I’m sure nobody at the SDMB doubts that you’re a great parent who loves your child.
I personally just find it odd because I know I had breast buds at that age and nobody ever thought it was a concern. But it doesn’t hurt to get it checked out, as long as the kid doesn’t think there’s something wrong. (Which it sounds like she doesn’t.)
Oh, I’m not scared about creeps, per se. I’m more scared about slightly older boys. Her school goes to 8th grade, but she’s only in 3rd. That’s a lot of older boys who may genuinely develop reciprocated feelings for a beautiful little girl with a womanly body. But even if not creeps, still not cool.
My mom had a pregnant 5th grader in her class more than once - and she taught in a suburban middle class neighborhood with kids from gated communities.
To me this is not about whether the onset of puberty at eight is medically normal or abnormal. It’s about your perception as a parent that the last days of childhood are at hand I’m in a similar boat myself. I’ve got a daughter who’s about to start fourth grade, and while she’s not yet developing, I know full well that this is the last year she and her friends will all be little kids together. And I’m pretty blue about it. She’s the last of three, and it’s a nearly 20-year period of my life that’s approaching an end. I’m really mourning about it, in fact.
I think I misunderstood your concerns then.
Yeah, kids from good neighborhoods also get knocked up. A couple of my classmates from Catholic schools have kids out of college (they did manage to finish high school before getting knocked up, if only barely). But you’re right, she’s more likely to get involved with another kid from school.
I will let that concern me later, right now I just want to give her time to grow up. So, let’s see what the doc says.
On another note, I can’t believe your girl is a 3rd grader, but of course she has to be, mine is too, and I remember we were pregnant at the same time and all the story of how she was so premature at birth. How is she doing?
I know, right?! I saw your OP and had to do some mental math! Caileigh’s doing amazingly. No - I mean no, zero - disabilities. She’s gluten intolerant, but as far as anyone can tell, that has nothing to do with her prematurity. We were so amazingly lucky. And no little thanks to the Dopers for keeping me mostly sane, and for all the encouragement I got when breastfeeding was just the hardest thing ever.
Glad your girl is doing well, too. She sounds like a great kid. 
Without question girls who develop early sometimes have to deal with inappropriate attention from both older boys and teasing from peers. OTOH WhyNot Lupron (the standard approach to treat central precocious puberty, which by defintion this is not) is not as side effect and risk free as you present it to be. It is fairly well tolerated but it is not just taking a daily vitamin. It also is not an estrogen blocker. It is an gonadotropin releasing hormone analog (GnRH agonist) - constant low stimulation targeting brain and pituitary receptors causes a negtive feedback decreasing LH and FSH levels; LH and FSH drive gonadal steroid production including estrogens. In short it does not block hormones, it shuts down their production.
Treating all girls with onset of pubertybefore 8 (and whether the definition of true female precocious puberty should be before 8 or before 7 is a subject of some debate, for reasons that the following makes clear) would mean that at least 8% of all White and about 25% of all Black girls would be labelled abnormal and treated.
Please note: I am not telling anyone what to do or to not do or giving medical advice. I have no physician patient relationship, no knowledge of the growth chart or the physical exam. The child’s regular pediatrician feels that every girl under 9 with breast buds should see a specialist, the parents feel most comfortable with that course of action. The specialist will say what the specialist says. I merely provide information.
That said I am very curious - Mighty Girl can you please expand on what you mean by “time to grow up” and what having some breast development means to you in that context?
I’m also curious.
I had breat buds when I was nine. They pretty much stayed in the breast bud stage for three years (I didn’t get a training bra until I was 12). Almost thirty years later, they are still on the small side. Despite my father’s concern (fear?) that I was going to be “bosomy”.
:shrug:
I know puberty, especially female puberty, freaks parents out sometimes. But few ever think their little girl is actually ready for it.
As society continues to prolong adolescence, I wonder if we’ll start to see a trend of people delaying the onset of puberty in their children. Especially as a way of combating the overt sexual images that children are bombarded with in the media. I guess I’d be afraid of puberty too if my little girl liked to watch MTV.
How long do you think you’ll keep her on treatment, Mighty_Girl?
This doesn’t seem like a great reason to mess with your kid’s hormones and growth, IMO. It might be a good reason to teach her life skills about how to stay out of trouble.
My daughter developed breast buds at age 8 and it never even occurred to me that she was abnormal, “too big” (ugh), or needed to go on medication. Our pediatrician thought it was perfectly normal too. This all seems very strange to me.
And that’s a perfectly valid way to handle it, too. I don’t have a problem with there being multiple options in dealing with healthcare issues…I rather *like *that, actually. One size rarely fits all, and I’m very much in favor of ALL options being at least discussed, even if only so informed consent is truly informed.
Obviously, I don’t know quite as much about the hormone treatment(s) as I thought I did, so I’d want to learn more about the mechanism of action(s), risks and benefits from my child’s doctor before I made any decisions (although it’s entirely hypothetical in my case). I’d also want to know things like what her growth plates in her bones have to say about her predicted future growth, and does that match the estimate of growth cessation after thelarche (that is, do her bones say it’s “too soon” for her to start puberty?) I’d look into dietary and herbal/supplement and lifestyle change options. I’d look into lots of things before I made a final decision.
But seeing the endocrinologist, and using hormone therapy IF it’s recommended for my child, are some of those perfectly cromulent options, and I just wanted to throw some support Mighty_Girl’s way. She’s a great mom, and will make the choices best for her daughter, I trust that.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, there is no chance that a board certified pediatric endocrinologist will advise or offer delaying puberty because of breast buds showing up in an 8 year old girl and even less chance that insurance would cover such if one did. Ordering some tests, because that is what specialists do, maybe. Advising follow-up with regular visits in his/her office … sure (making sure that there is not unusually rapid advancing through puberty or a sudden growth spurt). Treating 7 to just under 8, while an approved use of the medication, is controversial and individualized; treating 8 and over is just not an approved use of the medication.
The most important thing a good pediatric endocrinoglist can do is be a trustworthy source of information about what to expect going forward. Girls who begin puberty on the early side can expect to have a growth spurt fairly early and be the tall kid for a few years but then stop growing earlier as well. Depending on the speed of further development (which is impossible to predict; it may stay just at the breast bud level for a prolonged period of time) there occasionally can be some psychosocial issues to have to deal with and to be prepared for the possibility of. Forewarned is forearmed and the best way to deal with any anxieties.
I do want to make clear, I am not saying that Mighty Girl’s desire to give her daughter time to grow up is unfounded. I am simply curious about what that means to her.
Mine turns fourteen in three weeks and hasn’t had her period yet - and in some ways I’m not ready for it. Granted, I’ve had longer than most to get used to the idea - her friends all shot through puberty years ago while I kept a little girl until last year.
If you didn’t know, I live in the Dominican Republic. My daughter is mixed, but so am I and the vast majority of Dominicans (it doesn’t matter that she looks much closer to her Danish parent). In the Dominican Republic, according to her pediatrician, puberty starting at 8 is still uncommon, although slowly changing. It may be possible that there are different standards of care due to these differences. I appreciate that he did mention what the possible courses of actions are (including, possibly, delaying puberty), but referred me to somebody that actually knows what he’s doing vis a vis hormonal development.
Like I said, it’s not like I am going to pick up some stuff at the pharmacy, there will be tests, questions, and whatnot, but ultimately I will listen to what the specialist has to say. I am not pushing for a possible outcome, I will do what I believe is best for her, regardless of my level of comfort. If I wanted a baby I’d have another baby. She’s not a toy, she’s a person that I have a responsibility to keep healthy and whole until she’s out of my hands. I am happy to see her grow into an independent individual (trust me, this is better than changing diapers, and having to poop and entertain a kid at the same time.
I know that it may sound worse than it is, but my daughter is only allowed to watch Science, National Geographic and the kid programming on Danish Radio (online). I am not scared of her catching some people boinking on TV, she knows where babies come from, and that people have sex because it’s fun (not just to make kids), etc. I caught her educating one of her classmates on the mating habits of jungle animals. 
Sex is not the enemy. I just want to shelter her from the deluge of advertisement on TV. I am raising my child, not Disney or Viacom. I get to wash her brain, and I’ll buy what she needs, not what they tell her she needs.
She’s an avid reader, though, so she never felt like she’s missing out. She also plays out a lot, and exercises a ton. And no, she has no idea what MTV is, and complains that when she wants to play out some of her friends just want to stay in and watch TV.
My daughter is very smart (she speaks, reads and writes 3 languages at native level), not a genius, but very smart. But she’s sheltered and naive. She knows what a vagina is, what a uterus is and what they do. She knows how babies are made. She’s never believed in Santa. But she’s worryingly trusting, we live in a small community and most people here are parents, we all know each other, even when we don’t know our names. She has a loving family, stable parenthood, middle class comforts. She simply hasn’t developed the skills to deal with certain things. She may be physically ready, hell, she’s healthier than anyone I know, has muscles and abs that make me green with envy, but she is simply not equipped to deal with the hormonal onslaught and to relate to other people once she doesn’t look her age.
On a separate note, I have a good relationship with a gynecologist-endocrinologist. We were having a friendly chat today about our 8 year olds. She told me that, without knowing anything else about my daughter, from what I describe she’s in the very early stages of puberty and the doctor might just tell me to wait and see. So yeah, who knows what the new doc will say. She also told me that entering puberty at 8 is still rare here. I am not sure why, considering our ethnic mix.
There are legitimate reasons beyond appearance and convenience to delay puberty. Early development, as I mentioned in an earlier post, raises the suspicion of precocious puberty (or something more serious) and should be evaluated by a pediatric endocrinologist.
Abnormal hormone levels could be a symptom of pituitary problems. This should/will be ruled out before any treatment for delaying puberty is initiated.
Once a child completes a Lupron stimulation test, the endocrinologist will evaluate the results and make recommendations. Following through with the injections of Lupron is, of course, the parents’ decision. Some parents go with the treatment, some decline. (By the way, there is also an implant that allows the child to avoid the monthly injections for a year at a time).
I don’t think anyone here is suggesting that all girls with onset of puberty before age 8 be treated; I’m not sure what I would do myself if it were my daughter. But such treatment is not at all uncommon and is based on sound medical principles.
Good luck, Mighty-Girl
mmm
Hmmm. I’m with you Mighty Girl on the puzzlement regarding why puberty onset appears to be later in the Dominican Repubic than in the U.S. - with the ethnic mix I’d also have predicted it being more similar to the American Hispanic population with earlyish onset more common than among American Whites. Of course there are a host of other factors that may play a role, from those possible dietary endocrine disruptors to other dietary and nutritional factors, to light dark cycle exposures, and more. And no I did not already know where you lived. I can make no informed comment on standards of care or insurance coverage there, correct. (I can however again state that in American and European populations Mean Mr. Mustard is unequivocally wrong, breast bud onset at 8 and over does not need an evaluation for pituitary problems or a Lupron stimulation test and treatment at that age is extremely uncommon. Nothing wrong with seeing an endocrinologist for expert reassurance and education however.)
If I understand correctly your desire to give her time to grow up is based on concern that she is not yet emotionally mature enough to deal with what you believe will be hormonal mood effects and with the possibility that others might start treating her as if she is older than she is once she has more than least of breast buds. Yes?
Some posters here have reported that they had much earlier puberty onset than their peers. To those posters - was there something your parents did or did not do that helped (or did not help) you be able to handle others interacting with you as if you were older? Or did it just not happen to you?
It just didn’t happen to me. I think it’s because, at least for me, puberty did not translate into womanhood. I never outgrow my skinny tomboy ways. The only signs that I was “different” from the other girls were well hidden under my clothes. Boys didn’t care about me in that way because I didn’t care about me in that way.
My mother was initially weird about it. It took a while for me to learn how to manage my responsibilities as a menstruating female (those were some tough days!) But those were the only challenge that I had to overcome.
So I guess that’s why I don’t get why Mighty_Girl is so concerned she has to be talked down from a ledge. Her daughter sounds just like me when I was 8. Except that I was probably much dumber than she is. My mother probably would have loved to have arrested my development all the way up to the age of 20, and I would have been fine and dandy with this, knowing how goofy I am. But it still seems unnecessary to me. Of course it’s easy for me to say, not knowing anything and not having to deal with any of the ramifications. But yeah, breast buds in the third grade registers as not a big whoop for me. I can point out two or three girls in my third grade class picture who had little bumps in their shirts. None of them turned into tragic afterschool specials either.
“I say, I say, it was a joke, son!”
Trust me, I am fine with her growing. I may be a terrible mom, but having an independent kid that entertains herself and makes her own breakfast so mom can sleep later on the weekends is nothing short of a miracle. I am looking forward to get done with this “raising a kid” thing. I want to know how the story turns out.
BTW, she knows what pads are and what they are for. It’s nearly impossible to hide it when she walks in my bathroom unannounced. She asked, I told her. That doesn’t mean that she’s not going to be shocked when it happens to her, it means she will know that it is normal and happens to every woman of age.
My Mom had always been open with information and kept an open dialogue, but no, I don’t recall her saying much about my maturing, except to note rather early on in the process that I was already a bigger cup size than her.
The boys at school were completely obnoxious, as I was the first one with boobs (in fourth grade, but I was a year younger than everyone in the class, so 9 years old) and they were a DD cup by the middle of fifth grade (no one else had even small breasts until the middle of sixth.) But I’m allergic to confrontation, so I can’t say that I ever told them to knock it off or anything. I just became proficient at the rounded shoulder slouch, and thankfully the late 80’s were good for oversized sweatshirts.
My dad and stepmom pretty much ignored it, while my stepbrother raped me repeatedly for a few years, with special focus on my breasts.
Yes, I’m sure that my own experiences have a lot to do with my fears.
I am very sorry that that happened to you.
Oh fuck, that is horrible. I am sorry to hear that.
I bring no fears to this game. I had a good childhood, devoid of drama. I was good at telling men and boys to fuck off, because there were grown men making passes at me when I looked like a little kid, with fewer curves than a washboard. However I do remember some issues, and I am planning to avoid them.
My mom hauled a book at me, figured since I loved reading I would work it out on my own. Unfortunately the book was heavy on “your body is changing and it’s normal” and light on actual practical advice. While I knew menstruation may last up to 7 days, I though you’d just lose a few drops every day and that was that. I was certainly not ready for the reality of loss blood of my first and subsequent periods.
My mom didn’t have pads at home, and I was too shy to ask the first time.
I wasn’t ready for the horrible, horrible pain, and my mom did not have painkillers at home either. I thought I had appendicitis, but my nurse aunt checked me and figured out right away what was going on.
I got my first period smack during a huge family meeting and one of my aunts proudly announced it to everyone. I still hate her for that. I hated that people discussed my private matters in public.
I have always been open with my child. She asks, I tell her the truth (appropriate answer for her age). She knows she can ask. I always have pads and other parafernalia at home. And once she’s going trough puberty I plan on having painkillers at home (we normally don’t).
And most importantly, her private matters are private. Other than my best friend, my husband and medical personnel I have only discussed this with you. But you are not real, you are just a figment of my imagination. 