Daughter is gone 14 and no period

[SammyTheDog]

Just wondering if anyone else has this experience? DD was 14 in July and no sign of her period. She has all the other puberty signs, breasts growing, pubic hair, acne and mood swings! But no period. It's really getting her down and she's inclined to be anxious anyway. She just said to me, 'what happens if it never comes, and I can never have children'! What do I say to her? Anyone else got a 'late starter' in their family?

I was a very sporty tean and started my period at 15 and a half. Not underweight (was around 8 stone) and had started breast buds etc at 11. Have conceived two children perfectly fine despite having PCOS. I really wouldn’t worry. Also periods are such a faff, I wouldn’t be in any hurry to start!

It's not a particular weight that triggers anything; I think it's more to do with the body fat percentage. I started mine at 11 and so did dd.

My 13 year old hasn’t started yet and I was starting to worry a bit but I think she’s only around 6 stone.

Hi OP. I was 16 when mine started. I had a low BMI.

I never had any trouble conceiving.

Yes this definitely! I started at 10 and I was a very young ten too (this was mid-sixties) and then I had an early menopause at about 40 and have really aged since. My mother didn't start until mid teens (maybe the wartime diet?) and she had a later menopause and kept her youth much longer than I have. I don't have daughters so wouldn't know.

I started at 16, no problems

I don't believe there's any evidence that either weight or body fat % are responsible for the onset of puberty/menstruation.

But it is correct that heavy exercise can delay menstruation onset.

14 or even later is perfectly normal. My dd was 14.5. She is quite tall and had not finished growing until she was 16 or so.

Same here. I was very slim and I didn't start until I was 16. Everything else was normal.

I don't think 14 is late.

It's absolutely alright.
She'll probably start within next half year.
Nothing to look forward to, though!

My daughter started hers all of a sudden at 15 after a year or so of worrying as all her friends started ages ago. She also started developing at 12/13 and has always been tall, though pretty slim, for her age and has had quite bad skin since age 12 which I always put down to hormones. I started mine at 13 which further added to her angst/annoyance!

We went to see the doctor about her skin and she could see how anxious my daughter was about not having her periods and so agreed to do blood tests early (won't normally do them until 16) which did rule out any issues but I think they were done more for my daughter's mental health as opposed to them being concerned about lack of periods.

Interestingly enough, she also found a lump in her breast a couple of years previous to starting and one of her breasts was quite noticeably a different size to the other. She had to have a breast scan (so proud of how she handled that) but thankfully all was well and again, they said the lump could have been hormonal. Since her periods have started, her breasts have evened out to the same size which she's pleased about!

Sorry for the essay but I just wanted to sympathise and tell our story as my daughter was so down about it due to just wanting to be like her friends so I know even though your daughter is still young at 14, it does play on their minds and in turn, ours of course!

I agree with previous posters.
14 really isn't that late to start periods.
I was 14 when mine started,not sporty but tall, verging on skinny and still quite flat chested when they started.
I definitely think it depends a lot on bmi.

I was 13 when I started but my sister was 14. She was very slim, probably underweight but easily conceived her 2 DC, a lot easier than me who has both primary and secondary infertility

I wouldn't be worried at this stage

This is bollocks. I started my periods at 11 and was slim and sporty, not overweight! I was tall though.

My dd was 15 and I 14.

You'd think so but I started at 14 and had the menopause at 47.

I wish that had been the case for me. Periods began as I had barely turned 11 and didn't finish until I was almost 57, just over a year ago. ☹️

So quite early menarche and very late menopause, with plenty of associated problems as I hit my prolonged perimenopause (flooding etc.)

A friend at school didn't start hers until we were about to get our GCSE results, she turned 17 a couple of months later. She wasn't skinny or overweight. She's had 2 children since, no issues with conceiving.

If she has other signs of puberty then gynae would say don’t be ridiculous.

if she has absolutely no signs of puberty we’d run her bloods instead. Much more useful than a scan.

14 isnt late at all - perfectly normal! Girls usually follow the same pattern as their mothers and if she is very slim it might be a bit later than her peers. I'm sure it will happen soon for her

I didn't start until 15 and even then they were only scanty over 2 days my whole life until they stopped dead at 45.
I had a family no problem.

I would most girls seem to start menstruation before this. A quick scan could put her mind at rest. If there is a problem the quicker you know the better.

That's not common though, it's normally exactly what the poster said.

Hope you don't mind me jumping on to follow OP. Got a slightly similar issue. DD was poorly last summer with a very high temp and had what seemed to be a period. She was nearly 13 but then nothing. Now nearly 14 and no sign of it. Developing normally in every other way, sporty too. I wonder if what she experienced was a bit of a stress period when really ill but her body isn't actually ready yet.

Another here who was almost 17 when I started, not sporty at all. My sister was 14 and same build as me at the time she started, she wasn't sporty either.
Both of us not very slim or overweight, just average and everything else was normal.

Have two kids both conceived straight away, I wouldn't worry. My eldest started her period at 15 so older than my sister and younger than me!