Help, they're hairy!![shock]

[jollymum]

Thought that would get a response! My 10 yr old girl has really hairy legs. Any ideas, ladies? She's blondish but the hairs are dark,she has them on her legs thickish upto to her knees and under her arms as well. Not boob developed at all really yet, but I know she gets teased at school about it. I was bullied dreadfully (all girls posh school) and have suffered ever since with this problem. No swimming for me Am thinking of having a second mortgage and being lasered top to toe. Would change my life, believe me! Anyway, my little girl dry shaved her legs without me knowing. I only discovered this when she had a whopping great spot on her leg, ingrown hair and felt them all prickly. She was very embarrassed, especially as she has three brothers and said she only did it dry shave because I wouldn't do anything for her! Help with ideas, please

I remember my mum telling me I wasn't allowed to shave my legs until I was 16. She didn't bother to tell me about hair removing creams so I used to smother them in Jolene bleach for faces cos I didn't know any better and some git at school had said I had hairy knees!!

Crikey - a 10 year old girl waxing?? I used to get my legs waxed, and stopped cos it was too sore. Never, ever do I put myself through pain for beauty, and wouldn't dream of putting my child through that either.
Veet/shaving all the way here too...if she wants to, but the earlier post about being aware of girls (usually) who will pick on anything about other girls appearance was spot on.

Thing is, it sounds like Jollymum's dd is wanting to be shaved because of being teased, not because she actually prefers the look. What you like as an individual is fine, but being bullied into it is horrible.

The hairy legs are not the problem, the teasing is.

I agree with fqueenzebra, but think that frogs' approach is probably the way to go. I have hairy legs, and don't much bother about them (mostly wear trousers!) but I can't say I find them attractive. It does seem depressing that a ten year old should need to care about her appearance. At that age I was too busy being a tomboy to care - it seems sad that primary school children should be caring about how they look to such an extent. I dread dd growing up, as I don't do any of the beauty stuff (feminist upbringing) and I'm sure she is going to be well into it.

If the hair is still quite downy it might be worth bleaching it. I've got hideously hairy arms and a good dose of Jolene Creme Bleach makes the hairs practically invisible. It wouldn't work on my legs cause the hair is much courser after years of shaving but might work well for dd??

A ladyshave seems a safe option, if razor I would go for the Protector blades as those cuts around the ankle hurt like hell.

Or Silky mitts, like a very fine grade sandpaper. You use a circular motion one way then reverse and it breaks hairs off and leaves skin very smooth as it exfoliates too. 3 for 99p in Boots or Superdrug Babylis has an electric version Simply Smooth

Thanks for all the replies ladies. My DD is not a typical girly girl, she has three brothers and is a bit of a tomboy sometimes. She used to be into pink stuff but now she's older she's into Dr Who, rock chicks like avril laveigne{sp?} etc. She brought the hariy stuff up, not me. I had noticed and mentioned it to Dh, but left it until she asked me. She hasn't said she's being teased as such, but I just get that feeling. Girls at school can be really cruel. She hasn't refused to go swimming or anything yet, but is getting concerned by it. I like the idea of the Veet stuff, I think. Her friend uses it and tbh, I was shocked when she told me last year. Ranted and raved about mothers who did this, how ridiculous etc and they should be children and not go under from peer pressure. That was last year, now look at me. Oh well, hairy legs here I come! Many thanks for all the help. Oh btw, I had sugaring done and came out in dreadful bruises. Looked like I been kicked relentlessly and had to go on holdiay the next day!

I have hairy legs and armpits - gave up shaving sometime in my early 20's - just couldn't be bothered.

If I were the mother of a "hairy" daughter I would try and encourage her to see that there is nothing wrong with that, and help her build her self confidence - to be able to shrug off any stupid comments from others. Hair is natural - you are fighting a losing battle trying to get rid of it - so learn to live with it happily ! Maybe if your DD can be confident about it, it may be that will encourage others in her peer to also go down that route - a small revolution on self image.

I agree with some of the other comments - peer pressure and self image problems are already too strong in females generally - we all need to try and teach our kids to not go down that route and be natural - be that hairy or not ultra skinny, or even not dying their hair.

I think it really depends on the girl themselves, we talk of the pressure to conform but what about the pressure to live out their mothers ideals.
In an ideal world we wouldn't worry about these things but we do. I have very dark hair that doesn't even come off with veet. My DD is quite fair so far but if she goes dark like me she will probably want to remove hair quite early.
Kids have enough to worry about without having to tough it out with hairy legs because someone thinks its inappropriate to remove hair.

I dont know if it is genetics or what, my mum told me that if I didnt shave my legs then the hairs would eventually wear off on their own and now 30 something years later and I have very little hair on my legs at all, I have never done anything to them though did live in long skirts and trousers as a youngster as it was hard going being the only one but now as an adult I realise that hardly anyone noticed and as mentioned everyone has something obvious or hidden that they dislike about themselves or that is not the same as others.