At what age did your daughter's menses commence?

[yaM yaM]

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Girlbear is seeming a bit close, I think. . but I'm not sure. She turned 12 in January.

[Lambsauce]

I was 11. My mom was 12.

[yaM yaM]

I was 13.5, myself. I wonder what is average.

[Marlet]

I was 14/15. It was near the end of ninth grade. My momstarted in 5th grade. I was underweight and she was very overweight. My heavier friends did start sooner than me period but the average age amongst us all was 6th grade. I want to say the average age of the American girl is 9. Mainly due to diet and lack of exercise and hromones in food...especially in dairy.

[lunabelly]

I read that girls usually start to menstruate 2 years after their breasts begin to develop. Twelve is probably a good age to start carrying pads and stuff.

[talk de jour]

Originally Posted by OtherMother'n'Madre

I want to say the average age of the American girl is 9.

No way. The number I've read is 12.

Personally, I was 11.5.

[Marlet]

Let me find where I read it. My source definitely could be outdated. For now let's agree 9-12 depending on diet and heredity.

[talk de jour]

http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/menstru.htm

[nolonger]

I made sure we had pads in the bathroom and that dd knew how to handle things by the time she was 9, but she didn't start until she was 12 1/2, the same age I did.

I had wanted to present her with a basket of pretty cloth in all different sizes and styles and a nice garnet bracelet and a special moon party, but she didn't tell me when her cycles started and handled things fine on her own, just like I did.

Unlike me, it was several years before she switched to tampons. Like me, she handled things fine on her own and I didn't even know she had switched until I reached for what I thought was a full box of tampons and found that it was empty.

At about 14 or 15, she became comfortable talking about menstruation and developed a great sense of humor about it. At 16, I bought her a Diva and she had a great time teasing her brother about the fact that he didn't get a present and they took several silly pictures of her posing with her present.

She was not the slightest bit embarassed to tell me that she had trouble removing the Diva without pain and after my suggestions didn't seem to help much, we both decided that it might be easier for her to give sponges a try and kind of giggled at ourselves at how grossed out we felt at the possibility of accidentally using each other's sponge, although I had grabbed her Diva once in an emergency and neither of us felt squeamish about that at all.

My Sis started her cycles when she was ten and was totally unprepared for it. She still looked and felt like a little girl and I don't think she was even aware of what menstruation was. It was very traumatic for her,.

Sis ate meat, I was lacto-ovo at 12, and dd is vegan.

[boobybunny]

My daughter was three months shy of her 8th birthday.

On an organic diet, but we did eat a lot of soy... now.. not so much soy. She has had two cycles.

Btw.. she is not overweight, I think the only place she has fat on her body is her breasts.

[Suzukimom]

My daughter was 13 to the day! Yes, she got hers on her birthday and it was a gift that she did not want.
I was 14.

[terrordactyl]

i had just turned 11 my mom was like 13 or 14 i think

[mommy2K&A]

My DD got hers the month after she turned 12, She has one cycle (first lasting like day LOL) then didn't have another peorid til August (Her first came in May) Now she is regular, a cycle every month.

[mandib50]

dd was 13.5 years old and i was pretty close to the same age.

[Mama Lori]

My sd was 10 I think. Maybe 9. I remember it was early.

For me, it was 12.

[TwinMom]

One twin was 11, the other was 12.

[5in9years]

My mom was 10. I was 14. My sis was 13. My dd will be 12 in Sept, and I expect within the next few months. She doesn't have actual boobs yet, but has buds and is growing rather quickly at the moment. She has 2 friends who have started at ages 11 and 12.

[Monkeygrrl]

me - 12 maybe? i dunno...
my partner - 14 almost 15
dd 1 - 9
dd2 - 11
dd3 - 12
dd4 is 9 and shows no sign of starting...

peace...

[yaM yaM]

Thanks for all of your replies.



TwinMom - wow, that's interesting that your twins started at different ages.


Monkeygrrl - what does ex-eper mean (from your siggie)?

[doctorjen]

Nothing here yet for dd, just turned 12 last month.

I was 13 1/2, and was the last of all my friends, and I still thought it was too early. I was ready to stay a little girl forever!