As I was in the bathroom waxing my 12 year old daughter's armpits (elementary school graduation is only 2 days away!) my 6 1/2 year old daughter had to come in to pee. She asked what we were doing and I replied that when you get older you start to grow hairs in your armpits and girls (women) remove them. Then my 12 y/o says and on your vagina too. The 6 y/o said we pull all the hairs from our vagina? I corrected that and tried to explain the bikini line. Then the 6 y/o says "I have hairs on my vagina too but they're white (blond), except for 2 brown hairs". So I investigated (we're a pretty open family so I was aloud), to my very calm astonishment there really were 2 very dark hairs about an inch long and about 8 more about 1/4 inch long just starting to grow in!

Does anyone know about this?? Should she be seen by a doctor?? What's happening?? Why is it happening?? Please, any info!

mommyof5

I would let this go and not worry about 2 dark hairs. You may want to monitor periodically but I doubt that it means much at this point. Certainly go ahead and mention it to the doc when you take her in for her annual physical though. Everyones body is different so I wouldn't worry about it as I was one who never had to shave my thighs as that hair was always and is blonde and not really visible.

Does she have cafe au lait markings on her? That is a telltale sign. Strange question-was she on formula when she was a baby and if so was it soy(estrogen)based?

[This message has been edited by HeyThere (edited 06-23-2003).]

It is unusual for a girl that age to start growing the dark hairs. I would be inclined to have her checked out by a paediatrician. It may be nothing, but there are a few things that can cause precocious puberty (early puberty). Sue

Thanks for the responses, I haven't got back to anyone since I sprained my thumb and wrist area or pulled a tendon - all I know is it hurts like h???. I've been wearing a wrist brace to imobilise it and it's better but still hurts if I use my hand the wrong way. How did I do this? Screwing the clamps on the hoses to the pool, I forced my hand/wrist to much. Anyway enough about me, I have a few ?'s to your responses.

HeyThere,
yes! she has cafe au lait markings (I thought they were birthmarks but she got them in her 1st year not at birth). She has one on her thigh(sp?) and one under her armpit (brownish blotches the size of a nickel). What do you mean by "it's a telltale sign"? And yes again! she was on formula from birth. She had been on many different kinds. the first was soy based because my 3 previous babies had been on it. By the way she cried worse than colic for 8 months! She tried regular formula, the formula that is milk based with the lactose removed. One month I was very low on $$ and weaned her to milk (at 8 months - The same time she stopped crying so badly). So does all soy based formula contain estrogen? My 1st born dd was on it and she started pubering around 9-10, she just turned 12 in April and started her period in May. A year older than myself, my mother and 2 years older than my grandmother.

SueA,
You say "there are a few things that can cause precocious puberty (early puberty)", what are they?? I would like all info.

I will be taking her to the Doctor, I have just been a bit preoccupied with the 4 kids being out of school.

Please let me know what you guys know!

mommyof5 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Sorry about your painful injury. My Ex has a huge marking on his hairline what is left of it - in a male high amount of testoserone in a male leads to high amount of estrogen in a male as well therefore male pattern baldness - from what i've been researching-and he is overly and always has been extremely active. I gotta go get out my huge purple book to get you all the info before you speak to the pediatrician- just don't make the kid feel alienated. Oh and I don't know how old you are but go buy a similac soy liquid and drink it the whole quart - you will feel the after affects- I got hot flashes the next day. I had to give my daughter it for one month-she was on antibiotics and it ruined her digestive abilty for the regular similac do I had some left over one quart and a half at 5.00+ I was not going to throw it out. Let me find that book-I'll post tommorrow night.

Thanks HeyThere

mommyof5 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Cafe au lait spots is one of the characteristic signs of neurofibromatosis. Usually there has to be six or more about a centermetre in size.

My son has neurofibromatosis, he is six. He has many cals but he also has freckling in the groin, neck and armpits.

There may be other reasons for cafe au lait spots, But I am not familiar with them.

Precocious puberty can occur when the pituitary gland is not functioning properly.

The pituitary gland is one of the big bosses of the endocrine system. It helps regulate the thyroid gland, pancreas, ovarys, testicles, adrenal glands.

Sue

Thanks SueA

mommyof5 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Mommyof5,
I saw a show on TLC about teenagers, and there was one girl who had started puberty really really early. Her doctor actually put her on some kind of hormone therapy to stop it untill she was a little older.

Oh yeah, I just remembered something else about that show. For some reason they x-rayed her hand to determine if she was starting puberty or not. I can't remember exactly why.

Thanks coppertop,

That's interesting!

mommyof5

Okay first did you ask her if she had pulled the hairs and then they grew back long etc. I mean you said you were an open family so she'll tell you the truth. Then you won't have to read on this stuff.

2. I cranked yahoosearch : cafe au lait early puberty

3. she only has 2 spots-just keep that in mind.

4. McCune-Albright Syndrome read #8 #11 and use the link on the front home page of Healthboards to get to the gov it is good then get to McCune it may take youto the nichd dept. which I think is national institute child hood diseases within the national institute of health within goernment. keep the kid away from soy products meanwhile and I really wish y'all the best of health. Keep us posted.

Gosh this is a busy forum. bump. I hope you respond.

i was just perusing this forum and came upon this topic.

I developed pubic hair extremely early myself. Probably around age 6 or 7. I never had any further problems surrounding puberty. I developed some armpit hair at age 10 but didn't start my period or breast growth until age 12 and half, which is the average age to start the menstrual cycle.

I'm sure its nothing to worry about. But if you're concerned, ask your doctor.

Oh my goodness! I thought my daughter was the only one! She is 11 and started getting pubic hair when she was about 8 1/2. I had never heard of it that soon but when I took her to the dr, he said she was just an early bloomer. She also started her period last year and she's having a real hard time adjusting to all this LADY stuff as she calls.

At least if her little sister starts early, I won't freak out as much I don't think but she's only 3 so I don't think I have to worry for a while.

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*SunGoddess*