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 didnt start my periods until i was 16! i was/am tall, and was undernourished!

i did have issues conceiving

DD started quite recently at nearly 16. Never been underweight but she is petite and did quite a bit of gymnastics training for a while (stopped about a year ago).
If the other signs of puberty are there I think there’s highly unlikely to be anything to worry about.

@SammyTheDog Have her feet stopped growing yet?

I was 15 and 11 months I think. I think up to 16 is a ‘normal’ timeframe to start.

As I said it’s a correlation. This doesn’t mean that early menarche = early menopause, it means that the likelihood of early menopause is higher in women who have their first period early.

I started at 14. I felt like all my friends started before me and I desperately wanted to join in. I was also a skinny teen.

Your body needs to meet a certain weight to kick start it. There was a health programme years ago with one episode following twin girls and their periods didn't start until they were 7.5 stone I think. It was a programme with Prof Robert Winston. I think it was called "the human body".

I don't think there's huge cause for concern yet at 14, but I would do a spot check that she is not in a serious energy deficit and that she is eating as many calories as she is burning if she is studying and very active. Just because she's not clinically underweight at the moment, it doesn't mean she doesn't have a relative energy deficiency.

You don't necessarily need to tell her you're doing this, and it may be better not to, but I would quietly complete a diet and exercise log for her for a couple of days and do a little calories in vs out calculation. Don't just include organised sports - take into account things like walking/cycling to and from school, PE etc as well.

She's well within normal range right now.

She doesn't need to go to the gp. It's totally within the realms of normal.

DD isn't far off 15, slim and very sporty. No sign of her periods yet although has breasts, pubic hair and other signs of puberty. I will take her to the GP in due course but, for now, she is enjoying not having to deal with it.

14 isn't late.

I started at 14 and my menstruation has been fine all my life.

I was 14.

I got it when i was 16. No problems conceiving, no health problems.

Yes, my DD was only a couple of months short of 15 when she started. I was a similar age.

It's a blessing. All her friends started ages ago, can share experiences with her and it's normal now in her friend group. And she's been mature enough to manage it pretty much herself without difficulty or embarrassment.

Small and slim, started at 16. Perfectly normal.

I was almost 14 when I started. I thought that was kind of average although that was 30 years ago

My question is:

Are women being misinformed about the starting age of a period? Otherwise whybthe worry

Because I remember my mum also being concerned that I hadn't started my period at 14, and she told me and she made me really badly worry that there was something wrong with me.

She brought me to the doctor and he told her that 14 was a completely normal age to start a period

Both my mum and sister were 16 too, nothing wrong, just happened later than average. Girls it's normal for puberty to start as late as 13 with periods following two years later.

How old were you OP? Girls tend to be similar to their mums.
Periods normally start about 2 years after starting to grow pubic hair.
At just turned 14 it's too early to worry especially if she has started puberty.
GP is unlikely to do anything until she's 16

It's perfectly normal for puberty to begin between 8 and 13 for girls, and that is only to start, periods usually come after other changes.

I was 19 before periods. I always thought no chance of children, and I avoid/avoided getting medical involvement as terrified. Had family (2 boys) normally. Early menopause (I think) around 40, but easy......no hot flush, night sweats etc. Always been overweight so not late due to fitness!

One of my daughters was 15. She wasn't underweight for her height but was very short, and a late developer physically. When she was 13 someone took her for an 8 year old!

She hasn't had any problems since (she hasn't tried to get pregnant but neither of us foresee any problems).

Is she definitely not underweight? Too much exercise can stop your period and can even delay starting them in the first place like your daughter. However I've always been very slim either underweight or borderline and started my periods young. That's my genetics though. Daughters tend to start periods at a similar age their mum did.

Yes.

You need to make sure she eats nutritious carbs (bonus points for added calcium) before workouts/ training/ events, and protein acterwards.

One of my DDs did an intensive sport in high school (in the US), and all the parents of girls on the roster were given detailed info on proper diet to maintain weight and promote health for the season. The girls themselves signed an agreement to the effect that they understood proper nutrition was part of their training regimen.

Whole grain bagels plus peanut butter/ cheese/ meat / eggs was advised as a breakfast after early morning training, with Greek yogurt and other good sources of multiple nutrients advised for before workouts.

Lunch was to be nourishing (she had school lunch so ate what was on offer, often with a salad option) and dinners were to be balanced and filling, with vegetables occupying half the plate. Protein was very important.

DD gained a lot of muscle mass, which she needed for the sport. She gained approximately a stone and avoided the gyne probing the doctor had said might be necessary if she went to 16 without a period.

Why would anyone think 14 is too late?

It's a blessing starting later in a lot of ways.

I'm glad I started at 14.

You menstruation for long enough.!

Here I am, 41 and still going every month