This may be a stupid question - about periods and my DD

[pumpkin1976]

Hi, don't flame me if this is a stupid question. My daughter is 12 and started her period 2 years ago. She wasn't bothered and managed it so well. She was happy! We were told they'd be sporadic for a couple of years but she has had her period like clockwork every 28 days ever since. Our GP said there is a rush of hormones after 2 years, as they are practising periods for the first few years but clearly hers have been settled. A lot of my daughter peers haven't started theirs yet and look very different, basically my daughter looks about 14-15 already. We have had a lot of mood swings and emotions and I am just wondering if my daughter is ahead of the curve with adolescence, as she's basically been having regular periods for a few years already? It's like we are in full on teenager mode (physically and mentally) She feels very different to her peers as a lot of them seem so much younger.

so my stupid question is, if you start your periods early do you go through adolescence and the brain changes that come with that earlier?

TIA ! X

Typically girls are fully grown 2 years after their first period, so yes she will be ahead of her peers who have started later.

I’m no expert but I’m a secondary teacher and can say that both sexes noticeably mature at different rates with some looking like children in yr7 and others looking like older teenagers. I would assume that those who start periods early are the more developed. My 11 yo daughter is a long way off this I think (I started at 13) but my son is 13, almost 6’ tall with a fully broken voice and looks about 17!

Thr brain is not fully developed until the mid 20s.

Body and brain are not always in sync

Thanks all. It's interesting, I work with kids and thought I knew what was what but it's different when it's your own. Shes very much in the phase where the front of your brain (the logic bit) is getting culled back and the emotional back bit is in overdrive (just like older teens) I bought an ace book called the teenage brain which is really interesting but bloody hell it so difficult right now with the moods, emotions etc. I just look at some of her friends who still seem all sweet and child like and I seem to have a very emotional large teenager at the moment 🥴

Look on the bright side OP - by age 16 you’ll likely have a far more grown up and mature teen than many other parents in her year group. DD was a late bloomer and I can very confidently say that the late teenage years very much made up for her still being ‘young’ and childlike at 13/14!

I really hope so 🥴 I keep holding on to that hope! X