Hairy Legs.... - Sibley,IA

Poor thing. I know it seems really young to start shaving her legs, but children are really growing up so much faster these days because of all the excess of growth hormones in foods, (and other things), so it makes sense.

It seems like such an easy fix to just show her how to safely shave her legs.

My experience was similar but it was with a bra. My mom didn't think I was old enough to wear one, but I needed one and all the girls I knew wore them. I was teased and the other kids would try to look at my shirt to see if I had one on. I was mortified about this for years (even after I did get a bra) and had self esteem issues due to all the teasing.

Since you take her to the salon for nails, have you considered asking her if she would like to have her legs waxed? The hairs have to be at least 1/4" and that might be a solution for stubble, chemicals or cuts. Then it would only be once a month - or whatever necessary, for upkeep. Like the others have said, no big deal. This is not anything to be worried about. It is NOT a slippery slope into horrifying consequences.

Run, don't walk, to the store and get her an electric razor (so that she doesn't cut herself) and let her shave! Making her wait will do more harm then good.

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A dear friend posed it to me as, what difference does it make if they start now or later? Why not let her if it is causing her self confidence issues? I don't like my legs to have hair, even stuble bothers me, so why should I think it would make her feel confident to have hairy legs? It is a societal thing, and once I said yes, it took all the pressure off! Now she shaves about once a week, but knowing that she can was very powerful for my daughter! Funny thing, I think.

First of all, I think it's ridiculous that kids in 2nd grade are noticing hairy legs! Having said that, my own mother was bothered by my hairy legs (and they weren't that hairy -no one ever said anything to me), so she started shaving my legs for me in 2nd grade. She would set me on her bathroom counter and shave my legs. It certainly didn't do any harm, and if this is a problem for your daughter, I say, why not? NO, the kids shouldn't be making fun of her or saying anything and really talk to her about that, but ask her if she wants to shave them. If so, try it, but make sure you discuss with her that these kids may find something else to poke fun at because they're obviously not very nice.

I myself had hairy legs as well and was made fun of one day because I didn't shave them. I can't remember how old I was but I was rather young. For some odd reason my mother was told not to shave before menustration occurred (old wives tell I guess). My sister developed very early on but I didn't start my period until I was 14 and in the 7th grade!!! After the teasing occurred I came home in tears - she still wouldn't budge so I did what I was best at and begged and begged and begged until she finally said yeah okay but I'm only letting you do so since you have so many black hairs on your legs. I didn't care-I was shaving before she could get the whole sentence out!
I say let her shave-yes she is quite young but kids are mean and this is something that is a simple fix to where her self-confidence isn't damaged at such a young age. She will have so many bigger mountains to climb don't let this one be one of them. Someone else posted if you allow her to shave then what will be next? Make-up? C'mon now seriously? Wearing Make-up and shaving your legs are two totally different issues here I.M.O.
You can lay the law down for the other big girl stuff she wants to do-let her be a GIRL. I have twin girls that are 7 and I sometimes put make-up on them and let them go out that way too. Why? Because it makes them feel pretty and very special but I always let them know they are pretty even without all the extras. I let my girls be girlie girls if they want to be....on a daily basis...well no of course not- but just to feel like a special big girl every once in awhile is okay.
I take them to the salon with me and they get their nails painted and they enjoy it so very much and I let them pick out any color THEY want within reason-lol! I don't care what others think and I don't think I am teaching them anything "bad". If anything I am teaching them to take care of themself and pride in themselves but I am always sure to teach them they don't need that kind of stuff to be "pretty" they are already naturally pretty without all those extras. Too many people get so worked up about these issues-chill it will be okay. Yes, I have rules for my girls to follow but geez don't sweat the small stuff....too many other bigger things to worry about.

It's up to you of course, but since she is getting teased over it I would probably let her shave or use one of those shaver pads (after the first shave as they don't work on long hair).

I really would not use chemicals on her skin at such a young age. I work with chemicals on a regular basis and I would stress that these nair and veet actually contain some rather harsh corrosives and other things I would not recommend for anyone, especially a growing child.

Good Luck,
S.

I think I would let her shave when it is hurting her self confidence. I shaved at 11 but had thick dark hair and pale skin and wanted to shave sooner, I refused to wear shorts for a couple years too. It can definitely affect a girl's self esteem. Yes, she is still so little and I agree that this is terrible, but it is not kids' faults that they are maturing earlier now than we did. And as far as giving in to peer pressure- Isn't that why we all shave? What other reason is there really for doing it? You want your kids to have self esteem and love their bodies, but I don't think encouraging self esteem requires withholding little things like shaving to make them stronger.

Why not try an electric razor? Not as dangerous, and it will just take off the length and make it not so noticeable.

My mom is blond. She could go without shaving if she wanted. I inherited my dad's dark hair. I can remember begging and begging my mom to let me shave, and she won't budge. I finally stole my dad's electric razor and did it myself. I wish my mom would have just talked to me honestly about it- rather than just saying "no". I still don't wear shorts. Also my eyebrows were very bushy and my mom never helped me with that either- so I shaved off my eyebrows! I can remember being young and someone saying to me "no boy will ever like you with eyebrows like that!"
My self esteem was really damaged by "being hairy". Just telling her "you're beautiful" is not helping. What are you waiting for?

I would get her an eclectic shaver and let her shave. What is the harm?

I think once the child is entering womanhood Well, they should do the womanly things that are expected of them. I mean our society expects us to shave our armpits, legs and girl parts (as I tell my daughter), wear deodorant and other such things. Once it becomes necessary unless you are crunchy I would let my child shave or remove the hair in some mannerism. I would just explain that this must happen very regularly from now on.

I mean if the child needed deodorant wouldn't you get it. This isn't any different in my opinion. You wouldn't let your child be the stinky kid in class, right now she's just the hairy one.

Now I have to say I have blond hair, I don't have to shave very much. I can get away with it for a long time before I actually feel the need to shave.
That said, teasing can really do a number on kids. I was picked on as a child and it caused depression/suicide attempts when I was a teenager. I wish that on nobody!
For what it's worth, I'd let her shave. If it will prevent the teasing and help with her self esteem, to me it seems like a pretty small price to pay. The emotional damage done by the teasing and self esteem issues is going to be a lot worse than the physical damage of a few cuts from shaving her legs.
That said, she shouldn't be shaving every second day either. I think she should be able to keep her legs reasonable with shaving without having to have perfectly smooth legs. There needs to be a balance in there that allows her to retain her self esteem and avoid the teasing.
Good luck!

aww, i'd let her shave or use nair or something. i wouldn't be able to stand it if that happened to my daughter. some girls just develop early (yeah, leg hair included...) and i guess it's just her time. but make sure to supervise the first couple times...especially with a razor. good luck!

Hugs!!!

And here's a way to turn it on it's head (in a fun way)... How about if you don't shave or wax all summer and be in solidarity with her?

If you would be mortified, let her shave. If not, it's hairy time :)

((For the record I started shaving in secret when I was 8. My mum never knew... as evidenced when she gave me the shaving "talk" when I was 11, saying I probably wouldn't need to for a few more years since I still had "blonde" leg hair, and realized it WASN'T blonde, but gone. I lied again to her and said I'd started shaving a few months prior, instead of a few years prior. I DID learn some things from the talk though... things like dryshaving -which is what I had been doing- doesn't work anywhere near as well as with cream, and that sharp blades cause fewer nicks... I always used my parent's discarded blades -eeeeeew I know-))

Kids can be so cruel! I would also let her shave... it would be a shame for her to miss out on her childhood over hair...
Girls have so many insecurities as it is, why add to it if not necessary?

Best of luck.

theres nothing wrong with this; i still to this day hate wearing shorts, and im a grown shaving my legs woman. i just dont like shorts. they dont look good on me, they dont make me comfortable, the list goes on. i will wear them at home, but not out in public much.

i wouldnt push shaving. shes what, 7 or 8?? thats way too early :( :(

talk to your doctor. see what they have to say. maybe its a hormone imbalance? maybe its a diet issue? who knows. :(

kids are cruel. but i would say that its no big deal if she doesnt wear shorts. she can wear them at home; she can swim at home (can she? maybe she cant... :( i dont know your home situation).
theres nothing wrong with her wearing pants in public the way i do most of the time. besides, its a pain in the butt to find shorts that actually cover more than underwear cover anyway. i HATE shorts the most because of that reason; i want them to go to at least just above the knee, and that is HARD to find!! im sorry, i dont want to be walking around in my underwear! LOL.
anyway. do what you can. dont make a big issue of it with her by pressuring her to wear shorts if shes not comfortable. its only a few more years and she can shave then and it wont be as big of a deal. i just wouldnt start now if i were you. :)

Do not let her shave.
I'll bet you a hundred dollars that she only wants to because some other girl or girls do it.
Second grade? Seriously? Who is she shaving her legs for?

Let me tell you something...when I was 12, I had girlfriends teasing me because I did't shave my legs. I didn't even get boobies or start my period until I was 15. It was totally other kids trying to pressure me into something I honestly didn't feel I needed.
Now....
this might sound gross, I'm 47. I still do not shave my legs. I do if I'm going on vacation, to a special event, or something like that, but got a staph infection in one of my legs and the doctor said I probably got it while shaving. I said, "I don't shave my legs." He got the bright light out and sure enough, I do have about 10 hairs on each leg that are blonde. No one can even tell I don't shave my legs.
I realize some people might be harrier than me, but shaving in the second grade? That seems to early to me.
Let her shave, the next thing will be wearing make-up and dying her hair....
That's just my opinion.
Giving in to peer pressure this young is a slippery slope.
I don't agree with the leg shaving, for whatever it's worth.

Best wishes.

I would help her shave. Maybe get a women's battery powered or electric shaver. Much safer than a razor. That's what I got for my daughter at age 11. I think Shane's answer is ridiculous. She says she has about 10 hairs on her legs and she's 47? Well, some people have A LOT of hair and some girls mature very early. She obviously never had a problem with it. Not everybody is like her. There is a girl in my daughter's class who had very hairy arms and legs at a very young age. Believe it or not, she removed the hair from her arms and legs around about 3rd grade. I'm not sure if it was shaving or waxing or what. But it made a huge difference for her because kids stopped teasing her. There is no harm in shaving your daughter's legs. Don't let people tell you it's wrong.

Kids are developing younger and younger-mine did as well-I let her remove the hair from her legs and underarms-I did not feel it was fair to relate when I started shaving to when she did, because it is individualized. The fun poking can stick with a kid for a long time, if it was my daughter I would let her remove the hair and still remind her as you are doing how beautiful she already is!

I'm not sure how I feel about shaving at such a young age, but what about Nair?

hair removal cream is your best option use it and move on~

I think that you should let her remove the hair from her legs either by shaving or using Nair or another product or both. Don't let your daughter experience the pain caused from teasing when a simple shave will put an end to the teasing and help improve her self esteem. She can't wear long pants all summer, it will look odd, the kids will wonder why she is wearing pants and she will be too hot.

I would use either Nair or Veet. Make sure to do a test area first. I would want my daughter to be made fun of if it was something I could easily help her change.

I think you should let her shave. Imagine as if that was you being teased, wouldn't you want to get rid of that hair? It's crazy that in second grade, they're noticing all these girly grown up things. My daughter is in 2nd grade at the moment and she doesn't have but 5 hairs on each leg. Well, come to find out i noticed that my razor was misplaced when I got into the shower one day, so i asked my husband if he used it and he said he didn't. So i asked my daughter and she lied and said she didn't either. When I asked to look at her legs, those few hairs were completely gone! I couldn't believe it. But anyways, let her shave, afterall it isn't that bad.

I've never tried it, but isn't the Veet product like nair? I think there is a tool that is shaped like a razor to remove the veet. Something like that might help her without the use of a razor. As important as it is for children to know they should love themselves for who they are and that they are beautiful no matter what, other kids can be really mean and the teasing can overpower the confidence and self-esteem boosting from parents. I would say let her try some form of removing the hair just so that she feels comfortable around her peers. Who knows, she might find it so time consuming she'll stop caring. If not then it's ok. Still, maybe you can let her know that the kids that make fun of her just don't know any better and they will all have hairy legs someday too and that its natural.

I wouldn't give in. I had hairy legs as a kid too and it never hurt me. I would even still wear shorts. My hair is dark brown and thick(i also have one ear that is bigger than the other, a wide nose have always had big, wide feet). I wanted to shave my legs but my mom and i had a talk and i agreed to wait. Everyone trying to conform is one of the biggest problems with kids and giving in doesn't help. It makes it worse. Kids will always find something to make fun of. ALWAYS. I would worry more about her self appreciation than the kids around her. At the rate the world is going, all of our girls will be wearing make up shortly after birth and plastic surgery would be available to toddlers.
You are right, we should all be proud of the bodies god gave us.
Why not try leggings or capris? For special occasions, nude nylons.