How to spot signs of puberty in DD?

amother ↓

Sun, Mar 22 2009, 2:22 pm

My oldest DD is 8. She is tall for her age, and she has the classic build of my DH's family- long thin legs, any fat goes to belly/chest. How do I differentiate between some baby fat vs developing breasts? I kind of wonder sometimes if I'm imagining things... Overall she's slightly "thick" from shoulders to waist.
She is mature enough to handle the "talk" but she's also very naive at the same time, and I'd rather wait till more like 9 or 10. What signs should I be looking for? (In my own experience, body hair and needing deodorant started about age 11, period at 13.5)
Also, another question- what age did your daughters begin to feel the need for privacy? She still doesn't care at all (in front of me, DH, and other DDs) if we see her undressed.... I am trying to subtly teach her just the basics of "boundaries" but I don't want her to think she should feel shame, just want her to realize she's getting old enough that she should take a bath with the door closed, for example... any thoughts? Thanks!

greenfire

Sun, Mar 22 2009, 2:33 pm

I think you can talk to her about her developing body ... the ages you mentioned are merely average and sounds like you are worried about her developing early ...

↑ amother

Sun, Mar 22 2009, 4:33 pm

I have the same with my almost 8 year old. She is starting a chest and is visable under tops but is not emotionally ready to handle anything at this age.