If your dd went through puberty early, how old was she and did you do anything about it?

[mommyoffive]

If your dd went through puberty early, hold old was she? 

Did you do anything because she went through puberty early?  Anything medically? Bone scans?  Hormone treatment?

Also how did things turn out?  Did they get their cycles early?  Did they not grow very tall? 

If you had more than one dd did they all have a wide spread of different experiences going through puberty? 

 

[Tap]

Dd14 was diagnosed in puberty at just over 8yo. If she was dx 2 months  earlier it would have dx as precocious puberty. 
 

she started her period at 11.5 and is currently 5 ft 11in. She did see an endo who said she was fine, just ahead of the curve. I think they are wrong and there is something they are missing. 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, Tap said:

Dd14 was diagnosed in puberty at just over 8yo. If she was dx 2 months  earlier it would have dx as precocious puberty. 
 

she started her period at 11.5 and is currently 5 ft 11in. She did see an endo who said she was fine, just ahead of the curve. I think they are wrong and there is something they are missing. 

So precocious puberty is only if you are under 8?

What do you think they were missing?  What does endo stand for? 

[Terabith]

My youngest started breast buds around 9 and got her period a few months after her 10th birthday.  We did not do anything to prevent it, although puberty was not great for her in general.  

On the other hand, I had breast buds by THREE, was a C cup by kindergarten (where I was almost 5 feet tall), and started my period in second grade.  I had to see a pediatric endocrinologist, but it was considered idiopathic and nothing was done.  If I had a kid who was going through truly precocious puberty, I would do blockers in a second, because between the social difficulties, the emotional stuff, it makes the kid much more of a target for abusers.  It did stunt my growth, but since my projected height was 6'1" (and my sister is that tall), I'm fine with being 5'7".  

[Tap]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

So precocious puberty is only if you are under 8?

What do you think they were missing?  What does endo stand for? 

Endocrinologist. 
 

I think there is something wrong because not only is she already 5’11 she is 325lbs. Her birth mom is 5’6 and birth dad is under 6. There are some tall people in the family tree on the moms side, but they are tall and lanky (likely similar to  Marfans syndrome ). She has always been tall/heavy even as a baby she was never on the growth charts. My other kids were tall so I am used to that, but she is just big, everywhere. 
 

 

[Terabith]

6 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

So precocious puberty is only if you are under 8?

What do you think they were missing?  What does endo stand for? 

Yes, that's the definition for girls.  

Endo is endocrinologist.

[freesia]

OP what does early mean to you?  One of mine got her period at ten, started developing about 18months before that.) her sister and I were 11. The dd I mentioned first is 5’6 and will probably grow another inch. (Girls on my side tend to reach about full height around 12–putting on another inch as late teens.)

[mommyoffive]

6 minutes ago, freesia said:

OP what does early mean to you?  One of mine got her period at ten, started developing about 18months before that.) her sister and I were 11. The dd I mentioned first is 5’6 and will probably grow another inch. (Girls on my side tend to reach about full height around 12–putting on another inch as late teens.)

I guess 8 and 9 and under.  Maybe 9 really isn't though?  Just seems so early.

[Karen A]

DD got her period at 10, breast buds maybe a year before that? I myself was much later (14), so it was alarming to me, but didn't meet precocious definition. She stopped growing in height around age 14, at 5' 1. No female on either side of the family is less than 5' 4, and her dad 5' 11.  

I'm still not convinced I didn't contribute to the earlier puberty by microwave-heating a "milk sippie" in a plastic sippie cup containing BPH daily for the first 5 years of her life. Then I learned there was danger heating things in plastic. My understanding is BPH is a hormone disrupter. I really haven't done more research, cause I don't want to know what I can't do anything about at this point...

 

[freesia]

19 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I guess 8 and 9 and under.  Maybe 9 really isn't though?  Just seems so early.

Then if you mean br**st buds at that age, no it's not super early.  My girls and I all had them at 9.  I can't remember if either was 8, though, but it's possible.

[freesia]

3 minutes ago, Karen A said:

DD got her period at 10, breast buds maybe a year before that? I myself was much later (14), so it was alarming to me, but didn't meet precocious definition. She stopped growing in height around age 14, at 5' 1. No female on either side of the family is less than 5' 4, and her dad 5' 11.  

I'm still not convinced I didn't contribute to the earlier puberty by microwave-heating a "milk sippie" in a plastic sippie cup containing BPH daily for the first 5 years of her life. Then I learned there was danger heating things in plastic. My understanding is BPH is a hormone disrupter. I really haven't done more research, cause I don't want to know what I can't do anything about at this point...

 

I guess it's possible but we never heated sippie cups (and only drank water out of them.)  The girls also drank only organic milk when young, too.  I had always wondered if I developed early bc of soy formula, but both girls were also only br**st fed for 2 years.  Nevertheless, they still followed my early path.  I agree, don't research, there is no point.

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, freesia said:

Then if you mean br**st buds at that age, no it's not super early.  My girls and I all had them at 9.  I can't remember if either was 8, though, but it's possible.

Yeah breast buds and pubic or arm pit hair is what I mean.

[freesia]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Yeah breast buds and pubic or arm pit hair is what I mean.

It's within normal.  We did nothing normal.  Nothing was suggested.  Both girls are 5'6 at the moment. I an 5'5.

[rutheart]

One of mine had early adrenarche (body hair, underarm odor, etc) at six years old, but menarche wasn't until 6th grade. She is likely to be 5'10" or 5'11". I started taking her to endocrinologists when she was a toddler, but they insisted this was just normal for her. She has always been way, way off the growth charts. There are 7' relatives on both sides of the family, so we were worried about problems associated with genetic reasons for tall stature. We did blood tests and a bone age x-ray (which was about a year off, but not enough for the endocrinologist to treat it) to doublecheck.

My other DD started off at the top of the growth chart for height, but stopped growing earlier. She is only 5'6". Her great-grandmother was only 4' (and married to one of the 7' men!), so we had no idea what would be normal for our kids. Her adrenarche/menarche was at normal times.

[saraha]

None of my girls were early, but we did see an interesting pattern. They started respectively in age order at 15, 14, 13 and 12 with the two in the middle starting within months of each other 

[jrichstad]

My DD11 (in two days!) was diagnosed with precocious puberty when she was 6 because of breast buds and body hair. We went to a pediatric endo who found that her hormone levels were normal but her bone age was about 2 years advanced. (Interestingly, she also got and lost her teeth early--I always wondered if it had to do with her advanced bone age.) We visited every six months until she was 8, at which point it was no longer considered precocious 🙂 If her hormone levels had indicated that she was pretty far advanced in puberty, we probably would have used blockers for a year or two, but we never made a final decision. It was a factor in our decision to homeschool, but definitely not the only one. 

She got her period a few weeks after she turned 10 and I believe would probably wear a larger cup size than I do if she wore regular bras (she mostly wears sports bras). (I'm small chested!) She's 5'2" now and the ped predicts a couple more inches of height. My mother-in-law also got her period when she was ten, so I guess it's within the range of normal for her genetics. 

The biggest issue it's caused so far is that because she looks so mature, I have to remind myself sometimes that she's not actually fourteen!

[jrichstad]

Just for the posters talking about formula and microwaving milk... I breastfed DD forEVER, never ever microwave plastic, and didn't give her cow's milk. So anecdataly, you have nothing to blame yourself for lol.  

[LBK]

1 hour ago, rutheart said:

One of mine had early adrenarche (body hair, underarm odor, etc) at six years old, but menarche wasn't until 6th grade. She is likely to be 5'10" or 5'11". I started taking her to endocrinologists when she was a toddler, but they insisted this was just normal for her. She has always been way, way off the growth charts. There are 7' relatives on both sides of the family, so we were worried about problems associated with genetic reasons for tall stature. We did blood tests and a bone age x-ray (which was about a year off, but not enough for the endocrinologist to treat it) to doublecheck.

My other DD started off at the top of the growth chart for height, but stopped growing earlier. She is only 5'6". Her great-grandmother was only 4' (and married to one of the 7' men!), so we had no idea what would be normal for our kids. Her adrenarche/menarche was at normal times.

 Mine also started adrenarche (didn't know there was a term for it, thanks!) at that age and we're about two years in with no further developments...I have been wondering if everything else would follow early so good to know we may still have some time. We don't have any unusual height patterns in our family or family history though.

[SKL]

Pretty sure 9 is NOT early puberty.  8, I'm not sure, and it may depend on biological heritage.  Pretty sure at least one of my kids needed training bras at age 8.

I packed an emergency "period pack" in my kids' school backpacks starting when they were 9yo.  They started menstruating at 11yo.  I have a cousin who started menstruating at 9yo.

Other than making sure they knew what periods were, I didn't do anything in particular about this phenomenon.

ETA:  my kids are about 5'0 and 5'5 at present (age 14).  Not sure if they are done growing.

Edited July 12, 2021 by SKL

[SKL]

Oh and one of my kids had B.O. starting before age 5, but I think that might have been due to milk intolerance or something rather than early puberty.

[kbutton]

6 hours ago, Tap said:

Endocrinologist. 
 

I think there is something wrong because not only is she already 5’11 she is 325lbs. Her birth mom is 5’6 and birth dad is under 6. There are some tall people in the family tree on the moms side, but they are tall and lanky (likely similar to  Marfans syndrome ). She has always been tall/heavy even as a baby she was never on the growth charts. My other kids were tall so I am used to that, but she is just big, everywhere. 

If Marfan hasn't been ruled out, she could have Marfan plus another problem. Not all people with Marfan are thin. The lankiness tends to be from an overgrowth of the bones. 

[Ali in OR]

I feel no guilt over anything I did because I was consistent with all 3 girls and they were all wildly different anyway. The one I thought started a bit early had buds before 9th birthday and was only 4'6". I was concerned she would be incredibly short, but she did not get her period until 12.5 and is now 5'2" fully grown. Her athletic sister was much later to puberty, got her period at 14.5, and is full grown at 5'7". My disabled dd was always tracked by an endocrinologist as her birth defect can cause issues with puberty (either early or never going into it on your own). She got her period at 17 and is just 4'9".

[Wheres Toto]

My youngest started her period a month before her 10th birthday.  She showed signs starting around 7 1/2 years old. We didn't do anything.  I started when I was 9 so I wasn't completely surprised.   She's turning 14 next week and is about 5'4", I'm 5'5" and her dad is 5'9".   Her periods have been pretty normal since.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have never heard of people doing anything. I come from generations of women who all started their periods at 8, me, my mother, my grandmother, her mother her mother's mother. I don't know after that. I thought it is just genetics

[RootAnn]

I thought it was super early but was told it is happening earlier & earlier now vs when I was growing up.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My daughter was 6 when she had some bloody discharge.  We took her in immediately.  She also had breast buds and a little hair. The doctor felt it was early puberty, that she probably had a year and a half til she would get her period.  Other areas of development seemed fine though.  We didn't do anything.  She made it to 10 before getting her cycle.  She was very developed and grew to a normal adult height.  

[Clemsondana]

I was wearing a camisole under clothes starting sometime in 3rd grade, so 8-9, and a bra in 4th grade.  I was probably 5'6 in 6th grade and wound up only growing another inch.  Other characteristics, like hair, were present by 5th grade - that's when some girls started shaving their legs.  The dr expected that I'd start my period early, but it was 7th grade so 12-13, and it was irregular until I was in college.  This is in line with other women in my family even if not 'normal'.  My girl, despite being early on things like teeth losing and being tall for her age, around the same height I was, has hit most puberty milestones after I did, more on track with most peers.  

[Happy Camper]

This thread is so timely. I've been wondering the same thing about my youngest. The replies have been reassuring. The Hive delivers yet again! Thanks all. 😁

[BoatGuy]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:25 PM, Terabith said:

My youngest started breast buds around 9 and got her period a few months after her 10th birthday.  We did not do anything to prevent it, although puberty was not great for her in general.  

On the other hand, I had breast buds by THREE, was a C cup by kindergarten (where I was almost 5 feet tall), and started my period in second grade.  I had to see a pediatric endocrinologist, but it was considered idiopathic and nothing was done.  If I had a kid who was going through truly precocious puberty, I would do blockers in a second, because between the social difficulties, the emotional stuff, it makes the kid much more of a target for abusers.  It did stunt my growth, but since my projected height was 6'1" (and my sister is that tall), I'm fine with being 5'7".  

I'm having issues with my daughter right now. She's 10 and I am telling her she needs a bra and she is telling me absolutely not. She's beyond budding. Not sure what to do whike she's not as big as you were at that age I think she's bigger than most girls her age. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

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