Explaining hormones to a nearly 10 yr old

djtonyb

Can anyone offer advice/guidance on explaining body changes and hormones to a nearly 10yr old girl.


My DD is growing up she will be 10 in March and I think her hormones are flowing wildly (I was 10 when I started my period so think she is going to be an early starter too).

How do I explain the irrationality of coursing hormones and mood swings to her.

Any advice gratefully received

BitterAndTwisted

Not all post-pubertal girls/women are subject to "irrationality" or "mood-swings", so trying to explain those to her might encourage her to believe that they are inevitable. They aren't.

If she's received the usual facts-of-life information I'd step away and leave any further discussions up to your daughter to raise with you.

balletshoes

have you started talking to her at all about the changes which are coming soon to her body and her feelings?

If not, there are some great books out there which deal with growing up in both girls and boys, you could read them to her or together, or give her the book and tell her if she has any questions, to come to you and you'll find out together.

Hermia

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Not all post-pubertal girls/women are subject to "irrationality" or "mood-swings", so trying to explain those to her might encourage her to believe that they are inevitable. They aren't.

I agree. I have never had mood swings or hormonal irrationality in my life and do think some women blame hormones for things that are just down to their personality. I wouldn't tell her these things are inevitable in the same way I wouldn't tell her that periods will be painful. If she has a decent knowledge of puberty I would just wait and see what symptoms (if any) she experiences and then deal with it at the time. Just tell her she can come to you if she has any worries etc.

BitterAndTwisted

I was the same. I suspect that irrationality and mood-swings are used by some women as a convenient excuse for being an out-and-out biatch which has absolutely nothing to do with the oestrogen and progesterone balances.

If you expect something is going to be painful and a terrible handicap it's no surprise that this often comes about. Same goes for many things in life which are not concerned with the menstrual cycle.

Moonmoney

Have you had a look at the books available to buy? For me the advantage of having a book is that she can read it at her own pace, with you if she/you want, and come back to it as and when she wants to check something.

There are some really good books available which will explain what's happening/going to happen in both words and diagrams.

FBaby

I explained to my DD that hormones could affect moods, but that it didn't justify bad attitude in any way. I would never want her to think that it is ok to be rude and short tempered because maybe, just maybe, her hormones are having some effect on her mind.

Hermia

OP - have you seen this simply written NHS site: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Sexandyoungpeople/Pages/Girlspuberty.aspx

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I was the same. I suspect that irrationality and mood-swings are used by some women as a convenient excuse for being an out-and-out biatch which has absolutely nothing to do with the oestrogen and progesterone balances.

I expect with teens it's also down to being influenced by their peers. When you see footage of groups of teens acting totally insane over One Direction they are being influenced more by the group than their hormones IMO. If they were surrounded by sane girls just watching the concert in a normal fashion I doubt they would be making total idiots of themselves because they would self-conscious.

RAS

The other thing to consider is exercise and diet. Exercise in the days beforehand makes it a LOT easier to cope with periods IMO.

As for hormones; there's raging lust aimed at inappropriate targets about which she maybe needs to learn (use the 1D newcoverage as an in) to keep herself safe. There is also the PMT issue; I found that there were times when I was forgetful and difficult (and sometimes downright despairing of myself) and that Vit B cured it. Too much Vit B was a route to belly ache.

Errata

Do it as a very impersonal 'science' lesson.

jenhug

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Book-Growing-Up/dp/0340930993/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389656326&sr=1-3&keywords=girls+only

I got my daughters a book like this, had a chat with them about things and then left them with the book, I then gave them the opportunity to ask more questions after they have read the book. Its always around for viewing if they choose, they also have one called "lets talk about sex" which is cartoon strip based and covers male and females, contraception etc too. This is for a slightly older audience though