Early puberty - how to help them through it
Categories: Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, Health & safety, Development, In the news
Science may not have figured out exactly what causes some girls to hit puberty early, but experts are working on how to help those girls get through it. It is well established that girls who experience early onset puberty often struggle with behavioral issues such as delinquency, violence, drug abuse and eating disorders. A new study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, indicates that more parental involvement may be just what an early-maturing girl needs to avoid those pitfalls."Helping parents develop positive parenting skills may help early-maturing girls to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adolescents and adults," said Sylvie Mrug, a University of Alabama at Birmingham psychologist who led the study.
As part of a larger study on the welfare of children, researchers examined the behavior and family situations of 330 fifth-grade girls, one fourth of whom had started their periods before the age of eleven. What they found was that the girls who experienced early onset puberty and had low levels of parental involvement in their lives were more likely to display socially aggressive behaviors like fighting and teasing.
In other words, just because your little girl is becoming a woman doesn't mean she doesn't need her parents to continue to set limits and stay connected. In fact, early onset puberty means she needs you even more.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ablndmomnt 8-14-2008 @ 1:50PM
OMG I read that book at 11 and still have it to give my children!! Kinda cheesy, didn't really get all points across but a good jumping off point. The next one after "Whats happening to me?" is "Where did I come from?" Thats a laugh riot! My daughter read it handed it back to me and said "I will NEVER have sex!" and walked off! I can only hope!
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Barbara 8-14-2008 @ 3:06PM
I am a retired (2001)NYC Family Life and Sex Education teacher. Some of my students had begun to menstruate by the time they were 8 years old. I would have loved to have read "Where Did I Come From" and "What's Happening to Me"to my students. They are both excellent books and are also on video. The parent committee did not think they were appropriate. Go figure! In any event, parental involvement is what it is all about. Parents need to be encouraged to attend workshops about child development so that they feel secure in their knowledge to be able to pass it on to their children. There are a plethora of books on how to talk to your child about their development as well. As a sex educator, we learned from our training that most of us got our "facts" from the "streets". Two of the most important aspects of our training was to teach decision making skills and self esteem to our students.
In addition, our food supply, which is replete with growth hormones in many instances, has been shown to influence early onset of puberty.
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Kirstie 8-14-2008 @ 8:53PM
Thank god late-onsest puberty runs in my family.
I was 15 and a half when my period finally showed up ... I can only hope and pray that when I have children, that trend continues.
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Tamyu 8-15-2008 @ 3:03AM
My period started when I was 8, just before I turned 9. It settled down a few months later.
In my family, it was treated as something *good*, symbolizing that you could be a mother (obviously not at that age, of course!) and that it was a natural part of growing up. I was never stressed by the idea and knew more than enough about it to actually look forward to and be happy about the event. I can recall thinking that it was great to know that I`d be able to get married someday (I linked periods to the ability to get pregnant, which in turn meant that I could be a mother - and that meant marriage.)
It wasn`t a horrifying life altering event. It was just a pain to have to remember to take pads everywhere. It didn`t lead me to a life of delinquency, nor did it cause me any significant problems. I think it really does have a lot to do with how the issue is handled in the family. Early onset puberty alone isn`t the problem - it`s the lack of information being shared with the children.
Instead of treating it as something that shouldn`t be happening yet - why not just treat it as a normal step in growing up? Much like losing baby teeth.
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Karen 8-15-2008 @ 2:25PM
I guess that also depends on how easy your periods are.
For me, and several people in my family, heavy periods, cramping, severe PMS and hormonal headaches were HUGE disruptions to our lives. Thankfully, I started late, but despite keeping as many hormones (in food) away from my daughter, the doctor said she would start at day now. Ugh!
I think one of the keys is that Dads need to continue to touch, hug, kiss their children. I think dads often want to back off because they don't want to be seen as doing something inappropriate. But girls NEED that male attention and if they are not getting it from dad (in a healthy way) then they may go looking for it from other boys in an unhealthy way.
Tamyu 8-15-2008 @ 7:15PM
I also have severe periods - major cramping, migraines like clockwork on the first few days, etc. It was bad enough before I had a child (that actually lessened a number of symptoms!) that I would have to stay home from school/work.
But ask any doctor - those symptoms generally don`t set in until things "settle down"... Which is why I wrote that it took a few months for it to do so. In my case, the problems didn`t seriously kick in until a bit later. I wasn`t necessarily talking about the discomfort of the period itself not being an issue (for me that IS what periods are) - I meant that other than the fact that it was a period, it was not life altering. I do admit wishing it had never started within a year, mainly because it isn`t exactly all that much fun.
Either way though, losing teeth is also a painful experience. But that doesn`t mean it needs to be treated as something awful that shouldn`t be happening yet. Of COURSE a girl is going to feel awful about what she is going through and the changes she is experiencing if the event is treated as something she is too young for and as something unfortunate. She isn`t making the choice and cannot control it, nor does it suddenly make her an adult.
In the end, I believe it all comes down to how parents deal with the event.
my thought 8-15-2008 @ 10:14PM
I think it's more that the hormones of puberty make kids stupid, hyper-sensitive, and less able to control their emotions. (Studies have proven this, as if that were necessary.) Before the hormones kick in, most kids are smart and even-keeled. If they are only 10 when their hormones kick in, then not only will they be predisposed to think silly thoughts, but they will have less cognitive understanding and life experience to balance against those thoughts. Parents' involvement does need to be adjusted to take into account the temporary insanity that comes with puberty.
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signsoffaithbook.com 8-18-2008 @ 10:03AM
According to my pediatrician, children as young as age six (6!) are starting to show signs of imminent onset of puberty. Yikes!
As a mom of three who's given "the talk" part one (where babies come from) and part two (how you're body will change and why), I have to say I'm a bit freaked out by the early puberty thing. Perhaps I just need to adjust my mindset...my expectation was that middle school would be the time...
We parents need help with this new phenomenon. Thanks for writing about it!
Spring
blog.SignsOfFaithBook.com
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rebecca Biernesser 8-18-2008 @ 11:33AM
I got my period at age 9.....and i agree with some other posters...it's all in how your family treats reacts to it and treats it. Periods are a fact of life in girls and if you treat it was such (like pulling teeth) and give the correct and proper talks, most girls will be fine. I say most b/c their are always the few that don't and might need more help...but still....
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