How old were you when you got your first period? How old was your daughter?

[journeymom]

Some of the comments here made me wonder if it's true what "they" say, that girls are getting their periods earlier than they used to. If so, that's kind of sad and scary!

So how old were you when you got first menarch?

(If you have a daughter old enough) How old was your daughter?

[Bladestar5]

My mom and sister were 15 and I was 14. My older sister was jealous that I was younger than she was, but was happy that I got to endure the torture too. So we were all late bloomers...
I remember in health class I got some of the questions wrong about how many days till the next period if girl x got it on this day... and my (male) health teacher was really understanding when I told him I hadn't gotten it yet. He was also the gym teacher, so when I got it the first time, he was sympathetic about me constantly running to the locker room in paranoya that the pad was leaking!! He had a daughter, so he was REALLY COOL!!

[mirlee]

I was nearly 16. My baby sister, 11 years younger than me, had hers when she was about 12.

I think girls do get them earlier these dys. I heard once that it had some relation to the way our food is processed, but that was just somethung heard. I can't back that up.

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

I was 12 I think. And didn't have another for about a year after that.

I have heard that when a girl's body reaches a certain percentage of body fat this is what triggers the beginning of menses. When you consider we are becoming more and more overweight at younger and younger an age, it makes sense that girls are starting to menstruate earlier.

I too have also heard the link to hormones used in raising animals for consumption link.

[peggy]

I was 13 and my DD was also 13

[MamaOui]

I was 11 and I think my sister was 11 or 12. I don't have any daughters though.

[latinmom]

I was 12 and dd was 13.

[barbara]

I was 11, my sister was 12. I have 3 dds one started at 11 like me, another at 12 and the other one at 14. Go figure!


-b

[EnviroBecca]

I was 12, whereas my mom had started at 14. BUT she lost a lot of weight right after getting all the other signs of puberty, so probably she was about to get her period when her body fat got so much lower. (Not only is there a threshhold amount of body fat for adequate estrogen production, but a rapid weight loss can stop estrogen production temporarily, even in women who were previously menstruating. My mom went from overweight to normal weight.)

In addition to the increase in overweight children, I've heard some other factors for the drop in menarcheal age:

*improved nutrition. This was in the first half of the 20th century, when the average age dropped from 17 to 13 or something like that. The decline has been slower since then.

*hormones in meat and milk.

*xenoestrogens in the environment. These are byproducts of industrial processes and are also blamed for lowered sperm counts in men and genital deformities in male animals such as frogs.

*chemicals in hair treatments, particularly straighteners used by African-Americans, which are absorbed thru the skin. I'm sorry I don't remember the details about this--I heard it on NPR, I think--but said treatments were still on the market as of last fall.

*lack of dietary fiber. Studies since the 1960s had shown that vegetarian girls menstruate later; a recent study looked at diet in more detail and linked the difference to fiber.

[Arduinna]

personally I don't buy the story that girls are getting them earlier. I was 13, dd is 13 and hasn't gotten hers yet. My mom was 10 I think?? I remember her telling me that she got it really early.

[Greenfrogs]

I agree with you arduinna. I think we just talk about it more. My mom was 10, I was 14 and my sister was 14/15. Some girls in my neighborhood were earlier others were latter.

[DaryLLL]

Me: 12. My sis: 12. Dd#1: 12. Dd#2: 12.

Juliet was not yet 14 and already marriage material, and that play was written in the mid 17th century. Her mother was already a mother at that age, she told her.

[EnviroBecca]

Remember, the average across a population says absolutely nothing about the value of one data point. One girl born in 1980 may have started at an older age than one girl born in 1960, but the AVERAGE age for girls born in 1980 may still be younger than the average for girls born in 1960; the two individuals are just at different points on the curve for their cohort. (Can you tell I am a data analyst? )

Another thing to remember is that half of your daughter's genes come from her dad's family, who may have a different puberty timetable than yours, and she might "take after" anyone in the family, due to recessive genes and so on.

T One thing that puzzles me (being interested in puberty and how it influences people's life experiences, and thus tending to start conversations about it w/friends) is that almost all women remember their first period vividly and often recall the exact date, whereas about half of men have no particular recollection of their first ejaculation, whether it was via wet dream or masturbation. I can understand why the date is so memorable for menstruation: because of the emphasis on tracking your cycle. But it seems like ejaculation, the "now I'm a man!" event, would be memorable as an experience. : They seem to be better able to remember when their voices changed or they started shaving or other more "public" (one hopes!) aspects of puberty, whereas for women menarche seems to be the most memorable step. Any idea why that is?

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

almost all women remember their first period vividly and often recall the exact date, whereas about half of men have no particular recollection of their first ejaculation, whether it was via wet dream or masturbation

My guess is that this event for boys may have some feelings of guilt or shame associated with it since it is a more of a sexual response. Of course its natural, but society has its taboos that cause these inappropriate feelings. I know my mother believes masturbation is a horrible, sinful thing. She was offended by that Sinfeld episode about masturbation.

Also, I'm not male, but I am going to guess that it isn't the sort of thing you talk to the guys at school about, unlike the way young girls may share the milestone of menstruation more openly with their girlfriends.

Also, I am not sure if fathers or mothers prepare young boys for this event in the same way mothers do with their daughters.

The other reason may just be that men are horrible with dates anyhow

I actually do not recall how old I was exactly, or the date or anything. I think I was in 7th grade and it was fall maybe, but I coulln't say for sure. So whats that say about me? hmmm

[Arduinna]

half of all women remember the date?? That's amazing to me. I had to think back and remember how old I was. I have no idea of the date, or season for that matter.

[lilyka]

I was 11. My girls aren't old enough yet. my friend who has teenage dd swears that she can already see the hormones shifting in my oldest. or as she puts it "the 2-3 years of PMS before the storm". lovely!

[DaryLLL]

Originally posted by Lea
. I know my mother believes masturbation is a horrible, sinful thing. She was offended by that Sinfeld episode about masturbation.

Woah, now that was a Freudian slip, or did you do it on purpose?


I don't remember my first period either. I do remember my best friend's tho. She got hers in 6th grade and I went to the nurse with her. I was soooo jealous. I was ridiculously obsessed about getting mine. I used to write in my diary about it. My sister is only 15 months younger than me and I was so anxious she would get hers first! My girls did not get obsessed about getting theirs. They are homeschooled tho, and maybe didn't have all the peer pressure?

[lilyka]

Was I the only person who didn't want thier period. i was so embarrassed about the whole thing. Of course mine started heavy and lasting for 7 or more days. I still dohn't want those.
I didn't tell a soul I had gotten it and made every attempt to not let anyone know. I was still in elementry school.

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

I was addressing EnviroBecca's question about male's and nocturnal emmissions/masturbation etc..

whereas about half of men have no particular recollection of their first ejaculation, whether it was via wet dream or masturbation

I did mean to type masturbation, not menstruation.. they do look strangely similar, though don't they?

[hahamommy]

My mom doesn't remember when she got hers I was 14, MIL was 14 and I'm hoping DD will be around that age, too... I appreciate the homeschooling comment ~ I'm glad she'll be with me when it happens and if she really doesn't feel like being out and about, she doesn't have to! Hannah at 6.5 and even Hayden at 4.5, have been fully educated about *bleeding time* and I think they mourn the loss of my *eggs that come out every month because they didn't become babies* I've also given Hannah the speil I so wish I had recieved ~ you've got all of your *potential* babies in your body already, you need to be responsible for them your whole life long, not just when you're a grown up and ready to have a real baby.

~diana