Menstruation

I recently retired from teaching - mainly Years 5 and 6 - and yes many girls in my class had started their periods. What I found worrying is how ignorant some girls are as to what was happening to them. Their parents left any mention of sex education to the school and (in my last couple of schools) vice versa! Everyone seems to assume that this generation know everything about sex and can talk about anything and everything, but in my experience this just isn't true!
In my last school, the sex education all took place on one afternoon in the Summer term of Year 6 (too late for some), a film was shown and questions were asked and that was it. The parents had to sign a consent form and a minority withdrew their children. I was appalled!

My Mother started menstruating aged 10, I started aged 8 that was in 1959

The great thing, for me, about starting at a younger age is that you finish at a younger

I was 10 when I started in 1960. 2 DDs much the same age

I was ten. Mother beat me and accused me of having sexual relations with my father. I was not allowed any sanitary protection for about a year and a half until my year head at secondary school decided to write to my parents about it. I was of course beaten in response but finally provided with towels.

Better nutrition in childhood has brought the average age of menarche forward; nine to eleven is now pretty normal. It is all a bit much to cope with especially if a wee girl is not very emotionally mature for her age, but what is there to be done?

Poor wee souls should have free access to sanitary protection in schools as per Scottish Government policy though. I feel strongly about this. Period poverty, embarrassment, difficult parental relationships etc should not prevent girls having the essential hygiene management tools they need to preserve their dignity.

I think unisex toilets for kids is absolute madness. Menstruation is troublesome enough for wee girls without being subjected to the curiosity and mockery of boys (who are only mocking because they too are only wee and don't understand how upsetting it can be)

Muffin, Your story horrifies me more than almost anything I have ever read on these threads. I am really sorry about what you endured.
I was 14, and my mother had not warned me. I worried for days and thought I had cancer. I told my own daughter what to expect when she was 11, and she started a few months later and told me she needed pads.

As for unisex toilets at school, whose crazy idea was that? Probably the same person who thought that unisex wards were OK in hospitals.

In my family, each generation of women has begun menstruation about one year earlier than their mother: my Mum was 13, I was 12, my DDs were both 11. We had talked about it with them openly whenever they asked about my personal 'products' in the bathroom - with the aim that they would not experience any anxiety when it was their turn. Also, from when my DDs were 10 or so, I kept a variety of products in the bathroom just for them to remove any embarassment or confusion they may have experienced.

I do feel for those children who are much younger - life can be tough sometimes on the young cant it.

I was around 16 in the late 1950s when I started. I have no idea what age my classmates were because it was never discussed. Being at a boarding school run by nuns sex did not exist.

My Daughter’s friend started at 9 in the 80s, so it’s been happening for a long time. The young friend was very thin and flat chested, so it was strange as my Daughter was more shapely at 11 Than she was and didn’t start her periods until she was 12 1/2.

I was 11 when I started mine in the 60s and my Daughter was far older when she began, which is a good thing. However, I finished late as well at 58 years. Not fair as my mum was only 45.

Back in the fifties, when I was at school, there was a girl aged 10 who started her periods. I, on the other hand, didn’t start until I was 15! So it’s always been the case that there’s a wide age-range for thé start of mentsruation, but it does seem to get younger and younger nowadays.

I have a grandaughter age 11 and haven't heard anything from her mum she still is very young and I pray disentangle start till late. I had terrible trouble all the years with this and pray she doesn't .

My sister who was a full 2 years younger than I was started her periods before me.

Has nobody heard of this?

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412016304494

I read about it years ago, but it looks as if it is becoming much more obvious now. You can believe it or not, I do.

Puberty is happening much earlier now it seems, 9 is very young but sadly not unusual .
It's a shame girls are having their childhood cut short.
This thread brought back memories of the hideous bulky cotton wool pads we had with the pink sanitary belt. Why were we told not to bathe during menstruation, the very time when hygiene is important.

Charleygirl15 Nuns. I was 13 when I started & DD was about the same age, her BF's M gave my DD a book she had bought her DD who had already started. Not sure about the weight comment as DD was tall & well built, her BF was tiny.

I hate the idea of unisex toilets, I would only use them if desperate so how awful is it for girls?

I was primary age too and had no idea what was happening to me when I saw the blood for the first time. I remember telling the teacher I didn't feel well and asking to go home. My mother just cleaned and padded me - said "you can have babies now" - and that was it. I had no idea how one "got" a baby and I was scared that one would just appear. Thank goodness girls are better informed now.

I am 80 and was 11 when my periods started so don't think too much has changed. At least I had sanitary towels to use unlike my mother when she was younger and people could not afford them

OK, so no one wants to believe that....

How about - the Lancet and the British Medical Journal both have articles worrying about XS female hormones in our drinking water?

i was 9, i thought i was dying as my mum hadnt had chance to explain things to me, now im 49 and cant wait for it to be over, i thought id be like my mum and finish in my early 40s but sadly no, its suprising how many girls start early my grandaughters 12 snd a fair few of her friens have already started theirs.

Hormones in meat are causing a lot of changes...even infertility in men. Whether is is the reason I do not know. Something to Google when I get home from work....what did we do before Google?

I started at 10, my daughter at 11 and I know of others who have started early. On the plus side I finished early

My mother - who was born in 1929 started her periods at 9. She thought she was dying! My childhood friends mother - similar age, started at 10. I believe 11-12 is (or was) the average age. My daughter started wearing a bra at 9. Everyone is different. I don't think there is anything sinister afoot? Except perhaps plastic and drugs in the food chain/water table!

I strongly suspect that oestrogens in the environment may be to blame. Oestrogen from the contraceptive pill and HRT are excreted and can end up in the water supply, while children who ingest non-organic meat and dairy products are also exposed to oestrogens. Soy products are phytoestrogens.

I was thirteen and my mum was not prepared. She used to whisper about S T's when we talked about it. Maybe because I had 2 brothers. How when I was "unwell" I shouldn't wash my hair. The thick Dr White's and pink belt with little anchors to loop the towels on were horrendous! Thank goodness attitudes have changed.

I was about 11 but finished at 45 whoopee I can remember being quite proud when I started and that was the days of belt and braces ? my best friend was 17 and was worried stiff about it for years and thought she would never start, my friends daughter started at 8 that was 30 years ago
I don’t think 9 is that unusually and I think how the mum and family deal with it (as normal and not oh poor you) makes all the difference