Precocious puberty

[queenjaneappro]

My daughter is 7, turns 8 in about 6 weeks.

About 18 months ago she developed BO, spoke to GP who said this was ok all kids can get a bit smelly.

About a month ago noticed her legs were getting quite hairy and tonight I have noticed she has public hair.

I'm quite worried and anxious. I'd like her to be reviewed by an endocrinologist but am worried they will say as she's so close to 8 it's not worth it. Would the fact the BO started so long ago help her get a referral.

Grateful for any advice or to hear of others experiences.

How is her weight ? Puberty is linked by body fat and by girls reaching a certain weight in many instances.

Her weight and height have always been in the normal ranges for her age. I don't know her weight exactly but I will weigh her tomorrow.

In that case, if she hasn't reached 45 kilos (100 pounds) yet, go to the GP, and insist on a referral. She might be 8 soon, but she wasn't when her symptoms started.
Adult body door is one of the symptom of puberty, so this combined with pubic hair is a reason good enough to investigate.

Hope another MNetter will come forward

I have just weighed her she's 30kg 😔

Will ring the GP tomorrow.

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

Definitely speak to your GP - does she show any other signs ?
If not have a look at this - might be a bit more reassuring
patient.info/childrens-health/adrenarche

The signs I have noticed are BO, pubic hair and leg hair. Her hair on her head does tend to go a bit lank quite quickly.

With regards to breast budding I'm not really sure...

She has been complaining a lot of tummy pains recently. I thought she just didn't want to go to school. She is autistic PDA and has lot of school related anxiety.

It won't be puberty. It may be premature adenarche though. An endocrinologist can do a urine test. Puberty is breast development and periods. Adenarche is hair/bo/ acne.

She's finally let me look under her arms and she does have hair starting to grow there too.

Thanks to those who have said it could be premature Adenarche, I agree it could be this and not true early puberty. I'd like to know for certain and will be pushing for a referral when I speak to GP.

If it is adenarche then this isn’t premature, usually around 6-8 when it starts

My 7 year old has the same problem with body odour and recently got some spots on her chin. She is the 92nd centile for weight (I forget her actual weight but I remember this is what we worked it out to be) so it's hard to tell re the breast development. I am also thinking we need to see the gp but just wanted you to know you aren't alone.

Thanks everyone.
She's just had a bath so I've had a good look and I do think she is developing / budding whatever it's called.

Also called her dad this afternoon (we are separated) and he said he thought in a photo I sent recently she looked like she was developing breasts.

The other thing I've been thinking about is she has always really struggled with her emotions and is very moody. The slightest thing sets her off. I've always put it down to her ASD/PDA but recently she has been crying a lot saying ' no one likes me' etc - wondering if this is actually hormonal.

If you get fobbed off by the GP or just want more info/support, the Child Growth Foundation is great. www.childgrowthfoundation.org They have a helpline staffed by parents of affected children. PP is one of the conditions they cover. It's a lovely supportive charity. (I have a child with a different growth condition.) Good luck with everything.

Thank you Latinfortelly.

I finally managed to speak to the GP yesterday and she has done an urgent referral to a paediatrician so I just have to wait for them to get in touch now. Soon hopefully!

I might give that helpline a call tomorrow as I'm not working and I've been really distracted and anxious about this all week.

Hi op just checking in with a bit of reassurance. It's great you are getting referred and having this checked out properly.
My DD had the same symptoms at 7.5, BO , increase in leg hair and slight armpit fluff. She was/is very tall so I took her to be checked out. After blood tests and a check over she was diagnosed with early adrenarche which isn't the same as puberty as described above. She's nearly 9 now and her armpits have a little more hair but she has not developed any further - no sign of breast budding or excessive growth spurt. There is no treatment for this and girls with early adrenarche are often early to their periods but not excessively so.
I was worried at the time but if she has this it is quite normal. I was told to look out for rapid breast development or a rapid increase in height and take her back if either happened, but otherwise not to worry. I didn't, I don't, and she is happy and healthy.

Hello Musication, thanks for your message.

The paediatrician rejected the referral last Thursday and said it needed to go to the Paediatric Endocrinology clinic which was great as they are obviously who we need to see. I haven't heard from them so tried phoning about twelve times today and their number just rings out. So frustrating! I'm not very patient and just want to get an idea of how long it will take until she's seen.

There is definitely some breast development going on, very minor at the moment.

I think the adrenarche sounds like a real possibility. I do feel anxious about her starting her periods at a really young age as she's just so young for her age. Plus the autism makes her struggle emotionally.

Thanks again for your message. I hope all continues to go well for your little girl.

If it is true precocious puberty, which is quite rare, it is treatable if you want to treat it. At her age it'll be borderline, it's often more about rapid development than any development as to whether treatment is suggested. Often they watch and wait foe a while to see if development is quick or not. Either way, don't panic. If a doctor things she should be treated then it is possible to do so. You're in good hands! I do understand your worry, the thought of periods too early is difficult for a parent and your dds autism makes that harder again. Wishing you all the best, these endocrinologists are very very good.

Thank you for your reassuring message, this is what I need to hear! I just need to be patient and stop Googling!

I know this won't help really but my DD has always been really hairy. She went through a phase around age 7 of shaving her legs then got bored of it. She is now age 9 and has legs as hairy as an adult.

She doesn't have any puberty related hair growth but I just wanted to point out some children are just hairy!

I hope it all works out for you And your DD, I am a Dr Google obsessive too so I understand how anxiety inducing it can be.

Hi, just wanted to say my DD had similar signs at about that age. Overpowering BO ! I really had to keep on top of daily washing and deodorant use. She also had breast buds which then subsided... apparently they can have hormone surges. Most of her development was then in year 6 like her peers and periods started a few months before she was 13. Good that you have the referral and I hope you hear soon

Thank you spanglebangle and shieldingending.

I didn't know you could have hormone surges, hopefully that's what this is. I just latched on to the fact that for it to be precocious puberty there had to be breast development so convinced myself she had it.

Have received an appointment for paediatric endocrinology clinic - 10 November 😩😩😩
Apparently they have a huge backlog and the consultant is off for the next 6 weeks.

Unfortunately all clinics seem to have a backlog. If you become more worried or notice more development go back to the doc, it may bump you up the lost.

Hi I had this worry with my DS so not quite the same but he is really tall and had several rapid growth spurts.
When he was about 8 I noticed some BO and body hair so took him to GP.
He was referred to Paed endo. They took bloods and did a few tests - not sure if it’s the same for girls but they take an x ray of the hand to check for growth?! Apparently that can show if growth is normal. Not explaining this very well sorry. They also measure the size of their testicles.

Anyway DS’s checks were all normal. He’s now 11. Still tallest kid in his year and he still has the BO and body hair but it hasn’t increased. (He also wears deodorant!). So in terms of his development he hasn’t progressed into puberty much. He’s also very skinny - weighs about 35 kilos and is 5’4”.

His dad is 6’3” so he is perhaps just always going to be on the tall side, but I do worry that he’s so tall already that it will slow down and he’ll just end up an average height. Which is obviously fine but he’s just so used to being the tallest and kind of expects he’ll be over 6 foot.