How old were you when you got your first period? How old was your daughter? - Page 3

[mimie]

I had just turned 12. I hated it. Up through 8th grade, I begged my mom to let me stay home from school when I had it. I was mortified to change my pad in the bathroom stall, because the other girls could hear the crinkling and would comment (rudely) on it.

[sadean]

Summer of 1985 betwwen 7th and 8th grade I was 13 1/2 and had been waiting axiously for it to start. It took about 6 months to become regular. I don't know how old my sisters were, but I believe my mother was 14. I have no daughters, so I have no current info on the "next generation".

[Mutherluv]

I was 12, 2 months after my birthday. My oldest dd was 12, and I am still waiting to see when my younger dd will start. Its funny, it doesn't seem strange for older dd, but I can't imagine my younger one starting. She seems like such a baby to me. Oh well, you can't stop them from growing up

[bloodrayne]

My mom thinks she was about 16. I was around 10, can't remember exactly. Don't really want to either.
:LOL

[Mutherluv]

Hi, I just wanted to wish you all the best with your home birth! Are you using a tub? Have fun

[Greaseball]

I don't have a daughter old enough, but I didn't start till I was 13.5, the summer before 8th grade. Most of my friends started between the ages of 9 and 12, and my mom was 12.

I also did not tell anyone. Finally by the time I was 14 my mom just assumed I had started. Today though, I can say I actually like the whole menstruation process! I'm so glad mine came back after only 6 months of bf and have been regular despite continued bf. I went to this retreat about gender issues and the men were given an assignment to list what they like most about being male and the women were to list what they like about being female, and most of the men said they were glad they didn't have to put up with "that time of the month."

Well, I listed "that time" as my absolute favorite thing about being a woman! I hope dd grows up to love her body and its processes.

[somemama]

I haven't read all of the other responses........

Growth-hormones in milk trigger early menses. That's why we buy milk from a local dairy that doesn't use bovine-growth-hormones.

[neveryoumindthere]

i was 11 when i got it...my mom was 16! i think my sisters got it at 13 or 14

one of my friends from elementary school got hers in the 3rd grade! so she was like 9!!

when i was taking a 'family' course in university last year we looked at studies that show that each year the age of the first menstrual period is decreasing by an average of 4 months..
(ie. one year it's age 12yrs and 9 months, the next year 12yrs and 5 months is the avg age...make sense the way i explained?)

the theories talked about nutrition...supposedly that nutrition is 'better' now...hmm, i dont know about that...
:

[journeymom]

Greaseball, that is such a healthy point of view! I hope I can encourage that in my dd.

[applejuice]

My mom was 13.

I was 12 and 10 months.

DD was 11 and 2 months.

We are not obese, and I have tried to keep meat and dairy to a minimum, but still...

Someone told me that insecticides have hormones in them to cause a kind of "birth control" for insects.

Has anyone ever heard of this?

Yet,. . .I rarely used insecticides either.

[LunaMom]

I was 15, my mom was 16. Both of us were very petite and thin at that age, so the body-fat-percentage thing probably had a lot to do with it.

My mom always had heavy, crampy periods, and I have very little discomfort with mine. I've never realy had cramps, just a sort of heavy, achy feeling for the first day.

My daughter is only four (I like to visit this forum though!), but she is already taking after dh's family in body type, and dh's sister and mom both started very early, nine or ten or so. I plan to celebrate dd's first period in a special way so it can be a positive experience for her.

[EnviroBecca]

when i was taking a 'family' course in university last year we looked at studies that show that each year the age of the first menstrual period is decreasing by an average of 4 months..

This cannot be true. If in 1983 the average age was 12 years 6 months, by now it would be 5 years 10 months!

Maybe you meant "each decade" instead of "each year"???

[neveryoumindthere]

thanks for correcting me!!

sorry about the misinformation. i dont know why i typed that :

In North America age at menarche decreased by three to four months each decade after 1850; in 1988 the median age at menarche was 12.5 years among US girls (FORREST, J.D. Timing of reproductive life stages. Obstetrics and Gynecology 82(1): 105-111. Jul. 1993.)

i hope i didnt scare anyone into thinking their little girl was gonna have her period at age 5 (although it's 'possible')

[shari1973]

When did you get your period

I got mine when I just turned 10 yr right on my Birthday. That sucked. I hope my daughter does not get hers that earlly.

[Greaseball]

The youngest pregnancy on record occured in a 5-year-old.

That is just sad. But apparently it is possible. (Hopefully rare, though.)

I wonder, with girls menstruating earlier and eariler, what is the age we should tell them about it? I wouldn't want it to come as a shock, but a child age 6 or 7 may not fully understand the explanation.

When I was 11 I had a bladder infection where I urinated blood. I thought I had my period because it looked like only blood and not urine. I wore tampons for a few weeks straight (!) and didn't say anything to anyone. I didn't have a working knowledge of menstruation and reproduction until I was 16. It would have been nice to know before then.

[Alexander]

Thought you'd find this relevent.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993724


a

[Pynki]

My mother got hers at like k18, but she was anorexic, so even after she got it she didn't get it regularly...

I got mine when iwas 14 (3 months away from my 15th bday... )

I don't have any daughters so ican't help you there...

I also don't know about kids starting earlier because back n the day people were married and had kids by the time they were 14, and 16 was an old maid.. Of course life expectancy was like 40 on a good day, but still..

Warm Squishy Feelings...

Dyan

[Greaseball]

I read the absent father thing...

You know, it could be that the girls' problems aren't due so much to the father being absent, but maybe to the reason he is absent in the first place.

For example, girls with absent fathers often have high rates of drug abuse, eating disorders, and teen pregnancy. But that is also the case for girls who have been sexually abused, and sexual abuse may be one reason dad is no longer there...I when studying any case of absent fathers and problem daughters, one should try to find out what caused the father to be absent in the first place.

I also read somewhere else that sexual abuse at an extremely young age can trigger early puberty.

[Pynki]

about the absent father thing...

My parents got divorced when i was 8... My dad moved to another state when i was 12( ? ) i think... I didn't see him often, or nearly as often as i would like, but neither my sister or I started our periods particularly early.. I think my sister was 13.. Like i said.. I was 14.. I think my 1/2 sister by him.. Who has lived with him her whole life started earlier than either of us.. Of course she developed more quickly than either of us because ot the genetics on her mom's side...

Warm Squishy Feelings...

DYan

[Mahaylea]

I was 13 and so was my first d/d....I have really heavy periods that last for 5days and she has really longish ones, but not so heavy..