Mom's of older girls...I have QUESTIONS!

[lespring]

I need some advice from moms of girls who have already gone through puberty. There are some here, right?

Angela is 10 1/2. She's had pubic hair for about a year, breast bud development well underway, etc.

Last week while we were traveling we stayed in a hotel with a pool. Well, the last time she wore a swimming suit was August, and well....I'm not sure how to say this...but...she has A LOT more hair since then, and it's poking out all over the place. What do I do with this??? I'm tempted to save up money and take her in for permanent laser removal! (I'm only 1/2 kidding)

How did you guys handle this??

[Emilysmom]

First of all, let me say "BLESS YOUR HEART!" We struggle with this same thing, and it's not easy!! This may be way tooooo much info for some readers, but I have to share it. Last summer, before the Uno Mas get together (I think.....otherwise just before summer vacation), Emily was in the shower and I realized she needed to have something done so she could wear her swim suit "tastefully". So I explained to her what I was going to do, used a lot of shave cream on her inner thighs and began to shave. She was NOT pleased at all with any of it and jumped.......yes, it cut a little slice in her groin area. She said "Oh way to go Mom! You cut my butt"! (her multipurpose word for anything in that general area)

I mentioned this to a friend and said next time I thought I'd use "Nair" or "Neet" or something. She said "NO"!!!!!! Apparently, she had done that to herself and it burned and blistered the area.

We get Emily's eyebrows waxed a few times a year, and she hates it so much. There is no way she'd go for waxing any other body parts!!!

[Emilysmom]

Oh yes........thought I'd mention one more little thing about puberty. The one thing I worried so much about was how my daughter would handle having periods. It was another one of those things I worried about needlessly. Each month got easier and easier and now I don't even keep track of it at all.......she handles it alone.

Also, a doc once told me that usually ONE YEAR after underarm hair appears, that's when periods start. For Em, that was exactly the case. She was 11 yrs, 3 months.

Susan

[CC]

"I'm tempted to save up money and take her in for permanent laser removal! (I'm only 1/2 kidding) "

Hmmm actually is that painful or can the child be put out to have that done, can it really be done that way?? Hmmm I was just wondering cause sounds like an idea.

Just a thought but I know up here they have the two piece swim suits for the girls with the bottoms having little skirt type bottoms, KWIM?? Could that work?? They seem to cover more, KWIM

Just a thought

CC ~

[Emilysmom]

CC,
I'm not sure about the little skirt things on the swim suits, but I tend to always buy 2 piece suits for this reason........a one piece swim suit seems to pull upward around the legs even more than a 2 piece does. (Plus, it's just so much easier for Em to go to the restroom at the pool and get her suit back on correctly in a 2 piece!).
A couple years ago, we found a swim suit that had shorts that matched the top and bottom, and that really helped with this problem!

[lespring]

Ok...at the risk of WAY TOO MUCH information here (oh well, everyone who knows me knows I'm an open book! LOL) Angela has my very thick dark german hair. I have to shave well down my thigh. (and I'm a new wearer of skirted suits. They look horrid on me but I don't have to worry about everything quite so much! LOL)

If our kids can be put out for dental work, I don't know why they couldn't be put out for laser hair removal. Right???

And Emilys's mom...Thanks for the info about armpit hair. She doesn't have that yet, so I should have at least a year. ;D

Angela has a terrible time with psoriasis in those areas as well. She usually announces it in someplace very public...like Target..."Mom! I have a rash on mine privates! Do you have lotion?" Then l so I get the not-so-pleasant job of applying the appropriate creams and lotions. I'm trying to get her to do this herself, but she's busy saying, "eeeeeew Thats' GWOSS!!!"

Oh, how I love puberty. NOT!

[Emilysmom]

ROFL how many times have I heard "Ewwww that's GWOSS"!

This whole discussion reminds me of something Jackie posted years ago about her daughter and a type of "rash" she seemed to get a lot in her private area. I have forgotten the name of it, but my daughter gets the same thing....very strange! One difference is that my girl wants everyone to totally ignore anything like that.....she would NEVER call my attention to it. It's like "if we ignore it, it will go away". She tends to get something similar to "cradle cap" behind one of her ears, so I check frequently to see if she needs ointment on it. If she thinks I'm about to check her ears, she'll say "MOMMMMMM.......just don't wook at it"!

[lespring]

Emily'smom...that sounds like Seborhea behind her ear. Angela used to get that as well. The difference between it and psoriasis is that Seborhea is sometimes on the moist side.

Angela has plaque psoriasis, inherited from her dad. 90% of his body is covered by it. It's gotten worse since our divorce (stress makes it worse) and he's been in tons of studies for various drugs. Since it's related to cancers he even did chemo for it once! It's one thing I wish Angela didn't inherit, as it's really bad on her scalp, and then the whole groin thing. YUCK!

I wish Angela was shy about something. Her new thing right now is mooning people. I've raised 4 boys and to my knowlege none of them every mooned anyone. At lease I didn't find out about it! But Angela? HA! She is all about shock value!

[Chester]

I personally dread swim suits for the same reasons. My solution has been skirts and shorts as cover ups, (which drives my husband crazy, Too bad too sad!)

Sometimes being a girl is a lot of darn work!

Dawn
Who is going to go check out her 10 year old daughters arm pits. It's nice to know that there may be a bit of a warning that her period is coming, get prepared type of deal.

[cmedrano99]

I am just laughing at all this.... I know it not truely funny.. I recall not that long AGO we where in the same boat.

Here we are at 13yr and 4months... Courtney has had her period going on year 2... She inherited her fine,blond hairs from me. The girl still has no underarm hair... it fine down in the private... Her legs are baby hair. She no longer wears 2 peice due to her g-tube... but we are looking for shorts and top to match this year. She said she wants a 'kini' HUH! no way!!! Time will tell what we will do. I suggest skirts or shorts type suit?

By the way Leah... How are yall doing??

[laurasmom]

I would love to get Laura in a 2 piece. She absolutely refuses, will only wear a one piece, and with her long torso, that is sometimes hard to get one that fits.

Laura is 15, has had her period for 2 years. I really don't remember how it correlated to her getting underarm hair.

Susan-remember both of our girls at the NDSC dance? A true double whammy!

Laura's "private" hair is, well, how should I say it...... well contained at this time. Sorry I can't help with that. Except that my other daughter had had 2 piece swimsuits in the past where the bottom was actually more like a pair of shorts, the legs actually came down to the top of the thighs. We have purchased these at Old Navy and Lands End. Seems like that type of suit would provide more coverage.

Aren't girls fun?? I constantly tell my hubby I wish we had had just one son.......so he could join in on some of this fun too!

Sharon

[lespring]

Cynthia! I was so glad to see you here! I didn't know you posted here. HOORAY! We are doing great, at least most of the time! LOL

Ok. for all those wishing you had boys, I raised 4 of them. Mostly it was easier than raising a girl, but Angela is my only girl so I'm not completely sure about that.

But here's a story for you....

My oldest (step)son was playing football for the first time. My husband (now an EX thankyou very much) NEVER EVER EVER went to any sports related parent meeting, etc. It was aways me. So here I was in the meeting with a room full of dads and their sons, talking about the equipment they needed. Of course "cups" were mentioned several times. Rob was about 11 or 12 at the time, and a very big guy. He was the biggest in his class for years.

I went home and told their dad he needed to get a cup for Rob. Of course, this never got done. At the 3rd practice Rob was told he couldn't come back without protection. Dad was waaaaay too busy to take him of course, so it was left to me.

That poor kid...here he stood with me (I was his step mom!!!) in front of a shelf of cups. I had no clue how to do this. I called dad on the phone:

Me: How do I know what size to get?
Dad: Oh, it's easy. Fit it to his fist, and it should be about the right size.
Me: Rob, make a fist.

here is where you insert the sound of my laughing HYSTERICALLY!!!!

Dad: What? What??? What are you laughing about?
me: (trying to regain my compusure) Well..umm...see...his fist is WAY BIGGER THAN YOURS!!!

Yeah, we were divorced 5 years later.

[trishasmom]

For Trisha we just get the two piece bathing suits that have the short style bottoms which covers the entire area. :-)

[meghans_mom]

no advice except lands end makes great mix & match tops & bottom bathing suits.

-laurie...who is glad i have another 4-5 yrs to have to think about this....

[Debbie]

This is very interesting. Um, I have never had any problems with this topic. I did have cramps real bad and at times had to leave school for the day. I didn't know about Midol at the time. It was so bad though I had to take something to help me relax. I don't have to worry about this anymore, thank goodness!

You know, this is a very important topic to talk about. I have come across some women with any type of disability that had this problem. It was hard to know what to do or say. I think the girl just didn't know and you don't want to stare. Besides, if you said something about what was showing down there she would become embarassed anyway.

My problem was my skin on my legs. I break out sometimes during the winter with some type of exzma or skin disorder. I don't remember the name. I use to break out with red, sometimes blotchy things on my legs. During the summer time it goes away, sometimes. I don't have it as bad as I used to but I still break out. I have really dry skin. I was always embarassed if anyone saw how bad my legs looked. I have fair skin too so my legs look really pale.