Beginnings of armpit hair in 6 year old

[MeOnSea]

Hello

My daughter is 6 3/4 and tall for her age (probably the tallest in her class). The other evening I noticed a hair in her armpit, I went to brush it away and realised it was attached. A few days later I tried to take another look (without making a big deal) and spotted a few more lighter hairs. I’ve also noticed that she can smell a bit sweaty at times.

I understand that there are many aspects to puberty and that this doesn’t necessarily mean she’s en route to early periods, but it feels younger than I expected.

I’m planning to watch and wait, but just wondered if any other parents had seen anything similar in their 6/7 year olds?

You might want to look up premature adrenarche, and see if that fits?

First thing for you to know is if she is overweight. Obesity is a big driver of early puberty and you have time to address that if it's relevant.

My eldest is about to turn 13. She was turning ten when she started getting the odd hair, and she had had BAD bo for about a year before that.

She hasn't started her periods yet but she has mentioned she has some hairs down there, and she has more in her pits and has breast buds.

She's not obese but is slightly dumpy, it's mostly her shape and she's short as. But there's been no hint of periods.

Some girls do start a bit earlier now, I would encourage your daughter to shower daily and choose a deodorant together. There's some nice ones aimed at younger people.

Thanks all. She’s a healthy weight, just always been in the 90th centile for weight and height - ie weight in proportion. I will weigh her to double check as it’s not something we particularly do, but I have no concerns that she’s slim and fit for her age.

Thanks @nocoolnamesleft, adrenarche wasn’t a word I was familiar with, a cursory read suggests this might be it. As I mentioned I’m kind of watching and waiting at the mo, and just trying to get my head round supporting my girl with conversations I wasn’t expecting to have until a little later. She knows about periods and she knows women get body hair, but we haven’t really talked about specific changes that she’ll go through, as I thought we had a bit more time/she’s not that interested yet.

Also hadn’t really started to think about deodorant, am just encouraging her to make sure she’s soaping well and that seems to keep it at bay for now...

I think this is as much about me getting my head round things than my lovely girl, who so far seems to be good at taking things in her stride...

DD was a little older than your DD (around 7 1/4) when I noticed her breasts were really developing. She has some light hair under her arms and in the pubic region, but it's not coarse. We spoke to our GP. They spent about 7 months ruling out anything sinister before she was tested for precocious puberty. Blood tests and ultrasound all came back as normal. She's now 8 1/2 and has shot up, breasts still growing, getting BO, so whilst not undergoing precocious puberty, she is definitely developing.

From the drs we spoke to, they would have been open to discussing hormone blockers to pause things, to delay the onset of her periods of necessary (the idea of her having period pains at 8 really upset me) but as her bloods are normal they reckon we are at least a year off her periods starting. And maybe longer (fingers crossed).

Precocious puberty is starting puberty before 8, so if you were inclined to speak to your GP, from my experience (England) you'll be taken seriously.

Body fat percentage plays a determinant role in the beginning of puberty so checking her weight is a good idea. This said, I wouldn't wait for a GP consultation.