Possible vaginal spotting in 9-yr-old DD

[randomwoman123]

My DD is embarrassed about this so I don't want to drag her to the docs again without good reason.

In mid-July she noticed some bright red bleeding when going to the loo, she got the impression it was coming from her "front bottom". Happened only once. Next day I took her to GP, who didn't examine her but ordered a urine test which came back negative for UTIs. He hadn't said what to do in the event of a negative test, so I left it and told her to tell me straight away if it happened again.

Yesterday, while doing laundry, I noticed what looked like a small brown blood spot in the middle of the gusset of her knickers.

Should I take her back to the GP?

I don't think it's periods. She's quite small and slight, hasn't had a noticeable growth spurt for a while, no signs of puberty apart from moodiness from time to time over the past year or so, but I've been putting that down to not enough sleep, too much iPad, general boundary-testing etc.

Any health care professionals out there?

My dad gayer had bleeding before starting her periods.
The only thing the gp would do was a blood test for anaemia. She told me that it was well documented that even a well tolerated medical examination at that age could have really bad consequences for my dd, including vaginismus.
It only happened twice, we didn’t get an answer, but nothing bad came of it.

Thanks, that's reassuring to know nothing bad happened. I don't want her to be examined unnecessarily but didn't realise it could lead to vaginismus etc.

Do you remember how much bleeding there was? The mid-July episode for my DD was more than spotting, bright red, and she said some of it dripped into the loo.

Was it long after that that she started her periods?

If you'd rather not say that's ok, your post is very helpful as it is.

Just realised there is a children's health thread, I'll try and get this thread moved there.

Girls are starting periods earlier these days - it could be spotting some time ahead. I remember before my periods started when I was 11 I had some spotting/discharge then that I didn't really know much about. I agree with the previous poster about not going straight for a vaginal exam etc. Not unless she needs it... and if she's not on her period properly or has a UTI then I can't imagine it's anything to worry about.

Thanks, you're probably right. Now you mention it, I remember getting discharge (but not spotting) from around 12 and didn't start my periods till I was 15. I didn't know what it was at the time and didn't tell anyone. I remember getting a leaflet free with a teenage magazine that told me what was going on - if I could find one like that and leave it lying around for her to find that might be helpful. Though it still seems a bit young and I'd have to be very subtle!

@randomwoman123 she may appreciate it! I remember feeling at the time that my mum left me to 'get on with it' and would've appreciated a helping hand, especially as what was normal to her was strange and new to me as a child. I'm in my late twenties now and know the workings of my body, all the smells and sounds and colours, but back then... it was mysterious and weird

My daughter got a couple of spots of blood in the months preceding her periods starting, although my dd was 12 two girls in her class started at the age of 10, so although 9 is early it is not unusual.

I remember my mum dismissing my first period or two, didn’t see the need to provide me with proper sanitary protection ( she felt at my age and for my first few periods a panty liner would do). She had a full hysterectomy when I was 3 so never anything like that readily available in our house.
I had to beg my mum for adequate sanitary protection in the end, that was after I had a leaking accident at school. I would just make sure there was a range of stuff available and the opportunity to get more if she needs it.

Helpful posts, thank you. My sanitary stuff is easily reachable from the loo, I'll make sure she knows where it is and I always have spares. I've ordered a book called 'The Period Book' which seems to approach it in a humorous and non-scary way. I may leave it lying about once I've given it a quick read myself.

But I've also requested a phone call from our GP on Monday, just to see if he advises bringing her in or not. I'd ask for a female doctor if so, though, even if no examination were involved. I don't want to traumatise her, but as she is so young I want to rule out anything weird, eg weird growths.

I think also just letting her know that she can talk to you if she has any questions or finds anything she doesn't understand. Keeping the lines open in a non judgemental way so that she can feel comfy and supported, sounds like you're thinking along those lines already :)

She might find it useful to look on YouTube for "Puberty Information for Girls" which I used for my DGD when this happened.