have been worried that it’s some start of puberty. Dr said it’s pretty common and should go away. Please let me know from your experience

Anyone ? Can u please suggest what the outcome was for your DDs? I have just got the vaginal cream for her and let’s see how it goes. M very worried that these are early puberty signs

Worriedmom, you should not be getting any sort of vaginal cream for a 7 year old child unless the GP has said you should.

If you are concerned about premature puberty you need a referral to a paediatric endocrinologist who can run blood tests and make a diagnosis. It a bit odd to have an X-ray without a full work up, so maybe you have had this already. But if the specialist isn't worried, then I don't really understand why you would be.

In any event, it is considered normal for girls to start menstruating at age 8, and vaginal discharge tends to start around 18 months before menarche, so perhaps that is what is happening to your DD, especially if she is taller than average at the moment.

I think I wasn’t clear in my post, I didn’t get any over the counter cream. It was prescribed by the GP. She did have a full blood work up , X-ray , and a pelvic and chest ultrasound. The blood work up was entirely normal, X-ray showed her bones aren’t maturing, Infact they are a bit behind, the pelvi ultrasound showed that uterus is still pre pubertal. She did have a small amount of breast tissue present, which needs to be monitored as per the paediatrician. I m worried about this discharge which is slightly foul smelling. And also the fact that some of the posters here have mentioned that this happened to their dD for 3-4 years . 18 months as suggested by you sounds quite worrying that she may hit puberty at 9.

Hi worriedmom2013, did you find out what it was eventually? Did the discharge continue or has it stopped? My daughter is 8 and has really tiny amount of discharge past few days. The GP said it’s quite common between girls aged 3-10 and doesn’t have anything to do with puberty. But this evening she had a really faint light brown discharge. I am a bit worried as she’s quite petit for her age and personally she still looks like she needs to grow a lot more before she hits puberty. Maybe I’m over worrying but if you could share you experience it will be helpful! Thank you so much