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Breast buds -not quite yet 9

post #1 of 26
8/29/06 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
I just noticed this in my almost 9 yo daughter yesterday-- one nipple is slightly swollen and when I asked her she said it hurts a little. Friends told me their daughter went through this exactly at this age and when they took her to the doctor, the doctor said, it's normal, they're breast buds. I'm going to call our doctor but I am really caught off guard by this! I wasn't expecting it for a few more years. AND we are major natural foods eaters and eat naturally raised, non-hormone meat and dairy as well as organic fruits and veggies. I had always thought that early puberty was in large part due to growth hormones fed to animals in the food chain, and now I'm seeing that it's probably not the case.

She is also getting a small breakout area on the side of her nose. The weird thing is, my nephew has it too, and they live near us, and he is two years older 11) So I'm wondering, is there something in our water? Or are they just hitting puberty at around the same time?

Has anyone else had a daughter start early puberty? Or does this all seem within the range of normal to you? I see references in articles to puberty starting 'as early as 8' but they don't define what that means. Are breast buds 'pre-pubescent'?

I feel a little cheated --she really likes being a kid!

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post #2 of 26
8/29/06 at 1:14am
She can still be a kid. I was a B cup by that age! lol! I was just a kid with breasts. Everyone develops differently, but it's definitely a sign of things to come. Just give her lots of hugs and help her to stay young as long as she'd like. Just because she's an early bloomer doesn't mean she won't be your innocent little girl! Best wishes!
post #3 of 26
8/29/06 at 1:21am
I understand your surprise, but I think it is in the normal range.
My eldest got the buds at 9 but that is really all she had until she was about 12. Now she is 13, she by no means has her 'full' breasts yet like many of her classmates and has not started her period. I noticed when she was in the 6th grade at least half of the girls must have been a 'B' cup.
My younger daughter ( 9) has just started budding too, but if she is like her sister it is still a while before anything else happens.
Our diet is much like yours too. Also my daughter stayed a kid, she really didn't get into the teen type stuff ( fashion/music/skincare etc) until she
started JHS at age 12.
HTH
post #4 of 26
8/29/06 at 1:27am
As far as earlier puberty nowadays, I think it's really just microevolution and genetics-- my grandma started her period at nine! (and she was born in '39).
post #5 of 26
8/29/06 at 1:30am
Thread Starter 
Ahh, thank you! It really helps to hear from people who have experienced this. I was sitting her wondering if I should have been more careful about not letting her have so much 'regular' ice cream over the summer (about once a week)...
post #6 of 26
8/29/06 at 10:32am
My daughter is starting to get the buds too, I think. I remember having them for quite a while before I got real boobs. She did have to start wearing deodorant last week, though!
post #7 of 26
8/30/06 at 10:12pm
Thread Starter 

They aren't buds!

The doctor said he has seen this in thousands of boys AND girls at this age-- the nipples get a little swollen and there is a little hardness underneath, but it goes away after a few months. He said they don't known what causes it, and there's nothing you can do to make it go away-- it happens on its own. I chose this ped years ago because he is very natural-health oriented, very supportive of extended breastfeeding, healthy foods, and antibiotics only when absolutely necessary.

So the GOOD news is my belief that organic foods still do and will make a difference is still in place.

And I have to self correct on the whole, 'is this puberty' thinking because I think our bodies are on a continuum more than a chart, so for me to have seen this as a bright line of puberty starting was a bad way to approach the issue.

Thanks again for everyone's input.
post #8 of 26
8/31/06 at 3:00am
My DD started developing at 9.

As far as the breakouts, your location is the easiest/simple explantion. Every time we live near a big city, my DD and I break out a lot. Just 2 days in SLC gives me zits for a couple weeks. Not much you can do about that but move.
post #9 of 26
9/1/06 at 2:49pm
Dd started menstruating at 9, along with breasts, acne, and the whole package. So did I. Now at 11, she is the same weight and general shape as I am, and an inch or two taller!
post #10 of 26
9/1/06 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamarhu
Dd started menstruating at 9, along with breasts, acne, and the whole package. So did I. Now at 11, she is the same weight and general shape as I am, and an inch or two taller!
I did too..

My best friend and I were just chatting about this and she got her boobs first but I got my period first (then again, I had mine too...hers were jsut huge )...We were both just barely 9 when it happened...

Fast forward 21 years and I get an email saying "she's getting boobs..how can she be getting boobs...she's 8 1/2 years old......" and I called and laughed and said "have you forgotten how old WE were???" and she laughed and said NO, she had just hoped it would be later...and they eat a primarily organic diet....

My mom and her sisters got theirs around 9 or 10 and so did my friends mom and her sisters....they were born in the 40s...
post #11 of 26
9/1/06 at 3:46pm
I know you said you got your answers, but just wanted to add my experience in. I got the same sort of symptoms when I was 9 and it *was* the start of my breasts (didn't go away.. I've never heard of that from any of the women I know..??) I also got them in my armpits (where I also have breast tissue). THey were sore and a bit swollen for quite some time as my breasts developed. I was still a kid and didn't get my period until I was 11. Yes, it made me a bit more self conscious, but other than that... it wasn't a huge deal. My parents had taught me about puberty, I had had the classes in school and really it was EXCITING for me to know my body was changing into that of a woman. I was proud of the changes, not ashamed. I'm guessing you've had these discussions with your dd as well, so hopefully she's feeling this is a positive thing as well.
post #12 of 26
9/2/06 at 4:27am
my dd had little breast bumps at abotu 9.. and they didn't change until this year she is 12 now and only slight change.. it is a slow and steady process for some! some start early some late.. but she will be the same inside. don't worry abtou ehr beign a kid!
post #13 of 26
9/3/06 at 1:49am
Thread Starter 

Thanks

I love all your input, it gives me perspective. I just want to add the reason I said I wasn't ready for her body to mature is because my dd sometimes curls up against me and says, "I don't want to turn 9. I like being 8." !! But you are right to remind me there is nothing wrong with these changes, they are part of life.
post #14 of 26
9/3/06 at 4:18am
I just thought I'd chime in--

I noticed at about 9 or so my oldest started looking like she was getting breast buds. Some of it I tink was general body shape changes--I think she also got just slightly pudgy, though you wouldn't know it to look at her. She had always been pretty skinny, and she just looked sort of normal after the "weight gain". Then she started growing up. She hasn't gained any weight in 1 1/2 years, but she's grown 3 inches, and only just this summer did those breasts start to turn into anything, at age 11.

Sometimes I think those little breast nubs are indicators not of actual breast development, but of that weight gain that some kids do right before they have a change in height; does that make sense?

As far as the painful lumps go, well, breasts have lots of lymph tissue. Seems very plausible to me.

Lori
post #15 of 26
9/3/06 at 12:01pm
i started my period at 10.
i looked "like a woman" by 10 too

im 33, not sure when tehy started using hormones in stuff....
post #16 of 26
9/17/06 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by frontierpsych
She can still be a kid. I was a B cup by that age! lol! I was just a kid with breasts. Everyone develops differently, but it's definitely a sign of things to come. Just give her lots of hugs and help her to stay young as long as she'd like. Just because she's an early bloomer doesn't mean she won't be your innocent little girl! Best wishes!
i too had breasts at 9. got my first bra at 7. it was a bra not a training bra and by 9 i was a small c.
i was still a kid. still my mommys little girl. i just had breasts.
being a public school kid made it hard to be the only 3rd 4th 5th 6th grader with breasts, kids can be cruel, the girls name called, and the boys acted innapropriate. so if your daughter is in school i would have a talk with her about how its NOT ok for other kids to make her feel badly about her body. and to talk to you, her teacher or a counselor at school about it if it happens.

i was innocent til 12. then i became the rebel with the tits. lol.
post #17 of 26
9/21/06 at 12:58pm
I noticed dd started developing breast buds shortly after her 9th birthday. She is now 10 1/2 and not a whole lot has changed, she has gotten a few inches taller in the last year and half and her breasts are very slowly developing(only slightly changed since I noticed at 9), a few pimples here and there, no period. This is within the range of normal.
post #18 of 26
2/2/08 at 5:30pm

breast buds

My daughter is ten and she is now budding breasts. My partner, he is not ready for it though. I grew mine when I was 8 and in the second grade.
post #19 of 26
2/2/08 at 9:05pm
My dd is 9, she doesn't have breast buds but she's getting pubic hair.

About half of her friends in her class(which range from 9-11) have breast buds. 1 girl has her period, she'll be 11 in April. My dd is in Grade 4.
post #20 of 26
2/4/08 at 9:32pm

My boobs are ginormous!

My dd will be nine next month, breast buds started on ONE side first, then a month or two later, the other one. I told her not to make any big plans because these buds might not be a sign of imminent Dolly Parton time, but, boobs and bras is where it's AT for 3rd graders! DD regularly examines herself for growth, and tells me how big they are, but the other day, they were "giNORmous," and I just died laughing.

Oh, I have mentioned in discussions with other parents and her that there is a school of thought on this suggesting that growth hormones in burgers may play a role in early onset puberty. So, the other day, after seeing her boobs were ginormous, I asked her if she was ready for lunch, and she said, "Yes! I want a burger!"

VF
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