Most young people will have their first periods when they're between 11 and 14½, but anywhere from 9-16 years is considered normal.
Menarche usually happens 2 to 2 to 2 ½ years after your breasts begin to develop. You can get your period as early as 9 or as late as 15. Many factors influence when menarche begins, but it's common to get your period at around the same time your mother or birthing parent did.
Be warm, reassuring and accepting
On the other hand, she might be able to take it extremely well or even be happy about finally getting her period. Know that all these reactions are equally valid, and each adolescent has her own way of adapting. Be patient, and assure her that it's okay to feel the way she does.
How Often Does a Period Happen? Periods usually happen about once a month. But some girls get their periods around every 3 weeks. And others only get a period about once every 6 weeks.
Any girl who has her period can get cramps. Some are more likely to get them, such as girls who: are younger when their periods start. have longer periods or heavier blood flow.
If a girl starts menstruation at a young age, it's usually because the hormones in her body responsible for puberty are being produced earlier.
Causes of Early Puberty
These hormones tell the body to make sex hormones- testosterone in males and estrogen in females. For most children, early puberty starts for no known reason. It can run in families. Sometimes there is a problem in the brain, such as an injury, a tumor or an infection.
Once the period starts
For some girls, it may be light spotting, but others may have a heavier period that doesn't last as long. Dr. Horton said the flow of a period depends on the girl and is hard to predict. Your daughter will likely have cramps with her period, too.
Pubic hair – Once her pubic hair starts growing, you can expect her period to develop in one to two years. It may begin soft and thin but it will become courser and thicker towards the end of puberty.
Your first period should last anywhere from 2 to 7 days. It may be very light, with just a few spots of brownish blood. Or it may start and end more brownish, but be brighter red on heavier flow days.
Menarche is defined as the first menstrual period in a female adolescent. Menarche typically occurs between the ages of 10 and 16, with the average age of onset being 12.4 years.
High protein intake elevates IGF-1 levels and promotes growth, which could accelerate the onset of puberty. Poor diet. Children with lower-nutrient diets tend to enter puberty earlier. A diet rich in processed foods and meats, dairy, and fast food is disruptive to normal physical development.
But it's perfectly normal for puberty to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls and 9 and 14 in boys. There's not usually any need to worry if puberty does not start around the average age, but it's a good idea to speak to your GP for advice if it starts before 8 or has not started by around 14.
Most commonly, especially in girls, precocious puberty is due to the brain sending signals earlier than it should. There is no other underlying medical problem or trigger. This also can often run in families. Less often, precocious puberty stems from a more serious problem, such as a tumor or trauma.
Most girls start their periods when they're about 12, but they can start as early as 8, so it's important to talk to girls from an early age to make sure they're prepared. Respond to questions or opportunities as they arise and do not be embarrassed. Periods are natural.
You can have a group gathering of young girls aged 11-12 and explore this rite of passage in a collective. Or you can wait until the day her period arrives and make it an occasion. If your girl's already had her period for a while, you can still create a meaningful celebration. It's never too late.
Children who hit puberty before their peers are more likely to have mental health problems, research finds. Enhancing their coping skills may help.
Furthermore, early puberty may result in a short adult stature which may impact wellness [11]. Early puberty is associated also with cardiovascular disease [12] that is probably independent of obesity [13], breast cancer [14], and endometrial and ovarian cancers [15].
Breast buds are normal, small disc-shaped rubbery lumps felt under the nipple. Age: they normally occur in 8 to 12 year old girls. They are the first sign of puberty.
"All menstruating women will experience occasional early periods during their lifetime." Phew! On average, your flow lasts about five days, though some women may experience metrorrhagia, or bleeding between periods, or polymenorrhea, which refers to periods that occur more often than every 21 days.
What if you get your period at night? If you start bleeding in the evening or overnight, it can be confusing whether to count that as your Day 1 since there are just a few hours left in that day. For the sake of simplicity, I recommend that you do count that as your Day 1.
“The primary reason that period blood could be brown is because it's old blood,” said Dr. Cummings. It usually happens at the beginning or the end of your period, when your flow is lighter. Because the longer blood takes to leave the body, the longer it has to oxidize (read: get exposed to oxygen), which makes it dark.