My daughter is 8. My wife noticed, while giving her a bath, that she's
starting to grow pubic hair very low near her butt. Seems way too
early but we're first time parents.? How old are girls generally when
they show signs of hair growth? Is this something that we should seek
professional advice?

Okay Dad, take a deep breath here --- 

As a mom, I can understand your concern for your little girl. The
first thing that I’d recommend you do is consult with your daughter’s
pediatrician to get a medical assessment of her overall development.

Puberty at 8 feels kind of young to me as well, but I'm no doctor, so
let’s take a look at the hard data--

The first question to answer is: Is pubic hair really an indicator of
puberty?

According to several sources, in girls pubic hair develops parallel to
the development of breast buds. There is a system called “Tanner
Staging” which outlines the development cycle of males and females—

http://faculty.washington.edu/momus/PB/tanner.htm

As you can see by that chart however, not just the presence, but the
location of pubic hair seems to be an indicator as well. What you have
described doesn’t quite fit the pattern.

I also see that in some cases pubic hair develops early but is not an
indicator of the onset of puberty. A period called adrenarche occurs
between ages 6 to 8 years and shows up as a transient growth spurt.
Some children develop axillary and pubic hair growth during this time
but no sexual development occurs.

http://www.fpnotebook.com/END26.htm

The second question is – what is the normal range of onset of puberty
in girls?  This is dependent on factors such as genetics, weight,
nutrition and sometimes even race, but in general can be anywhere
between age 8 to 16 years.

http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/teachadolhealth/G&D.htm#Females

So, your 8-yr old, although at the younger end of that range, would
not necessarily be considered completely out of range for showing
early signs of puberty, IF that in fact is what her hair growth
indicates.

As I mentioned, genetics do play a role so, (if it’s not too
uncomfortable for you) you could consider asking some of your female
family members at what age they developed. You may find that your
daughter is a descendant of “early developers.”

And once again, do have her checked by her pediatrician if you have
any concern whatsoever.


I hope I’ve helped you and perhaps put your mind at ease a bit. 
Please feel free to ask for a clarification of any of the points I’ve
addressed.

--K~

Search terms used were:

“age of onset of puberty” female
“Tanner Staging”

Exceeded my expectations. Also, appreciated the concluding search terms used.

Hi dad-ga,


   Puberty at an early stage is called precocious puberty. When a girl
gets her first period before the age of 9, the condition is called
precocious puberty. Other signs include growth of hair in the armpit
and vaginal region. A piece on puberty on the whole can be found at
http://www.webhealthcentre.com/general/wh_pube.asp

Precocious puberty information links :
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html
http://pediatrics.about.com/library/weekly/aa090900.htm
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?t=6862
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1882.htm
http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Diseases_and_Conditions/Precocious_Puberty/
http://www.lupronvictims.com/ppuberty.html
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/conditions/precocious_puberty.html


Please however take professional medical advice. The Google disclaimer
at the bottom of this page advises it too. Secondly, if you are to
rate this answer, you have to consider only the answer and not the
comments. If this is not of much help and you rate it poorly due to
this, the original answerer will get his stats affected.

Thank you and have a good day.

Cheers,
aditya2k

Hi, dad,

Try not to worry too much.  Human beings, like all mammals, are fuzzy.
 Sometimes, it's fuzzy in an unexpected spot, but usually nothing to
be concerned about.

When my ten year-old son was just a toddler, we noticed that his legs
were extremely fuzzy, as was his back and the extreme lower portion of
his behind.  One doesn't usually expect a two year old to sprout fur,
but that's what it looked like to us, so off we went to the
pediatrician.

Our older, Mediterranean pediatrician listened, examined our boy
thoroughly, looked us both up and down and opined:

"It's nothing.  Look at yourselves, and there's your answer.  He's
fine.  You worry too much!  Sheesh!"

We laughed ourselves sick.  I have extremely thick, dark hair, and am
of German descent.  The spouse is of Syrian heritage.  It never
occurred to us that the peach fuzz on our son was our ancestral
heritage coming into play.  Oh dear.  What a relief, though!

As your Researcher noted above, this is sometimes a genetic thing.  If
you're still a bit worried, give your pediatrician a ring.

missy-ga <--mom of 2

Hi, Dad!  My daughter's just turned nine, and I've felt that way for
years!

You've already received much reassurance and good advice in the answer
and previous comments, so I won't harp on any of this too much.  I'll
just point out that puberty does seem to be hitting at younger ages,
particularly in the industrialized West, and that the reasons are
being hotly debated.  My own sister, twenty-odd years ago, was one of
the first in her class at age ten.  This would not be exeptional
today.

Time magazine published an article on the subject last year.  I do not
recall which issue (I've moved since, and threw mine out) but you may
purchase the article from their website, at this URL:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/buylink/oldlink/0,11397,1101001030-58388,00.html

I hope you're feeling more relaxed about the whole thing today!