So I've been expecting my 11 year old to get her period for some time. She's certainly displaying other signs of puberty. No real period yet. But she's had spotting a few times for a few months now. Nothing even heavy enough for a pad. Did any of your girls go through this before their proper period started? Or any of you for that matter?
(We've had the talk and she is prepared for when it does happen as a side note.)
Now that you mention it, I think I did. I remember seeing very small amounts of blood for a few months thinking, "This is it!" and then nothing. Until one month when there was no doubt.
I also remember there being very little consistency in my period for several years. I think "normal" has a very wide range at her age.
My dd(12) spotted lightly once or twice, then got her period a month after her twelfth birthday. Then the next 2 months nothing. Then a period. At her check up, we asked the Dr about it. She told us that it can take up to two years for the hormones to full kick in and adjust, so expect all of that and more.. My dds cramps are horrible. I don't know if that helps at all, but that is our most recent experience!
Sounds normal. I would ask your daughter's doc for some info/literature about the human body, puberty, menstruation, reproduction, etc. so you are both more educated. Planned Parenthood also offers classes and brochures, just in case her school doesn't.
Yeah, I did that a few months before my 11th birthday.
Then I got my period the day after my birthday.
The cramps were awful.
That sounds normal. My stepdaughter had spotting before she got "the real thing".
That sounds like my experience when I started, very light at first for several months. I actually think it made it easier for me to adjust to the whole thing. If she is just spotting for a few days every few weeks, I would not worry. If she was spotting constantly (every day or every few days for weeks on end) then I would take her to the gynecologist for a check up.
I would just have her start keeping track of when it happens on her calendar. That way if you do see a doctor, then she has a record of it and doesn't hurt her to start knowing how her body works on a cyclical way.
I would think that's not that unusual. I remember being told it can take 2 years before it becomes regular for some in the beginning. Some women after pregnancy go through changes like this too.
I spotted for a whole year when I was 13. I did get a real period for a few months before that, but it stopped and I just spotted until it started up again. Went through the same thing in college and again in my 20's. My mother never took me to doctors..I guess she was of the mindset that if it wasn't life threatening, it wasn't worth a doctor visit.
Anyway when I was old enough in my 20's to have my own health insurance, I had a doctor give me some birth control pills to regulate it and it was regular ever since.
what does her dr say about it? if you are super concerned about a gynocologist can also help understand what might be going on with your daughter
but with all the hormones that get pumped into our food i am not surprised that a girl going thru puberty wouldn't have anything that seems normal.
My daughter did not. She has had hers ALMOST a year now, but it has taken almost this long to regulate. I was not regular until after I was done having my babies, so I figured it was normal. Talk to her doctor if you're worried, but I think in the start it's all normal, even when it's not.
