10 year old started period on Christmas day - she's so upset

[pinkunicorns18]

My 10 year old started her first period on Christmas day. She has been fine about it, but today got heartbroken and cried and cried and has been so tearful. She's too young to have to deal with this. What is so unfair is she isn't even that developed! I thought she was a good 18 months off starting.

It's been 4 days now, is it likely to stop on day 5?
And will they be regular from now on?

Any advice?

Thanks

They can be irregular to start with. There's no way to say how long this first one will last.

You won't know. When I started they lasted 10 days minimum and when the next one would be was anyone's guess. If yours have always been regular then she might get lucky and take after you but for most of us our periods don't settle until we are well into or even out of our teens. Mine started when I was 15 and at 28 they still haven't completely settled. I doubt they ever will tbh. Most of the time I have a 40 to 70 day cycle but the last couple of months have been 25 days exactly. Normal is a range. Mine are well outside of the range but normal for me if you see what I mean. She'll just have to wait and see. It might stop and she doesn't get another one for years or she might come on again in a fortnight or she might be on every month, regular as clockwork.

Oh bless her. Hormonally she is probably all over the place and a bit scared. Lots of comfort and cuddles are in order. Try and give her a positive slant on starting her periods, a coming of age, growing up take on it. I remember my mum presenting me with a beautiful picture she had painted when I started, I still have it.

Periods are a bit unpredictable at first. It may be short, but maybe not. She may not have one every month or she could be regular from now on and that may change again down the line.

Just be there for her to talk to and have the chocolate and hot water bottles handy. Yes she is 10, but many girls nowadays start in primary school (make sure you let a teacher she is comfortable with know in case she needs sanitary products in school) . She will be fine, you will be fine, it is just a bit of a shock.

My niece started hers when she was 9 and they have been irregular and super super heavy ever since , she's now 14 and has been prescribed the pill to help control symptoms .

She really struggled at first being at primary school and being the only one that wouldn't go swimming and not want to go to sleepovers

I started at 10 and found it hard. At the time (France in the 80s), schools were woefully unprepared. We had disgusting outdoor loos with no bins! Nightmare.

I remember the flow being quite light at first and periods getting regular pretty quickly.

My daughter hasn’t started yet but I’ve been looking at how I can make things easier for her when the time comes and recently came across period underwear and swimwear, which get really good reviews on Mumsnet. Really seem to work. This stuff would have been great in my time!

Lots of love to your daughter (and to you!)

Mine started at 10, I was horrified. My mom took me on a girls shopping trip and got me new pyjamas, a new dressing gown and sanitary towels. I’ve never forgotten this.

I had a few periods and then they went away until I was 12ish.

Big hugs to your daughter.

Oh your poor DD. I think its really hard to say how long it will last. Mine started at 12 and were pretty regular from the beginning but lasted 8 days.

Thanks so so so much for your kindness everyone. Means a lot. It was such a shock and as I didn't show my daughter j was phased by it, I needed somewhere to offload.

It seems to have almost stopped now. She's on day 6.

I am looking at those period knickers for her as they might make her feel more confident at school. I should think she's the first one in her class to start - she's in a very small school and most in her class are summer babies.

will they be regular from now on?

Unlikely I would imagine. Poor thing - Christmas Day of all days.

10 isn’t unusually early to start a period. As long as you prepared her for this, it’s fine.

Yeah Christmas day is just typical isn't it?!?

Luckily about 2 months ago I had got her one of those teen packs that come in a nice little bag. I got one for her at home and one for her school bag. So she was prepared luckily. But I truly didn't think she'd start so soon!

I was 11 and very very embarrassed. The doctor put me on the pill which almost eradicated them. I know it's extreme but it helped me loads. Teach her to own her ladyship I loved having boobs and pretty bras before my friends

I can recommend the Diary Doll pants my DD uses them I wish they were around in my days! Sizing comes up small though DD has the smallest size which I think is marketed as size 6-8 and fits well but I would say it's more like a size 4.

My dd had her first when she was ten and was very upset but that was in April and she hasn't had another one since.

My dd is 11 and has had periods for about a year now, they are still all over the place, she misses a month, they last from anything from 2/7 days, the odd heavy one lasted 3 days, most of the time she is fine with them, occasionally we have tearful/sensitive days it is a case of just going with the flow so to speak. i only ever had 1 or 2 periods a year, went 4 years with none at all in my early 20's so we are all different x