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Puberty before age 10?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/magazine/puberty-before-age-10-a-new-normal.html?pagewanted=all
I usually lurk on here but I read this article and couldn't help but wonder what P&CE would think about this. I apologize for not making this clicky but I'm on my (lame) phone. It's got a little bit of everything mentioned (medicine, psychology, politics). So I thought it would promote some discussion.
I have a 19 month old daughter and I can't say I'm too comfortable with the idea that she'll be going through puberty early but I know I did so I'm expecting the apple to not fall far from the tree.
Re: Puberty before age 10?
Clicky.
I had boobs that required a bra by 3rd grade, started my period in the 4th grade, and was a D cup by 5th grade. It wasn't easy, especially because I was pretty much alone and had no other peers dealing with it as well.
I think it's like trying to blow down a brick wall with your breath to not just accept it, as uncomfortable as you may be. My father was on board with my puberty and did a lot to try to make sure I knew that my period didn't make me dirty or not his little girl anymore, and so on. My step-mom was a different matter and her dragging her feet on getting me bras, allowing me to shave my armpit hair, letting me select different styles of clothing that worked with my body (once a girl has boobs, the little girl clothing doesn't always fit right, especially swim suits) and that was pretty harmful, because she was bound and determined to stick her head in the sand. It made me stick out like a sore thumb among my peers because I was very uncomfortable, very self-conscious, and I wore a lot of ill-fitting, embarassingly bad clothing.
Beyond that I think the reason a lot of people freak out about puberty is they assume puberty = becomes sexually active. I may have blossomed very early but as far as becoming a sexual being goes, I was an average-to-late bloomer. My first sexual encounters were at 16 years old and those were fleeting and remained so until I got to adulthood. I think it's important to not get physical maturity and emotional/sexual maturity twisted. Just because your daughter needs a bra by 3rd grade doesn't mean she doesn't want to play with her barbies or doesn't still only have innocent crushes on boys rather than illicit desires.
I'm still reading but...
"Researchers now believe that fat tissue, not poundage, sets off a feedback loop that can cause a body to mature."
This isn't a new theory, is it? It can't be. This is what I was taught in the 80s in sex ed class.
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In a healthy, well fed society, I would imagine it would allow the body to mature sooner. Doesn't mean the kid's mind is maturing.
But pinky is sprouting boobies and wears deodorant now so meh.
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Yeah, the mother featured made me spit nails. Especially this part:
"Ainsley closed her eyes, as if to shut out the embarrassment. The ongoing quest to understand why her young body was turning into a woman?s was not one of Ainsley?s favorite pastimes. She preferred torturing her 6-year-old brother and playing school with the neighborhood kids."
Jeebus.
Anyway, the part I found most concerning was the correlation between early bloomers engaging in riskier behavior and being at higher risk for depression and mental illness and for longer than their "normal" developing peers.
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Yeah but I'm wondering if treating your kid like some kind of unnatural freak is causing that, not the early puberty itself, kwim?
If you're made to feel self concious about your body at such an early age, it's going to lead to lower self esteem which all contributes to those other issues.
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THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.
A therapist told my parents I was at "very high risk of becoming a teen pregnancy" because I developed so early. As a result my step-mother was extra critical and made me feel ashamed if I had an innocent crush, or wanted to go on a date, or even wore the same fashion the other teenage girls were wearing simply because my boobs made me look more womanly. It makes you feel like you're alone, like your parents hate or at least distrust you simply because of the way you look, and like there's something wrong with you. I didn't get teen pregnant but it certainly impacted me negatively re: severe depression because I was made to feel like such a freak by my own family. It's not any wonder that this has a higher chance of driving some girls to seek love and support they're not getting from their family because of how they look, elsewhere.
Yes, this. It's not as if the little girl's body is falling apart, it is undergoing a perfectly normal process. A parent needs to help her understand and deal with the new reality, not try to make sure she knows she is abnormal and try to diagnose and reverse it (the Leuprolide shot sounds much more scary than early puberty).
Oh, trust me, I'm right there with you.
Though, parents aside, I think there are social factors that play into that. Lord knows peers can be just as cruel and hurtful. I was late in this area, but I know the girls who developed early in my school were open to all sorts of abuse - verbal and physical - especially from the boys.
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Same here... it was hard being the shortest, flattest, puniest, especially in middle school. To top it off, my bff was an early developer w/ giant boobs in 4th grade and it just made things more awkward.
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In my experience, boys were more outright about it. Girls were just as bad though, and at times even worse. Boys would snap my bra or call me offensive, boob-based names, but girls would start rumors that I was stuffing my bra with jello-filled water balloons, that my parents bought me the boobs (plastic surgery), that I was a slut and sexually promiscuous, and so on, and pretty much all behind your back. You had no way of knowing if your best friend started something or some girl who sits on the other side of the class did, and if you got into a typical childhood spat with a friend, it wasn't unlikely for them to toss your looks in your face in some offensive way to make you self-conscious for being different. I would say that the girls probably effected me more than the boys did.
This, definitely. All of the women in my family hit puberty at 9-going-on-10, so it was considered normal among us. I was definitely the first of my friends to get my period (and I was a year younger, because I skipped a grade, too) but several followed within the school year. I remember one girl saying that her mother lectured her constantly about how she was going to be teased, how she needed to keep her distance from boys, how she was set up to be taken advantage of. It breaks my heart because she had a LOT of self-esteem issues in high school, ended up in bad relationships, etc.
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Yeah, I think the risk for risky behavior is less about the actual development and more about how the person is treated (whether by parents, peers, etc. or a combination).
I think I developed at an average age (13), but I can't imagine how much harder it would have been for me had I developed earlier. My mom was totally clueless about how to help me accept my body. She was fine w/ the period/menstruation stuff, but horrible with regards to my breasts and height. And because of that I felt awkward, ugly and hated my body. It was bad enough dealing with that when most of the girls in my class were developed already or around the same time.
There is a little girl in my life who had precouscious puberty at age 4 and it put her at risk for endocrine issues and cancers. Her poor mother did EVERYTHING to try and stop it. It was awful.
This is really sad when you see an almost toddler go through it.
My paternal grandmother got her period when she was 11. This was 1932. In 20th century America, where food has been more abundant than at any other time in history, I don't think this was abnormal. My mom and I both got our periods at age 12. In areas where food and nutrition is/was scares, sure, 14-16 used to be more likely. Now? Middle school is perfectly normal (as is later on, if that's what your genetic makeup dictates).
But no one can convince me that 7-8 is normal. Precocious puberty happens, but it's an outlier. Precocious puberty becoming the new normal in our society? That's just kind of scary.
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no eyeroll from me major...I am just sad that I didn't realize the hormones being pumped into things until I had already done some damage with babycopz..there is no doubt in my mind that milk/meat are the main contributors to early menses.
babycopz had just turned 10 when she got her first period. I didn't get mine until I was 16.
Copz, I have a friend who has avoided hormones as much as possible...organic milk, very little meat at all, and then it's grassfed, etc. Her little girl is now 6, and going through puberty. Six. I can't even fathom it.
I guess I'm saying (anecdotally of course!!) that you shouldn't beat yourself up, as it might not have made a bit of difference.
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That shiit is NOT good for you, and I'm surprised the article didn't talk more about that aspect.
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
KA, you have no idea how much your kind words mean. Really, it is something that still upsets me...I somewhat feel we poisoned her by trying to take care of her.
*mommy guilt table of millions please*
I was raised on soymilk (lactose intolerant) and didn't like meat until I got into middle school, so I never ate it.
I still bloomed early.
Do what you think you must to try to keep your kids healthy but this level of sanctimony seems a little too self-congratulatory when there's a horde of other factors that contribute to why girls are going into puberty sooner. This just seems like yet another mommy wars- I'm such a good mother, MY child went into puberty at a "normal" age!
Yea, go me.
Really?
Because some of the comments in this post sound eerily similar to all the ZOMG vaccines cause autism I KNOW IT IN MY GUT posts.
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Copz, your kid might have gone through puberty early but she's perfectly healthy, yes? Great self esteem, doesn't hate her own body, is happy and well adjusted.
So all is good in the hood, my dear. I swear.
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