Precocious puberty - what would you do?

[ThrowawayALotta]

DD9 has been diagnosed with precocious puberty and we've been told to go away and consider Decapeptyl injections to delay her period for a while.

The trouble is her consultant is pretty on the fence and keeps saying its up to us. I prefer to be guided by experts so I'm finding it incredibly difficult and frustrating that I have to make this judgement without the doctor being any help at all!

Her current status is: minor pubic hair, breast buds, no periods. First signs of hair growth age 7 but due to covid we werent seen until she was 8, she's just turned 9.

The doc measured her and said her growth is borderline, they allow for 5-8cm in the normal range (presumably per year) and she has grown 8.5cm so only just over normal.

We have been told she might want the injections to gain more height, her projected final height is 160-170cm so not overly short in my opinion. The doc also said to consider the psychosocial aspects of starting periods early without really giving me much insight into what those might be.

The side effects of the drug are particularly worrying, with depression being considered common (1 in 10). She already has a depressive tendency, with lockdown causing a severe bout for many months and she is still anxious to this day.

On the other hand it doesn't sound easy to be the only girl with boobs, the only one to deal with periods and acne etc. I worry about bullying and sexual interest from older boys etc.

If you've been in this position, what did you do? Do you regret your choice in the end?

I would not take the injections and try looking at her diet to perhaps delay early puberty. Did a quick search and found the below. I am not saying she has this type of diet, but if she does, it might be worth it to try changing her to a more whole foods plant based diet, which would help keep her hormones balanced. Girls are getting periods earlier and earlier due to diet, hormones in the milk, meats, too much processed foods etc.

"Children with lower-nutrient diets tend to enter puberty earlier. A diet rich in processed foods and meats, dairy, and fast food is disruptive to normal physical development. Exposure to EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals)."

I am massively surprised that they have recommended anything.

I recently had a post as dd (just turned 8) has started showing signs from being 7 and my gp basically told me to piss off as it was normal and refused to investigate any further

I had boobs, hair and period early (although not that early). Wasn't fun but I got through it and the others soon caught up.

9 years old isn't that unusual to be going through puberty is it?

I would be wary of intervention especially if she's prone to depression but I'm no doctor.

Could you get a second opinion?

PS the upside was I got to 16/17 and looked amazing as I was over the worst of the hormone changes

My daughter started her periods at 10. She started growing pubic hair aged 8 and breast buds at 9. She has a fairly healthy varied diet and is dairy intolerant so drinks almond milk. We weren't offered the injections when we saw the consultant at 9YO as it was considered 'the outer realms of normal development'. I also developed early and definitely didn't have a nutrient poor diet either (thanks @Mamabear12 ). My daughter dresses very modestly (her choice). Plenty of her classmates wear revealing clothes and make up already. I have no concerns about her attracting older boys. She has coped with her periods well. We talked a lot about them beforehand and bought pads and a tin for them for her school bag. She is the first in her class to start as far as we know but a few aren't far behind her. It's part of life and growing up.

Same as @Amazingblossoms here - never occurred to me or AFAIK my mum to delay things. My periods started early - 10 - and obv signs before that. Didn't bother me at all. Just get her a good bra that fits from the off 🙏

I'm sure this is in the range of normal? I started at 11, but had breasts and pubic hair at 9, this was 40yrs ago, no one queried it (apart from the PE teacher who phoned my Mum and told her to get me a bra😳. I'm tall and didn't stop growing until I was 16ish.
Certainly wouldn't be giving puberty blockers, which have a lot of downsides, I find it strange that they have offered them.

9 isn't young. Not sure I'd do any sort of intervention at that age.

I am not saying she has nutrient poor diet....HOWEVER, diet plays a huge role on hormones...I have read books on it and have researched...out of interest for other health issues. This is why I suggested to look at her diet and perhaps there could be some tweaks. And a lot of people might think their diet is healthy, but they might for example have too much dairy and meats (which they have been told in the past is super healthy), when in fact...it is not healthy to have too much of this....but anyway, im not going to argue about it, just wanted to suggest an alternative to the extreme of getting injections.....

Just like I did not want to take medication daily for the rest of my life, that had side effects just because the doctor said so....I decided to change my diet to a mainly whole foods plant based diet. I do this about 80% of the time and guess what...my blood pressure is perfect and no need for daily medication.....thanks to my diet...when many people are just given pills, take them with out questioning....

She won't be the only one with boobs. I work in a school and most Year 5 girls and some Year 4 girls are showing some signs of breast buds. I don't know if any have started their periods yet, but I don't think your daughter is that early. I wouldn't put her on medication unless the doctor is strongly advising it, and it sounds as if they are fence-sitting because it's not a cut-and-dried case. If she was 7, it might be different, but she's 9.
I've read that the start of periods is /can be linked to weight, with approximately 7 stone being the trigger point. How close is she to that weight? At 9, she's probably a lot less than that. I am not able to provide linked reviews/evidence for that btw, and do not have a medical qualification, just saying what I've heard.

It's body fat percentage rather than a specific weight that is linked to puberty starting.
My dd started periods age 11 and she wasn't the first one in her year group

Just from personal experience of the depo injection, if avoid it, I'm sure it triggered my pcos.
One of my sons (the one I was most cautious about healthy organic diet, no bpa plastics etc) started with public hair around age 8/9 and is very tall for his age, developed earlier than siblings... No idea why as neither me or his Dad was early developers and like I say we were organic everything for him and extra cautious...
Seeing as she hasn't started her periods yet, I'd probably just wait... Prepare her... Maybe keep an eye on healthy diet a bit more... But I don't think I'd be pumping her with the depo over starting periods at age 9/10 naturally.

I started my periods at 9, I thought it was an issue if you were under 8?

Oh wow, I definitely would not give any medication what so ever! Her body is doing what it is naturally supposed to do! This is not unusual at all in terms of age and it could even be another two to three years before any sign of a period. I cannot believe you have been advised to do this.

I would be really reluctant to medicate at that age... It just doesn't sound excessively early so I'd be inclined to let nature take its cause.

I would definitely not put her on medication. I would make sure that she’s as active as possible and eats as well as she can and then let nature carry on.

You can manage the psychological impact of starting periods early by talking to her etc. Sometimes periods don’t come as soon as you’d think.

Let nature take the course. No intervention.

The potential MH side effect would be enough to put me off, even for a younger child. That stage of life is hard enough in so many ways. Don't add depressive chemicals to the mix

Support her and talk to her. She will be fine and managing her periods without thinking about it by the time her friends start.

I'm very surprised they have even suggested treatment to delay her periods!. My daughter was 7 when her periods started and 5 when she started developing. I was told they'd have not. Suggested treatment if her periods had started at 8.

I declined treatment and she's now 13. She's very small for her age and I do wonder if we've done the right thing.

How does DD feel about it?

I started periods in primary and it wasn't much fun. Not so much the actual period but the hormone shifts, you are in an environment where your body is doing things you don't really understand but you are still very much treated like a child.

Things like crying because you have PMT but don't really know what that is and teachers thinking you are acting like a baby.

@sashh

How does DD feel about it?

I started periods in primary and it wasn't much fun. Not so much the actual period but the hormone shifts, you are in an environment where your body is doing things you don't really understand but you are still very much treated like a child.

Things like crying because you have PMT but don't really know what that is and teachers thinking you are acting like a baby.

Yes this is the sort of thing I worry about but I wonder if we are already at the point of no return anyway because she is always so emotional about everything and she feels like her classmates don't really 'get' her. She flip flops on her opinion depending on how you phrase the question really. She is quite easily led so it keeps changing based on the pros and cons we are discussing at the time. I want her to be involved in the decision but sometimes I wonder if she really has the foresight at this age to make the right judgement, especially when adults can't even get their heads around it.

In reply to other commenters, it does also strike me as unusual that they would even offer this treatment in the first place as we are now in the safe zone at age 9 to be starting periods according to the consultant. I wonder if I'm missing a part of the puzzle somewhere. She is due to have a lot more tests, nobody explained what they were actually for though. Perhaps that will give us more of an idea of how far she has progressed as its not clear what her bone age is for determining final height yet. I think perhaps covid has something to do with it as they couldn't see her when she was 7, it delayed everything. So maybe they're offering it on the basis that she would have qualified for it back then? I might try and find out what these upcoming tests are all about and go from there. Thanks to everyone who contributed, it's really interesting to hear your views.

I’m really surprised the doctor is suggesting medicating. Very normal these days for girls to have periods by 9.

I was 10 when my periods started, my DDs followed suit. No one ever mentioned any kind of intervention. Having started early myself I was able to guide my daughters and make the transition easier for them.

certainly explore the option after the further testing.
especially if the specialist suggested it, 5'2 inches is on the shorter side, with 5'5" being more average.
although the medication might have the side effect of depression you can always stop taking it. having menses to deal with at such a young age could be equally depressing.