early periods in primary age children

[williamsmummy]

I have always been led to believe the early menstration in children from 9 upwards was becomimg more frequent these days because of two main factors,
high body weight, and herditory factors from mothers.

So far I have seen this to be true, most of the girls who are developing early are taller then their peer group and are well built.

My BIL insists that his soon to be 10yr old child is developing early. Hair growing and mood swings etc.
But this child is underweight, and pretty thin.
AM I wrong?
can early periods or puberty start early in a thin , ( normal height) child?
Has anyone come across this?

My daughter started her periods at nine - she was very thin and underweight(recovering from a long-term illness) - but suddenly started her periods and within six months had an adult figure. Shot up height wise, and developed a 36-22-34 figure (very scary on a nine year old).

Interesting. My friend has always insisted that periods cannot start until a child reaches 7.5 stone.

the girls I knew of who started early were all bigger than their peers.Obviously not the rule though,having just read joash's response.

It's amazing how different we all are isn't it. I didn't start mine until about 14 so to think someone had already been having them for 5 years is really wierd!!

my daughter is 11.5 very mature weighs 5 stone five and i just remarked to dh - surprised NO signs of any puberty..
ds started puberty at 12 despite being skin and bone and immature!

On the bright side - I did once read (can't remember where though) that the earlier someone starts their periods, the earlier they finish them.

My other daughter (4 1/2 years older) didn't start hers, or grow boobs until she was 17. Just goes to show that it's about individuals not genetics or whatever.

anyone know about that weight theory?

From looking at my dd1's peer group (Y 6, so 10 or 11ish) body weight or even ratio of body fat def isn't the only factor. Okay, some of the girls who are on the chunky side at 8 do appear to have boobs, but I think that's just plumpness.

My family tend to have late puberty (I started periods at 14, and on of my sisters was even later), and my dd1 is tall for her age, slim and muscly but definitely not skinny, and has absolutely no breast development, nor pubic hair. Whereas one of her good friends who is several months younger (about to turn 10), much shorter than dd1 and skinny to the point of being emaciated has quite noticeable breasts and also (so dd1 reports) proper pubic hair. And another child in dd1's class who started her periods at 9 is also a tiny, runty little thing.

So I guess that while body weight must affect the point at which any individual girls starts puberty, it can't override heredity.

I started my periods when I was 10 and was definitely lighter than 7.5 stone (have only been heavier than that since pg!). I was average height for my age but it turned out that that was to be my full adult height! (5'). Not particularly thin but not fat.

I was nine when I started my periods, tall but very skinny so weight wasn't the starting point for me. I was certainly less than 7.5 stone. My little sister on the other hand was very overweight, she was 7 stone by the time she was 7 years old, but she didn't start her periods until she was 14 (I think - certainly a teenager) and her weight matched her age.

If she's starting to develop in other ways then your BIL is probably right that she is starting puberty.

I am surprised that so many posters started their periods so early.
I thought this was a new phenomena.
Obviously not.
So why are girls so tall and starting their periods so early, these days ?

Joash - starting early doesn't mean finishing early alas! It was discussed with regard to menopause on the Jeremy Vine show last week.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. My dd is 7 but tall and willowy - probably the tallest in her year. It'll be ages before she's anywhere near 7 stone, but I have heard about the weight theory too being a trigger.

I started periods at 13 or 14 I think. I pray she doesn't start sooner. I (reluctantly, because she seems very young still) have told her the basics about menstruation - just in case.

9 seems so, so young. Is it really very commonplace now?

A question to those that started at this age - did it upset or worry you unduly? Did you feel prepared? I don't remember anyone I was at school with having periods in junior school.

Tinygang, I certainly wasn't prepared - my mother had told me nothing, and even when it happened she still didn't tell me what was going on. I was terrified.

I think we owe it to our daughters to make sure they do know what's going to happen - whether we tell them reluctantly or not, we have to tell them. My dd isn't 5 yet and already knows the bare bones - I will build on that as she gets older and we will celebrate when she starts. I don't want it surrounded with embarrassment or fear.

I started early (9.5) and was totally unprepared as I had been told nothing about it by my parents. When I started I was convinced I had injured myself climbing trees and was too scared to mention it to my parents as I shouldn't have been where I was. The next morning there was obviously blood everywhere so I had to. My mother's response was to tell our neighbours that The curse had started - can you imagine what that felt like?

My DD1 is almost 10 and looks likely to start soon (although I have thought this for ages). She has been told everything needless to say. She hopes that it will happen in Yr 6 as she thinks a lot of girls will be like her then. So do I.

I've been told (although no evidence to back it up) that it's actually a myth that girls are starting periods earlier.

as a primamry teacher several girls in my classes had started aged 9 or 10 who were on the small skinny side so weight definitely not the only factor.

just to confuse you even more,

Daughter saw a pediatritian when whe was a toddler and they remarked how tall she was for her age, (top of the centile chart) they mentioned that they could start her periods early to stop her from growing to tall as you can imagine I was horrified at the thought especially as we had gone about an unrelated problem... anyway...

I found this somewhere to expain it...
"Most girls have almost reached their adult height when they get their first period. They rarely grow more than an inch or 2 after they begin menstruating."

DDis 9 and just above average for her height now,

rummum, my GP has been predicting for years that dd1 would have an early puberty, because she was so tall. However many times I told her that all the women in my family have tended to start late, and that we all have the same body type as dd1, she would just smile in an irritatingly supercilious way.

But clearly, since dd1 is completely undeveloped at 10.5, it appears I was right, regardless of what the endocrinology textbooks say...

Poor you WigWam, how horrible and frightening for you

Yes I absolutely agree about preparing our daughters. I always knew I would. It's just that a previous thread on mn discussing this made me realise that this could potentially happen sooner rather than later and I was surprised.

I got on and had the talk about it all (we're really close anyway) and dd was very interested and asked some good questions so she seems to have taken it all on board.

I felt a bit sad though because I assumed that 9 was unusally young (goes to show how you only go by your own experience) So I was leaving it till later I guess. Anyway, I have mn to thank for drawing my attention to the fact that it could happen earlier. I would hate hate myself if she started young and I hadn't got on and told her when I should. Still hope it doesn't turn up early though.

rummum that is so interesting.
I started at 13 and stopped growing by 14.
I used to be one of the tallest in my class, but got overtaken by many after this point.

Definitely better to tell daughters sooner rather than later. My Mum told me all about periods when I was 8...I didn't have one 'til I was 17 though

I was totally unprepared too...well, I knew periods existed but had no idea what they were. Mum thought I was nowhere near starting so hadn't bothered to tell me. I remember being very worried about the mess in my pants, but went straight to Mum and told her so was OK after that. The practical problems were another thing (no facilities in loos at junior school, only massive looped towels available no nice thin stick-on ones etc etc).

Oh yes! I remember those horrible looped towels. What a palavar. Thank goodness we have easier things to use now.

I wonder if junior schools are more geared up for this nowadays?

Oh, and I mentioned to some friends with daughters the same age as mine that I had got on and told her and they were surprised that I had.

They were saying 'Oh I don't want to tell my dd all that yet - I don't want her to know that too young'. One friend had even started in junior school and yet was still saying that.

They said junior school would broach the subject anyway at around 8/9 and they would take it from there. I felt like I'd let the cat out of the bag. Like maybe I'd burdened my dd too young with this information. But having read this thread, no that can't be the case. I'm glad I did.