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Preteens

Puberty starting?

6 replies

iloveyankeecandle · 06/07/2022 20:46

My dad is nearly nine. She's had some vaginal discharge the past couple of months. Is this a sign of puberty? I literally cannot remember anything from when I was younger. Also seems really early?

OP posts:
Picoloangel · 06/07/2022 21:28

There’s a really good book “The Care and Keeping of You.” which you might find useful. It’s sort of puberty for tweens.

DD started her period at 10 1/2 (as did I) and she wasn’t the first in her class. She had very noticeable breast development, body hair, greasy hair, needed deodorant prior to this. I can’t exactly remember when she first had vaginal discharge but there was definite and noticeable development in those other areas
well before her period started.
I approached it v much as “This is great! This is all a good sign that your body is working as it should”
In Y6 I would say about half of the girls have started their period. Hope this helps

iloveyankeecandle · 06/07/2022 21:38

@Picoloangel thank you so much. I'll definitely look at that book. I don't want to get it wrong. I didn't start my periods until I was 13/14 I think. So it feels really early to me.

OP posts:
Picoloangel · 06/07/2022 21:54

Yes, I get that. It was very much on my radar because I was so young and I thought I was dying when it happened to me😬 I was v keen to avoid that with my DD.
It is actually associated with the American Girl dolls - whatever you think of the dolls the books are so good. They do others on subjects like friendships, worrying etc
the puberty one comes in 2 age groups and the tween version is v much confined to body changes rather than sex, reproduction etc

I did make sure that DD had spare knickers, pads etc just in case.

iloveyankeecandle · 06/07/2022 21:56

@Picoloangel the book sounds perfect. Be nice to read with her too.
Yeah I don't want her worried about it all.

OP posts:
Picoloangel · 06/07/2022 22:01

Good luck with it all. I think the key is to talk about it and normalise it. I’m sure you’ll both be fine 😊

hornchurchmum · 14/07/2022 19:40

DD (now 11) started her periods in Jan this year. In lockdown, around the Joe Wicks phase, she suddenly developed breasts, started to sweat and also got a bit hairy. She also had some discharge. I would say it’s a sign that things are happening but she might not get periods immediately x

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