Tween leg hair removal - I don't think either of us are ready for this

[KichenDancefloor]

I have a year 6 daughter who is delightfully young and not at all streetwise, into fashion, boys, etc.

She has quite noticeable leg hair which I have never passed comment on.

However, she has mentioned that some children at school have said she has hairy legs. She isn’t upset by the comments and I’ve always responded in a non-committal way, ‘oh do they’ and changed the subject.

So on one hand, it’s her body, she’s fine about herself and I’m really pleased about that.
However, I think I might mention hair removal before she starts secondary school and new kids comment on her body.

There must be MNers out there who have been through this with their daughters. How did you handle it? I do want her to be a strong young woman who is more concerned with how amazing her body is and where it will take her, rather than how aesthetically pleasing it is to others. But I also don’t want her to be an obvious target of children’s unkind comments.

Any advice welcome.

For context, I have lighter finer hair than her and have been intermittently shaving my legs since age 14 or so. Mainly just in summer

After the first PE lesson at secondary school I showed dd how to use my epilator on her legs. Fine.
She now wants to epilate her arms as well, and I don’t know whether to let her or not. Her arms are “normal” hairy.

Agree about laser treatment, I've been having it over the last year and have started a separate bank account to save in case DD wants to do the same. She's only 4 now but that gives me time to save.

DD is very like me with pale, sensitive skin and dark hair, so perfect for laser. I can't shave as my skin burns for days after, and the same with hair removal cream. I've epilated for years but got fed up eventually.

I'll certainly be offering for DD to have laser hair removal as young as she likes, and will caution against waxing first as it makes the hairs finer and less likely to respond to laser treatment.

Philips Lumea and Boots Smoothskin both say not suitable for under 18s due to growth hormones (or something).

@building2017 do they? I have one and searched extensively for guidance on that as was considering it for DD. I couldn’t find anything that said it was ok or not.

In the end I didn’t but it would be good to know for the future.

www.smoothskin.com/faqs/ has a question about age and says over 18s only.

I found this is the lumea manual

"-Children should be supervised to ensure that they do not play with
the device.

• The device is not intended for children under the age of 15 years.

Teenagers aged between 15 and 18 years can use the device with the consent and/or assistance of their parents or the persons who have parental authority over them."

www.download.p4c.philips.com/files/b/bri956_00/bri956_00_dfu_eng.pdf

I've had laser hair removal and it was strictly for over 18s. DN asked about it and so I enquired on her behalf. This was with a well known national chain. They wouldn't even contemplate it for under 18s.

But in any event laser hair removal only works for certain hair and skin types and colours.

DD2 asked to shave her legs when she was almost 10. I chatted with her about it, told her the different types of hair removals and their pros and cons, and she chose shaving. So we got a shaver with the shaving block attached, so she didn't have to fiddle and get the right amount of gel/cream on her legs. She's only actually shaved her legs twice in the 6 months that she's had it, but she was pretty much begging my for it prior to getting it, so it was it was far better to just get it and stop her worrying about her legs.