Menstruation

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.

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

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 .

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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 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!

I was 15yo when I started my periods (1965) and much later than my classmates. Some years later, my children’s school headteacher said that children had matured by 1yr for every 10yrs after the end of WW2.
This meant what I did at 15yrs old, my children would do at 13yo.
Looks like the HT was right.

I started age 10 and a half in 1969, my eldest daughter was just 11, while my younger one (who was taller/larger boned didn't start till she was 13). My mother born in 1920 also started at 10 and a half. I certainly wasn't the only one but it was certainly very difficult to deal with. I have heard that they need to reach a certain weight before periods can start but other body changes (body hair, changing shape) normally start first so there are some warning signs. I think there is a strong genetic factor in the likelihood of menstruation being early.

Re coping with it comment, my elder gd is autistic with all
that entails, and younger gd had been terrified of the sight
of blood, so yes they are coping well.

There is probably a genetic element to it. My daughters were the same age as I and my mother were. Granddaughter was slightly older - the influence of genes from the other grandmother perhaps?

It has always been a possibility. I used to take junior schoolchildren on residential trips and we always had to be aware that some girls might be menstruating and deal with it appropriately.

I think it's hardly surprising, everything is happening earlier these days. I started my periods at 11 in 1965 and that was normal, I was prepared for it and it was no big deal. I certainly wasn't big for my age, quite the opposite if anything. I don't understand all the "she's coping with it" comments, of course she is because it's normal and the more normal she thinks it is the better.

My lovely gds started their periods at 12 and 13, coping
really well thanks to a very sensible mum. However not
coping at all well with recently introduced unisex toilets,
its turned into some boys being real idiots over what is a very private matter for the girls ☹️

I used to teach Y6 and certainly a few of the girls had started. I remember one starting on the first day of a school residential holiday!

If they are well padded they seem to start a bit earlier.

Yes I know of a few primary aged girls - a couple at 9 but a few more 10 and 11. Mainly they have developed early so have other signs of puberty too. They say weight has something to do with triggering puberty but I am not sure how true that is. DGD is almost 11 and one of the smallest of her friends. I'd be very surprised if she got hers any time soon, though others in her class already need bras etc so are more likely I guess

I think weight does come into it. I seem to recall that a girl had to reach approx 7 stone before her periods would start, but I could be wrong.

Whoever decided that unisex toilets at schools would be a good idea (apparently to prevent bullying and vandalism) has made life horrible for girls, according to news online this morning, because boys are now working out that girls must be having their period if they take a long time in the cubicle, and then passing the word round!!! So girls are "holding on" rather than using the toilet during the school day due to humiliation and embarrassment.

I was lucky enough to get into an all girls' grammar so when having to cope with periods and puberty, I didn't have to cope with boys as well. I feel very sorry for teenage girls being forced to deal with these problems.

I’m glad you brought up the issue of toilets - the case for sex segregated toilets in primary schools is particularly strong for this reason if no other. I also wonder how primary school boys should be prepared for this as well so they are accepting of it and don’t tease girls or make comments.

I am involved with a primary school and we have a separate toilet for the KS2 girls. Loads of them start before they leave.

My DGD started at 12 and her life has been a misery since - sadly she has made very heavy weather of them, and the hormonal changes have triggered depression and anxiety. She is in a sorry state.