8 year old possible puberty

[emummy]

Just wondering if anyone else has had experience of this. My 8 yr old dd has been growing some pubic hair for a few months and now it looks as though she may have the start of breast buds. Don't think she has had a growth spurt but she is taller than all her friends anyway. She's had a few spots around her hairline which have improved with better washing! Is this now quite common at her age or do we need to see the GP?

Very common, the gp won't do much if anything as 8 is considered 'normal' for starting to develop, my dd was 8 too, I just stepped up her personal hygine a bit, she was getting a bit whiffy and kept reassuring her that all is normal.

My dd started her period at 10 ..she's now 12 very tall at 5'8 she towers above her friends much to her embarrassment ..she too gets a bit pimply on her forehead cause her hairs abit greasy ..but she sprinkles talc into her fringe and that's helped .

Thanks for the replies. I guess she just seems so young compared to 10 yr old dd1, who is showing no signs of development at all - except for attitude! Looks like she and I will be having a long talk...

I took 8 yr old dd to GP last week as she is showing signs of puberty, and GP confirmed that she will not do anything until dd's periods start. I said that I had read that some girls have bone scans and ultrasounds to check the development of ovaries etc, but the doc said that she would not recommend that.
I was thinking the same last night re the talk emummy. Not looking forward to it, dd worries about everything.

Good luck with the talk! Have ordered Babette Cole's "Hair in Funny Places" from amazon and am avoiding the subject until it arrives! Am now noticing she's a bit more easily upset than usual, so think I will have to let dd1 know what's going on so she goes easy on her wee sister!

8 years old is young, but not abnormal. I took my daughter to the doctor at 6 years old as she started with really bad body odour. They did blood tests, a bone scan and an ultrasound and diagnosed her with precocious puberty but not full-blown and didn't expect her to start her periods until her peer group and she didn't. Although she had underarm hair and pubic hair quite young (9), everything else seems to have happened at what would be considered a normal pace. She is tall though 5'8" and still growing at 12 years old. We are now back with the same specialist as she's having continuous periods and they think the precocious puberty may have been a pre-cursor to PCOS so I think it would be worth checking out with your doctor to be on the safe side. PCOS in an adolescent can lead to diabetes at an early stage in life so you'd need to be forewarned so you could adjust the diet. Not scaremongering or anything but if I were you, I'd insist on a paediatric referral.

My dd is also 8 & i have noticed she is getting body odour & the start of boobs developing. She has also had a couple of spots recently and an awful attitude! She is of an average height/weight for her age. I was thinking this was normal

In an odd sort of way i think it's better to go through it at primary than in the turmoil of the first term at secondary. You can get in all the right messages about washing and preparing for periods before they decide to dismiss everything you say on principle!

My 8 year old dd (9 in september) is under the paediatrician for precocious puberty. She has a few pubic hairs but no breast buds yet but increasingly strong body ordour and what can only be described as "emotional swings". Today she came home and asked me what sex was....! I've ordered some books to talk with her about that particular subject...we've been discussing periods and loosely how babies are made for some 18 months but tbh I'm finding it hard!

I too had the same problem when my DD was 8. Now 9, we have just had a chat about it and she understands more than I thought she did. I am still very concerned that she is younger than her peers, but she too is learning and we have a very good routine at bath and bed time now. I have also bought her a deodorant especially for children from Boots which I can recommend called KeepItKind which she is really happy to use and feels very grown up doing so. I think I am now beginning to be more relaxed about it. The important thing is to keep chatting.

I'm wandering if my 8yr old dd is having a few hormonal changes? She is very emotional and acting like a typical teenager! Very hormonal, but showing no signs of body odour or pubic hair. Do girls go through a hormonal change at this age? I'm sure somebody told me they do?

We had a general attitude problem around 9-11 and friendship problems during the last year with all of them getting silly over things, luckily things have settled and she has a large bunch of friends. She is is just 12 now, growing breasts and hair and we don't have any mood swings at the moment. She's never been one to get upset so can't comment on that one.