One of dd's friends has had her first period - she is in Yr 5 and is 9 years old.

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Is this still unusual in this day and age? I am a little bit shocked, if I'm honest.

Periods usually come about a year and a half after the first signs of pubic hair. Girls usually reach their adult height 2 yrs after periods start. Later starters tend to grow taller. Most girls start when their weight reaches 7 to 7 and a half stone. These are just averages.

Do people not talk about periods before the onset of puberty?

Both DD1 (4.8) and DD2 (2.11) know what periods are in the most basic of terms as they see me change my towel (though only just had my 4th period since Feb 2007!) - womens tummies build a nest for a baby to grow in in a special bag called a womb, it is made out of blood and each month if there is no baby then the nest is got rid of through where the baby would come out when it if fully grown.

Is that too much info or not enough?

I haven't done body hair growing or breasts growing or that in a few years time they might get periods too. Should I be talking about that now or waiting a bit?

Didn't mean I line them up in the cloakroom to watch me but as we have an open bathroom door policy if they wander in they see what they see.

TruthSweet -- The biology of it isn't half as necessary as the practical details and feeling confident about using pads or tampons, knowing how to dispose of them neatly, how to carry them to school discreetly, imo. It's the carrying yourself through school, gym class, swimming, dances etc., and social situations during your period that concern girls most as they develop.

My dd is 10 and has just started to grow pubic hair. I've taken the start talking when they are young and tell them everything they appear to want to know (and sometimes slightly more) approach. We've just had a chat about whether she would like to have a selection of towels and pads in a box for the future (a MNer on another thread mentioned some sort of sample box you can buy which seemed a neat idea to me).

I'm hoping that periods are a way off for her yet. I started at 13, which seemed early enough to me (my cousin didn't start until she was 18 and whilst she was worried I was very envious). She seems to have a very similar growth pattern to me, is in age 14 clothes and has feet the same size as me now, but is also slender, and has no breast buds as yet. She says that none of her same age friends have started, although they all have a few signs of puberty now.

I started at nearly 17 (like my mum and grandma and greatgrandma) so I am hoping that my DD1 and DD2 will be the same, as frankly they are such a pain!

Flipside of that is that they all went onto late menopauses, late 50s....!!! (actually my mum even got pregnant in her mid 50s but that's for another thread...)

Have been watching this thread with interest. Those of you whose DDs did start early - what signs did you have that they were on their way?

DD is 8, in year 3, and very tall and a bit chubby quite solidly built for her age. She's the tallest in her year, and one of the oldest.

I started at age 11, already in secondary school, and was the youngest in the class, so not the first to start, but I get the feeling that she'll be earlier. I'm hoping it will wait until she's 10, which would make her year 5 or 6, but from what I've been reading here and elsewhere, age 9 is a possibility, and she will almost certainly be still in primary and the first in her year to start.

She knows about periods and knows what tampons/pads are, has read 'What's happening to me?' and so on, but I haven't talked to her much about the practicalities or how soon she is likely to have to start dealing with all this.

So I'm just wondering what early-warning signs I should be looking out for. No pubic hair or anything yet, but she's starting to get more self-conscious about changing in front of people, so I may not be aware when it does start growing. I vaguely remember getting a white discharge for a while before my periods started, but can't remember how long that carried on for - anyone know?

As I said before, my Mum started at 17. She says she ran home and sobbed her heart out thinking she was dying!

My Dd sees me sorting my Mooncup (and has an opinion!) sometimes, but I'm not sure at what age I need to talk to her about it all...probably 7 or 8 I think as she's already got a head start with the open bathroom door policy. I only ever saw myMums box of Tampax on the toilet cystern and thought they were for stopping babies (and I have no idea where the baby knowledge came from either).

As I said before, my Mum started at 17. She says she ran home and sobbed her heart out thinking she was dying!

Do you know that was my experience too! Despite knowing all about it and having waited so long (aged nearly 17)....when it happened I remember it so well, I couldn't stop crying, I was terribly upset!

i was an absolute shrimp as well and i didn't start till i was nearly 15. but my friends who were bigger started at 10-12.

I think body fat as a percentage of overall weight is the deciding factor, and there may be specific types of fat involved too, so the matter may not really be obvious to an observer. In general, I think about two to three years after the breasts begin developing is the rule of thumb, but there are factors that can affect the timing, body fat being one, level and frequency of exercise (gymnasts, runners, ballet and competitive Irish dancers are especially prone to later menarche due to the body fat thing)..

my daughter will be 9 in may, and the thought of her starting fills me with dread.

i was picked on at school when i started mine (the 1st one in my year to start my periods) and i dont want her to get picked on too.

she has got a lot of the symptoms of starting, mood swings, pubic hair, breast swellings :(

i want her to be my little girl for another couple of years at least yet, dont think that will happen though.

Puberty and growing up don't have to be sad things, though, do they? Dd started her periods at 10, wasn't teased in any way, wasn't horrified, nothing bad happened.

I wonder if that would have been the same if I had reacted with horror at the thought of my little girl growing up, though, and thought of her as a poor little thing.

Often I think we can ease our children's passages into new stages simply by taking them in our stride.

Old thread.