Accelerated bone age in 7 year old

[PC155]

Dd's bone age has come out to be 8 years 10 months but her chronological age is 7 years 2 months. She is showing signs of early puberty. I am worried sick about her starting periods soon and stop growing early. Has anyone else faced this type of situations ?

Best get referral to endocrinologist to check for precocious puberty. If you've had tests, your consultant should advise.

What signs of puberty does she have? I'm worried because my dd who's 6 has started having smelly armpits occasionally and I thought she must be far too young for that.

@butterfly86 my dd had breast buds since she was 4 years old. Initially I thought that was fat as she is over all chubby. But last month I saw peach fuzz in her armpit and then got worried. Showed it to the pediatrician who recommended blood tests and bone age x ray.
If you haven't noticed any other puberty signs like breast bud or armpit hair then probably you don't have to worry much. My doc told me that smelly armpit could also be because of bacteria and sweat accumulation while the kids are active which is very common.

@PC155 she has gone a little chubby over lockdown so there is more there but I have felt for breast buds and there's nothing there. And no underarm hair hopefully I'm worrying over nothing.

op my 7 year old DD also has advanced bone age, similar amount to your DD. Her diagnosis is actually early adrenarche (small amounts of pubic and armpit hair) rather than true puberty, because she does not have breast buds. She's 8 soon and still has no breast buds. I was quite worried about it all, but reassured by an endocrinologist who said that periods come 2-3 years after breast buds normally, in earlier-developing girls this is normally closer to 3 years. So, as my DD doesn't have breast buds yet, even if she gets them soon she's still likely to be 10 or more likely close to 11, which whilst early, is not unmanageable. What you need your endocrinologist to establish is whether you daughter has actual breast buds or if that is just fatty tissue. If they are breast buds then pending the results of a few more tests they will may consider treatment so she doesn't get her growth spurt too early and risk being unusually short.
I was worried about DDs future height potential with the advanced bone age, but I was reassured that even with the advancement she should still reach a decent height. We were not recommended to treat her with any hormone blocker (to my relief) but just to keep any eye. Now she is 8, any breast development is considered early side of normal anyway.

PS I have a friend whose DD also had early adrenarche (started at 5 year old) and didn't get her period till 11.5. Her bone age was over 4 years advanced and she is already 5 foot 5 at 11 years old so she's in no danger of being small!
The bone age thing is a bit subjective - it has to be taken in context with lots of other things such as whether true puberty is actually starting and what the child's height potential is in the first place.

I started my periods at 9 and I'm 5ft 10

@Ploughingthrough Thankyou so much for sharing your situation with me. It is great that your daughter has no breast buds which is considered as most accurate puberty sign.
I have scheduled an appointment with the endocrinologist. Hope everything comes out fine.

@Ploughingthrough your friend's daughter's situation gave me real hopes.

@QueenPaws that's amazing. How tall were you when your periods started?

@PC155 I'm not sure, I was always fairly tall and I know I was 5ft 6 ish age 12 so I grew a fair bit after!
I was also a prem baby (3lb) and they said I would likely be short

@QueenPaws lucky you .

I know its hard op but try not to fret. What I have learnt is that this is a controversial area in terms of treatment and it's quite difficult to diagnose true central precocious puberty, especially in borderline cases like 7 year old girls!
Height prediction is also wildly inaccurate with or without bone age differences.
I worried a lot about DD but actually I was an early developer- just turned 11 when my period came and I was a very tall child. I'm sure if someone had checked my bone age it would have been ahead and I'm 5 foot 6. Not astronomical but not short either.
In the grand scheme of things too, there are much worse things than an early puberty and your DD has a caring mum who will support her through her changes. Being short isnt too big a deal for women either, although I'm sure she will reach an ordinary height.

@Ploughingthrough Thankyou for such a thoughtful msg. I am really worried sick but your positive comments feel like a ray of hope in darkness. Thankyou.
PS: I too was an early developer ( started at age 11) and always had short height and big breasts (compared to all my classmates). I used to feel so embarrassed by my appearance that I started wearing loose cloths and stopped participating in physical activities from grade 7 onwards. But now I am like any other middle aged woman.
This growing up phase is really difficult for girls but hopefully as you said, I will be able to lovingly guide my dd through every phase of life.

It's so hard not to worry. Is your dd tall or short for age now, or about average? My DD is the average height of a child 2 years older than her, and her bone age is similarly advanced. As such, she will probably end up around average height. It is more of an issue if bone age is ahead but the child is short, however in this case they can slow down puberty to give their growth a chance to catch up. Hope your dds investigations go well.

My dd's height lies in 85 percentile in her age group.
Right now I am trying to be optimistic for whatever comes up in her lab tests. My husband says that every individual's body has immense potential of achieving anything. If we try to focus on giving her proper nutrition and exercises, she most probably will achieve average height.
I hope and wish this comes true.