How old was ur dd when they got af?

[Anila]

My dd has just turned 8, and is aware about af, as we dont hold back on that type of info here, but what i would like to know is, what age now a days do girls get their af.

I think i was 12/13, but that was many many yrs ago.

I know these days girls seem to get them earlier, but what age is average.....
Im assuming it will be soonish, another yr or so as she has just gotten hair down there, so pubity has started.

(hubby is wanting to know, lol, he is freaking out over it.)

[Inanna]

My DD was 11.5 - however that was quite early going by her peers - some still haven't begun menstruating at 14...

I was 14 when I began menstruating. So, she was much younger than me. I HTH...

[Tinks]

Good question. My DD is 10, I don't think she's anywhere near getting AF. I had just turned 12 when I first got it, so hopefully there's another couple of years for her.

[Visitor7]

Can't speak for my girls yet, but I was 11. Hopefully my girls don't get it any earlier.

[Persephone1]

I'm one of 3 girls. My older sister was 13, my younger sister was 12, and I was 14 1/2 which was terrible because my younger sister is 3 years younger than me, but got AF only 6 months after me.

I know they say that the hormones in our food has affected how early puberty arrives. My Mum reckons it's all genetic, but given that my sisters and I have similar genetics, that doesn't really make sense. I suppose it can happen at any time and there really isn't any 'normal' time as long as it's relative to everything else happening - like hair growing, etc.

Having said that, I hope any daughters of mine don't start before their teens!

[AnyDream]

My DD is 11 so I guess we need to be prepared...based in the general moodiness levels I'm not expecting it too soon. A friend with lots of friends with older daughters reckons the magic weight is 45 kg...dont' know if this is true or not but every girl in their little group started menstruating when they hit 45kg!!

ETA - just googled and apparently this has been studied but the mean weight in western countries is 48 kg...hmmmm.

[Fleur]

My Dd was 10, 3 months off her 11th birthday. I was 11, about 3 months off my 12th bday...so she was about a year earlier than me.
Not sure if this applies to every mother/daughter though.

I think it's great to have them prepared early, my stepmother did it for me & I did for my DD. From about the age of 9 I took a little bag to school with clean knickers, facewasher & pads just in case. Made the whole thing much less dramatic when I got AF after netball practice

[~Saram~]

I have heard a rumour that it has more to do with your grandmother than your mother??? I had just turned 10 when I go mine, my mum was 18 when she got hers but my nan was also 10-11????

Also depends on weight and physical condition. Girls that are heavier tend to get their period early as their body signals that the body has enough fat reserves to support a pregnancy.

As a teacher of upper primary about 50% of my girls have their period by year 7 (11-12yrs) but probably about 3-4 start in yr 6 (10-11yrs). Apparently one of the first signs of AF being near is discharge. I think it is great that you and your daughter are so open about this. As a female teacher in upper primary I get a lot of girls talking to me because parents haven't explained a lot of the changes they might go through.

[~Jo~]

Both of my girls were almost 13 when they first got theirs. I was 121/2 years. Ive heard more about it being around the 45kg mark too.

Jo

[Anila]

Wow, very intersesting, there doesnt seam to be a real average, but about 10-12 yrs, seems the norm, is that right?

I think it is great that you and your daughter are so open about this.

My daughter was at the bith of her brother last yr, and to prepare her for that, we went through all the womens bits n pieces, and i explained about af etc..


I spoke to her again tonight, and reminded her that, it means that u are growing up and that u have gone from a grl to a women, and if she ever wakes up and she is bleeding, not to freak out, its normal, and if it happens when im out and dad is home, just go to my draw, get a pad and stick it in ur undies, lol.
She then asked me what happens if it arrives when she is at school, and before i could answer she said, do i just go to the office and ask to call u.

she is not over weight but not thin either i think about 30 kilos, but she is tall ish, lol.

Hubby is worried he wont know what to do when the time comes.

[Visitor7]

You and your dd sound so prepared! It's great to hear.
I knew absolutely nothing about it. I was so embarrased when I got AF for the first time and I didn't know what it was, so I hid my undies in the laundry in the hope my mum wouldn't notice them when she did the washing. Fortunately my grandma was over that day and did the washing, saw the undies and told me all about AF.

[Olive]

ive heard about the weight thing and % of body fat = mentruation

i was 12.5

[fionas]

That's interesting about the weight thing. I was 15 when I got mine and was obviously one of the last girls in my class - I'd say the majority were in the 12-14 age group. I was also one of the skinniest so maybe the weight thing is true. I've also heard that you're fertile for about 25 years after your period starts. I don't think your fertility automatically disappears when that 25 years hits BTW just that it may start fading afterwards.

I think DSD got hers at about 11, definitely by age 12.

[smiles4u]

Jodi ... your story reminded me a little of mine although i was older at just turned 13 when i got mine so one would think i would have known better although i don't remember but my Mum said she checked on me when asleep on my first night & i wasn't wearing a pad ... apparently i thought having a period was so aweful i didn't think i would 'also' have it at night time, LOL

Most girl's i went to secondary school with got their period at 13 ... that was 1979 if that's anything to go by if generation bodies are changing (??)

[Inertia]

Ang only got hers a couple of months ago - so 12.. but.

We have the WiiFit. I can check her weight for that time - which was 48.7kgs. As the study said.

[Jellyfish]

I didn't get mine until I was 15... this was only 6 years ago!

[mrsmac]

DD got hers at 14 1/2 which was a year later than me, she is very fit and fairly slim but I can't remember how much she weighed at the time. poor thing got it first at my baby shower with DS! At least she had lots of sympathetic "aunties" around .

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

I got mine at 10 1/2, but I'd been having pain for a couple of months before hand. Strangely enough, at the time I recognized the pain as period pain, and Mum had explained everything to me, but when it came (on school holidays while we were at AQWA) I suddenly felt VERY embarrassed about it all. I ignored it that day, and then the next day went to wash my sheets because, of course, I'd bled all over them. Mum was suspicious and so I had to tell her AF had come - hahaha, she was almost crying because 'her first girl is growing up'

Just thought I'd share my story, because it didn't matter that I already knew what was coming, I still went into a bit of denial and didn't tell mum straight away - remember how scary it was when AF first came?!