This is how I am feeling right now:
:eek::smack::eek:
My daughter has just turned 8, and today when I hugged her I noticed a lump under one of her nipples. Panic! Checked the other one. Phew! Wait… Panic!
I got my period at 14, and looked like a popsicle stick until my mid-teens. I am not sure I am ready to do this. I am not sure she is ready. She’s just a little kid.
Argghhh!!!
Hang in there. 
Don’t worry, your daughter is probably just as shocked as you are.
One thing for certain; don’t try to deny this is happening. My mom would not buy me a bra because I “couldn’t possibly” be maturing. (I think I was 10-11 then.)
Be open with her, make yourself available for questions, etc.
Should you guys head to the doctor to make sure everything is okay? I don’t have a kid so I don’t know, but it might not be a bad idea. Female doctor, if you have one. VERY awkward for a girl to talk about this with a male doctor.
Good luck to you and your young lady!
My daughter is 12. She looks at least 19, and I don’t just mean she has breasts–she has a lovely, entirely-too-adult body that certainly doesn’t look anything like mine did even in my late teens. It’s scary as hell sometimes, because when I caution her about certain outfits etc, she says no creeps will look at HER, she’s just a kid! And she is still innocent enough to believe that. Unfortunately the job of disabusing her of that notion falls to me.
So, while I don’t have any real advice, I can commiserate and can assure you that you are not alone. Girls do seem to grow up more quickly these days, and all we can do is handle it as gracefully as possible.
I did notice early development such as you’ve described with my girl, but she didn’t start her period until she was about 11. You probably still have some time to adjust.
When I was nine, Mom got me a copy of It’s Perfectly Normal, which is a great book for kids on the subject of puberty and sex. I didn’t end up hitting puberty until later, but especially if your daughter is a reader, that book could help her (and you!) tremendously, especially with the surprise of puberty hitting a little early.
I got this book for my daughter http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609580834/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Btw, our pediatrician told us that menses starts about 12 - 18 months after breast buds. Good luck.
I was menstruating by age 8, and my two older daughters entered puberty at that age. The nine year old is just starting. Obviously early puberty (for girls anyway) runs in my family.
It can be a bit difficult but we all survived the teasing and the awkwardness. I think it was probably easier for me to help my daughters with this because I’d been through it myself. The only permanent issues are that we are on the short side (tallest kids in our classes at age 11, but not much growth after that) and a slightly increased risk of breast cancer due to early menarche.
If it doesn’t run in your family it might make sense to discuss this with your daughter’s doctor. I understand that, rarely, early puberty is the result of a treatable condition. Also I believe there are hormonal shots available which may be an option (I think they are generally considered when puberty begins at an even earlier age, to avoid significant growth issues).
Am I reading it right that she has a lump on one side and not the other? Breathe, honey, breathe. It may just stay the one side for many months, or even a few years. Or she may develop the other one tomorrow. It often happens like that, and 8 isn’t considered too young anymore for white girls, thanks to our ample nutrition. Some sources don’t consider 6 or 7 too young for black girls. Once the other one buds too, expect first menstruation to show up about 2 to 2.5 years* later. She’s too young! Is puberty starting early? | The Pediatric Insider
*Some of my sources say 2 years, others 2.5 years. None of them say 12-18 months from thelarche, or breast budding, although it may be 12-18 months after most parents report breast development to their pediatrician.
Yes, I will have to make an appointment with the pediatrician, just to be on the safe side. Late puberty runs in my family, but I don’t know about her dad’s family. She’s a slender, muscular child, slightly taller than other girls her age in her class. I was very skinny.
A few months ago I bought Where Did I Come From? for her. She didn’t seem very curious. I approach the whole body/sex thing very matter-of-factly and try not to pass my hang ups to her.
Still, 8? I knew it was possible, but never thought it could happen to my daughter.
No, she has lumps in both sides.
{{hugs}}
Yeah. It’s time. It’s okay, she’ll always be your little girl. So says my mom, and I’m 38. 
But I am only 43, I am not ready!
irst period at 9 and B-cup at 10.
The worst part is adults not believing you, treating the whole situation as “abnormal” and making everything to do with developing and especially menstruation a 1,000x more awkward and embarassing than it is for adult women.
For example: no disposal can in the girls bathroom stalls. So you have to parade through the bathroom, past all the mean popular girls, with a bloody maxipad/tampon applicator in your hand (wrapped up, obviously but still) because the only trash is by the door. Or teachers straight up telling you you’re lying about having your period.
Then there’s the never ending stream of adults commenting on your breasts. Many of the comments are clearly well meaning, but Why the fuck are you, distant relation or friend of family, talking to me about my 9 year old breasts? SHUT UP. “Gosh you’re developing! That must be exciting” (me: [del]yeah, blobs of fat growing on me, hurting all the time, and ruining everything good is the bomb[/del] uh… I guess.)
Third worst part was a crew of very confused boys who decided they should lie in wait after school, run up to me, touch me innocuously (such as by tapping my shoulder) and then run away cackling. Every goddamn day. I get it now: Boobs. I got near boobs! OMG!!! But at the time it was just bewildering. And annoying. I tried being above it but it actually ended when I flipped out and attacked one of the perps and drew blood… they lost their zest for it after that. I never got in trouble. To my knowledge no adult ever knew of any of this.
“Where do I come from” is for kindergartners. And it’s about having sex and making babies (who cares?) not about puberty. My mom slipped a copy of “What’s Happening to my Body” which is a sort of junior-scale “Our Bodies Ourselves” (it’s even been retitled “My Body, Myself” in the most recent edition) I wasn’t all “gee mom, you’re the bestest!” but yeah, I read it multiple times.
Also, in my public school we had age appropriate sex-ed (essentially, puberty-ed) in the 5th grade, which was of a very good quality (taught by a specialist educator, not some random lunkhead gym teacher).
Well, she was barely starting 2nd grade then. I certainly did not expect having to explain puberty to a third-grader.
And yes, the worst part of puberty were adults and their stupid comments. I hope I can shield her from some of that.
I need some booze.
Sorry, that was Hello Again in that quote.
Oh gotcha. somehow I thought that the giving of “WDICF” was just recently.
At any rate, it isn’t about puberty so I wouldn’t take her disinterest as a general disinterest in changes that are affecting her personally. And while I applaud that it features dumpy middle aged people cheerfully having sex, its not exactly relatable.
I also greatly resisted wearing a bra, as I found them hideous uncomfortable (most likely, with my girlish frame and adult sized boobs, I was an impossible-to-fit 24D. In retroscpect its not surprising the 28B was uncomfortable. Point is, I needed a bra, and I hated them. Sports bras are much more of an option now than when I was that age and you might want to consider that over the more traditional type.
Hang in there.
I understand your panic because 8 does seem so young to be thinking about this, but the first signs don’t mean much, really. Even my breasts started budding at 11 (I remember, because they hurt like a bitch), and I didn’t get my first period until I was almost 15. I also remember most of my friends visibly started developing and wanted bras at 8, 9, 10 but went through menarche at the normal ages of 11, 12, 13. Puberty is a slow process usually.
Then again your daughter could be one of those not-so-lucky girls who looks fully adult at the tender age of 13. But I really have not met too many.
Just keep on being a great mom and answer any questions she has. You’ll both be ok.
My daughters solution to that last year (she was 8yo at the time) was to turn around and tell the boys “Well at least I wont be having wet dreams like you.”
Result in an interesting discussion at school and I just pointed out that hey, how awesome was it that she had read the puberty books we’d given her. She didn’t want to talk about it so I was worried she wouldn’t read about it either.
I started puberty around 9. I remember getting pubic hair down there and in my pits, and micro breast buds. I started my period at 11. A full year earlier than my twin sister.
But no one would have guessed because I was a bean pole all throughout middle and high school. I actually remember a group of girls interrogating me in the tenth grade about whether I had started my period. They didn’t believe me when I told them I had. I just didn’t register as very “womanly” to them, I guess.
I sort of have the opposite issue - a daughter who turns 14 next month and remains periodless. She’s hit puberty - I need to upgrade her cup size soon and she asked for a swimsuit with support - but no period yet. My experience has been that its a lot longer between breast buds and cycle than 12-18 months - we are to that 2.5 year point. But I was a late bloomer, and its been organic milk without hormones in our house - which I think helps keep things a little slower.
At any rate, it isn’t too bad until they get to the slam the door phase
Too bad women the book she’s reading is wrong and women can have nocturnal orgasms. It’s just less common.