Precocious Puberty - Anone BTDT?

[shinyhappypeople]

Took 7 yo DD (8 in a few months) to the ped a few days ago and her dr. said that DD was already starting puberty and predicts that she would probably start menstruating in the next year and a half.

 

This was me --> :svengo:

 

I asked if it was DD's weight issue and she (ped) said no. DD is heavy but her BMI is still okay, just keep her active, limit fast food and she'll be fine (no problem, there - she's SUPER active).

 

Ped said that Hispanic girls tend to start puberty earlier and there's a genetic component. I found out that on her birth-mom's side of the family many girls tend to start puberty earlier than average (not sure how much earlier, though).

 

She's been driving me a little nuts with the ways she's acting like a moody teenager for no reason lately. Except, apparently, she's acting hormonal because she is a bit hormonal at the moment. That's a game-changer in how I approach her moodiness, so I guess this information is helpful in that regard. But still...

 

I'm not ready for this.

 

Any words of wisdom? Or just hugs? I'm totally freaked.

 

Hey, on the bright side, maybe precocious puberty will lead to precocious maturity! Maybe I'll have this super calm, reasonable 15 year old who weighs decisions carefully and considers the long-term consequences of her actions. :lol::lol::lol:

 

Just a little humor to lighten things up. :D

[shinyhappypeople]

That's interesting. Chica usually has fast food 3-4 times a month. I'll experiment with eliminating it and see if causes her body to hit the pause button. I hope.

[AK_Mom4]

How we survived DD(now 17):

1 - More sleep. Really! An earlier bed time made a huge improvement. DD needed 10+ hours to function in polite society

2 - Lots of physical activity and good healthy food. Sounds like you have this covered, but it's good to mention that the appetite goes up when the growth spurts start and a hungry normonal pre-teen is as bad as a hungry toddler.

3 - More alone time. This was tricky because DD shared a room wiht her little sis, but we had to lay down the law and not let little sis bother DD when she needed to be away from the rest of us.

4 - hugs, hugs, and the occasional chocolate bar.

[cindergretta]

My oldest went through puberty early. Not as early as you are describing, but early nonetheless.

 

While everyone around me is struggling with unreasonable and emotional 13 & 14 y/os, I am NOT. :D My dd is past all that malarky and is a very reasonable, focused young lady.

 

So, it actually can happen like that. :grouphug:

[G5052]

Not quite that young, but we saw signs at 9 that scared me. The whole family went to a more natural diet for a variety of reasons, and it indeed slowed down significantly.

[Slartibartfast]

BTDoingthat.

 

Dd started her period young. She is an active kid.

 

I also hope for early maturity :lol:

[MamaT]

My oldest went through puberty early. Not as early as you are describing, but early nonetheless.

 

While everyone around me is struggling with unreasonable and emotional 13 & 14 y/os, I am NOT. :D My dd is past all that malarky and is a very reasonable, focused young lady.

 

So, it actually can happen like that. :grouphug:

 

:iagree: My daughter was tested for precocious puberty at 9. They told us she fell into the "normal" category even though she had breasts and pubic hair at 9. She started menstruating two weeks after she turned 11. She was very hormornal and moody from 9 to about 12 1/2, but then evened out. She is a sweet-natured, very reasonable girl now at 14.

[lovelaughs_times_three]

It seems to me like almost all the girls are developing earlier than I remember happening when I was young. I realize I haven't done a scientific study, but it seems like puberty is hitting at an earlier age. I mentioned that in one of my moms groups and someone (who sounded so smart when she said it) stated that it is the result of the hormones that have been added to the meats we eat. Is that true? Have you all noticed this trend?

[Stacyandtherugrats]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

I know exactly what you mean. We took our 8 year old for her yearly well child visit last October and the pediatrician noticed what we had started noticing .... breasts!! I was in shock that I had to buy my 8 year old bras! (I was a 'late bloomer' but she is adopted, so genetically different). In the past 7 months or so, she has gone to just having 'buds' to filling out her bra. I am so not ready for this. I have no idea when she may start menstruating but I figure I better start talking to her about it soon.

 

She isn't necessarily hormonal just yet but she is 'acting' older. She has always appeared more mature physically than other girls. She is quite active and eats pretty healthy.

 

*sigh* Not ready at all.

[krisperry]

My daughter had signs at 4 and was treated at Duke. She made it to 9 before starting her period which was the goal.

 

The main issue with premature puberty is the sealing of growth plates. This happens at the end of puberty and basically stops your growth. Hitting puberty early on makes for a much taller/bigger than normal child but a very short adult.

 

My daughter is now 13 and has not grown in height in 1 1/2 years. She is 5'3'' which is an acceptable adult height. However, given that I was 5'9'' (somewhat shorter now due to my spine bending) and my husband is 6'3'', I think she is on the short side. Her 10 year old brother is nearly her height :001_huh:

 

(((hugs))) It is difficult to deal with the hormones when they are so young.

[cindergretta]

Yes, :iagree:. My dd14 is 4'10. She hasn't grown in over 2 years and her shoe size hasn't changed in even longer. <sigh> She was never destined to be tall, but I was hoping she would hit 5'.

[krisperry]

Interesting that you mention shoe size. My daughter's hands are very small. Both my husband and I have huge hands. By anyone's standards *blush* My daughter's hands are bigger than a child's using a kid glove as a guide but not quite adult sized... adult gloves kinda swim on her. I've never told her but they look slightly odd. Not in a huge glaring way but it IS noticeable. I'd bet money that it has to do with the pp.

[Stacyandtherugrats]

The doctor we saw at my daughter's 8 year well child visit never mentioned it was 'abnormal' for her to be developing early and precocious puberty. Now after this thread and looking up info on the web (tsk tsk, shame on me I know), I am wondering if we should talk to our regular pediatrician (we were in another state for a while so saw a new ped). She is tall for her age and went through a growth spurt over a year ago. Her birth parents are not tall, so we find her height a bit perplexing. And then I see that certain brain conditions can cause precocious puberty, one of which is meningitis - which she had as an infant. She has always appeared more mature physically.

 

Should we talk to our pediatrician now or can it wait until her well child visit in October?

[Elfinlady]

It seems to me like almost all the girls are developing earlier than I remember happening when I was young. I realize I haven't done a scientific study, but it seems like puberty is hitting at an earlier age. I mentioned that in one of my moms groups and someone (who sounded so smart when she said it) stated that it is the result of the hormones that have been added to the meats we eat. Is that true? Have you all noticed this trend?

 

I have no idea if it's true, but I know that I had HORRIBLE periods as a teen, and was advised to give up eating red meat. When I finally did, it helped enormously. I still had a rough time until I went on BC, but I could definitely tell the difference without meat.

[msjones]

My oldest went through puberty early. Not as early as you are describing, but early nonetheless.

 

While everyone around me is struggling with unreasonable and emotional 13 & 14 y/os, I am NOT. :D My dd is past all that malarky and is a very reasonable, focused young lady.

 

So, it actually can happen like that. :grouphug:

 

So, if it starts early, it ends early, too? I sure hope so, because my son started on the early side of normal, and I'll be glad to be through it.

[cindergretta]

So, if it starts early, it ends early, too? I sure hope so, because my son started on the early side of normal, and I'll be glad to be through it.

 

In my limited experience, yes. :grouphug:

[Marie in Oh]

they will stop it with meds.

[zaichiki]

someone (who sounded so smart when she said it) stated that it is the result of the hormones that have been added to the meats we eat.

 

There are SO many plastics in our environment now. Plastic is in everything. And don't some kinds of plastics behave like phytoestrogens? I remember reading something like that somewhere along the way...

[Dobela]

My daughter had signs at 4 and was treated at Duke. She made it to 9 before starting her period which was the goal.

 

The main issue with premature puberty is the sealing of growth plates. This happens at the end of puberty and basically stops your growth. Hitting puberty early on makes for a much taller/bigger than normal child but a very short adult.

 

My daughter is now 13 and has not grown in height in 1 1/2 years. She is 5'3'' which is an acceptable adult height. However, given that I was 5'9'' (somewhat shorter now due to my spine bending) and my husband is 6'3'', I think she is on the short side. Her 10 year old brother is nearly her height :001_huh:

 

(((hugs))) It is difficult to deal with the hormones when they are so young.

I was 9 when I had my first period. I am now 1 inch taller than I was at age 10. I did stop growing. But I am not too short now IMO. I am 5'3. The most difficult part for me was that most of my peers had not even heard of periods when I began. I hated being first. I would hope that more girls are aware of it now and that there would be less social stigma.

[CalicoKat]

What kind of milk products are you drinking? I k now that the growth hormone in milk has been declared FDA safe. But we did see a slowing in dd's early onset purberty when we make sure the milk we bought didn't have it in it. Just a thought. That would go for cheese, cottage cheese, any dairy product.

[shinyhappypeople]

My oldest went through puberty early. Not as early as you are describing, but early nonetheless.

 

While everyone around me is struggling with unreasonable and emotional 13 & 14 y/os, I am NOT. :D My dd is past all that malarky and is a very reasonable, focused young lady.

 

So, it actually can happen like that. :grouphug:

 

:party: Thanks for giving me HOPE! :D

 

 

What kind of milk products are you drinking? I k now that the growth hormone in milk has been declared FDA safe. But we did see a slowing in dd's early onset purberty when we make sure the milk we bought didn't have it in it. Just a thought. That would go for cheese, cottage cheese, any dairy product.

 

She rarely drinks milk. She likes cheese but doesn't eat huge amounts of it.

 

Her pediatrician didn't seem worried about it at all. She was just giving me a heads-up. I'm the only one freaking out, at the moment. :tongue_smilie:

[Pamela H in Texas]

I haven't read the thread, but I can tell you that my daughter started puberty at 6. We were dreading the year and a half thing as that put her before eight years old getting her period.

 

However, people are individuals. My daughter started having major growth at 9 and the month before she turned 10, she started her period...not so early afterall.

 

We are now watching our older foster daughter. She's 5 and has the same symptoms my daughter did. Hopefully either she will naturally (or with help) hold off a little.

[presley]

What are the signs or symptoms of early or precocious puberty for girls?

[shinyhappypeople]

What are the signs or symptoms of early or precocious puberty for girls?

 

Found this article.

 

My DD has the first sign (buds). She's also become moody and defiant (and then sometimes she's just her old, normal self), needs a ton of sleep (at least 10 hours/night) and has started needing naps again every few days. I was talking to her about feelings today and she said she mostly just feels frustrated all the time. Poor girl, I totally get it. :grouphug:

 

In DD's case, only the first sign (body changes) is technically an indicator, but knowing that she's in the early stages of puberty (again -->:svengo: ) helps put the rest into perspective for me.

 

Her birth-mom also went through puberty early and is tiny (4'11"). I didn't realize that age at puberty affected height. I'm HOPING that DD makes it to at least 5'3" or so. I think it would be a major pain to be super short. Not a big deal, I know. But still, a few extra inches would be nice.

[Kim in Appalachia]

:party: Thanks for giving me HOPE! :D

 

 

 

 

She rarely drinks milk. She likes cheese but doesn't eat huge amounts of it.

 

Her pediatrician didn't seem worried about it at all. She was just giving me a heads-up. I'm the only one freaking out, at the moment. :tongue_smilie:

 

My 2nd dd hit puberty early, She was 10 when she "officially became a woman". She has always been tall, but I do think she is done growing now. She is 13 and 5'9" Maybe she would have been taller if puberty hadn't started so early. But it's not like I could stop it. :tongue_smilie: My dh's mother is the genetic cause. My dd is not heavy, doesn't drink tons of milk, and is very active (on the swim team). There is nothing you can do except survive it. :001_smile: She did have lots of huge mood swings and irrational melt downs. She once demanded that be build her a room in the attic (she shares a room with her sister). There are no stairs to the attic and the attic has no floor, just lots of blown in insulation. :lol: She threw herself on the floor and went into hysterics. I knew I was in for a wild ride. She is doing better now, though she still gets very emotional once a month, but you will both survive. :001_smile:

[Pamela H in Texas]

Oh, on the behavior thing. Well, I think we need to be teaching young children how to deal appropriately with their "grumpies" so when they are preteens and young teens, they aren't driving us batty. They can't help hormones and things that make it harder; but it doesn't have to be a given they are going to be obnoxious either.

 

No doubt, the reason it was SO much easier for us is just that my daughter was simply a REALLY easy kid (don't worry, I got a kid to even that out a bit). But she had only 6 months where she was a little "off." There were a few tears and one behavioral incident in that time.

 

As for height. My daughter did grow after starting her period. She didn't make it as tall as we thought she would, but she's 5'5" so not short by any means.

Edited June 4, 2011 by 2J5M9K

[Momling]

Her pediatrician didn't seem worried about it at all. She was just giving me a heads-up. I'm the only one freaking out, at the moment. :tongue_smilie:

 

I think breast buds at 7-8 are early, but not considered precocious puberty. My daughter had them at 7 and more now at 9, but I suspect she won't start her period for at least another year. She's all of 55 pounds for one thing.

 

I apparently followed the same path. As did my mom. So anecdotally, I don't think the age of puberty has changed much recently. However, I understand that in the 1800's, girls used to start at a later age. I would imagine nutrition has a lot to do with it...

[scrapbookbuzz]

You may also want to watch the kind of beef you give her. Many types/brands of beef sold in the main grocery stores have alot of growth hormones and antibiotics added to them (while the cow is still alive). This can affect a body into early puberty. You don't need to cut out beef entirely, just switch to an all natural and/or grass fed beef. HTH!

 

FWIW, my dd started her cycle when she was 10yo. When I realized the full implications of that, I'm pretty sure I reacted the same as you did! Granted, I did not share this information with her. However, about a month or two before she started, I did talk with her about her cycle and told her to let me know when it started. I'm glad I did!

[zaichiki]

I didn't realize that age at puberty affected height.

 

I don't think it always does.

 

My mother was 11. She was always tall. She kept right on growing well into her teens (past puberty) and grew to 6 feet tall. She's the tallest sister in her family, but her brothers are all several inches taller.