When Do Most Girls Start Shaving Their Legs?

Hi A., My kids are still too young to consider shaving but I just had to throw in my personal thoughts... If your daughter is self conscious now and it really is bothering her, what is the difference between letting her do it now and next summer? Being in that awkward stage is hard enough, but if she is going feel embarassed in gym every day, I would say let her do it. Every girl's body is different and give your daughter credit for being mature enough to ask rather than just do it on her own and hide it from you.... S.

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I'm for letting her begin to shave. Personal appearance is so important to those in Jr. High, and teasing can be so traumatic that it is not worth it to put this off. If you don't let her shave now, this could be the thing that she remembers all her life and carries resentment about. It doesn't matter what other people do, this is her life and her appearance.

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My poor daughter had so much hair and it was so dark we had to start shaving her legs in kindergarten. The other kids teased her terribly. If your daughter is self conscious about it I would start shaving her legs. Kids can be very cruel and at that age thier bodies are changing quickly and it is hard on them. I would start with an electric razor at first or if you are going to use blade go with the Gilette quatro pro with 4 blades they are less likely to nick them selves and are much easier to handle then the womens versions.

I started shaving in middle school...maybe 12? When other kids her age start making comments, then I think it is appropiate to let her make that choice so she doesn't have any akwardness. You might want to start with something like Nair first rather than a razor?.

I started and my girls started in fifth grade. It is terrible to be called 'gorilla,' or 'the wooly mammoth' especially when their confidence is so low at this point anyway. Let her shave. If she missed a few days, the other girls will remind her, and she won't forget often!

My daughter is only 4 so I can't speek for that yet, but I remember when I first started shaving (in Jr. High). I asked my mom if I could start - I noticed girls in gym class were clean shaven and I was still a "baby." My mom just said "no." Not long after that I decided to shave anyway and started using her razor without her permission, which of course she quickly realized. She ended up buying me a razor at the store (not together) and she gave it to me and said "now you have to do it forever."

I really liked what the mom said about shopping together, showing her how to do it safely, and using this as an opportunity discuss other changes to her body and the pressures she maybe feeling at school. If she's asking she's probably ready and seems to be in the right age group for it. It can be a great opportunity for you to connect with her girl-to-girl and open communication. Good luck.

I think it depends on the person. Girls are maturing as early as 10 years old these days. I have a daughter who is 12 and she started shaving her legs this summer. She is very blonde but she started to notice it was getting longer and asked if she could shave. She has friends with darker hair that have been shaving their legs for a couple of years now. I would say to let her do what she feels is comfortable for her. Get ready she's growing up!

My daughter is 9 and has started shaving. I guess, it usually is right after they notice they have hair on their legs. My daughter would shave her arms if I let her. I would let her shave. In winter she can stop if she wants.

In 6th grade when all the other girls are shaving their legs. They will make fun of her and why let that happen when it can be avoided. Her age is about when they start unless they are very hairy. Its alright to let her start and there is no harm. I bought my girls the Venus and they each have their own. Also to save on the shaving creams and some kids have sensitive skin have your daughter use conditioner.

A.,

As a mom of a little boy, I feel lucky I won't have to go through this, BUT I remember all to well being 10-11 years old in the 5th grade & being VERY self-conscious. As a girl who developed earlier than most of her class mates, I can honestly say it was pretty horrible. Kids can be so mean. My mother was very old fashioned. I believe she always thought I wanted to act grown-up before I was ready, but truly, it was because I just wanted to fit in (or at least escape unnoticed) with the other kids who could be so cruel! Everything was a battle with my mom & I from shaving, to makeup, to clothing, to boys, etc. As I grew older, eventually I didn't care about make-up nearly as much or spending money on designer clothes. Even went through a (brief)phase of not shaving for a short while in college! In my opinion, all of those things could be handled much better than my mom (good intentions of protecting her little girl & keeping her little) did at the time. Teach your daughter to shave as safely as possible (safety razor, electric, or maybe waxing). This could probably a good time to talk about hygiene & all the body changes as well. Also, a good opportunity to acknowledge her feelings & perhaps talk about the peer pressure she might experience at school, etc. I know for a fact that my mom not understanding & over-reacting to these types of situations made it clear to me that I couldn't approach her with more serious personal things later on. I never felt she understood me or what I was going through. Eventually it all got better though! Good luck!

I started shaving in middle school (about 12) when my best friend pointed out my hairy armpits and asked why I didn't shave. From what I'm reading here girls are starting earlier now. My mom wouldn't teach me, so I taught myself. If she is desperate enough she might and wouldn't you rather help her at first and teach her some "tricks"? Also, when I first started shaving I used bady wash from bath and body works or someplace like that. A little goes a long way and it softens your skin as you shave. It could be a fun experiance for you two to go shopping for a good smelling body wash together! :)

A.,

While I don't have daughters, I definitely remember being in middle school and feeling self-conscious because I didn't shave my legs and most other girls did. I wanted to hide everyday during PE, and my mom wouldn't teach me yet. I was always so embarrassed. You're asking when is the right time? I'd say now. We do it for social reasons anyway, right? If she's already feeling awkward for not shaving, then it's the time to teach her. I noticed you wrote, "...not sure we're ready." She's ready, you just probably didn't expect this time to come so soon. They grow so fast, don't they?

When I was in 6th grade (way back in the stone age), I had begged to shave my legs. Several others in my class were doing it already and I was feeling self conscious. A boy or two had commented on my hairy legs and I remember it to this day. I finally talked my mom into it, but I remember this was a hard time when kids feel self-conscious anyway and they don't want anything to bring attention to them, especially in a negative way. I'm not sure how I will feel about it once my daughter gets to that age since I have a few more years but I would say if she is interested in doing it, go ahead and talk about it and use it as a bonding experience.

I was definitely shaving my legs in 6th grade... I have dark brown hair and my legs were very hairy by that age!

Most girls usually start shaving around the 4th or 5th grade these days. The biggest problem with girls these days is the fact that if your not doing what they do-"their gonna give you hell". Fair or not. Girls are mean to each other. I think it depends on when their horomones start to kick in. My daughter is 8. She started her first period when she was 6. With her period came developing breast, underarm hair, pubic hair, and the hair on her legs started to get thicker, longer, and darker. So she started shaving at 7.

Hi A.,

My daughter is 11 and started first with shaving under her arms during this past spring - she didn't want to wear a bathing suit or sleevless top so we decided it was time. Her legs, however, still don't have a lot of hair but she did shave them a couple of times during the summer. She tried "Smooth Away" but she found that it irritated her skin and prefers to shave. If my memory serves me correctly, I was 12 when I first shaved my legs. Seems like most of the replies you have received all seem to be right in your daughter's age range. Good luck!

Hi A.,

My daughter was 11 also, right after the 6th grade year started. It is my personal opinion that this was an appropriate time to give my daughter this responsibility. I was happy to hear that my daughter was becoming more aware of her body and adding this step to her self-care I think made her feel like a young lady. Nothing catastrophic happened, boys didn't start following her home-lol....It's an innocent yet important part of female life. You might take this opportunity to get closer to her, show her how it's done, make sure she knows the pros and cons, tricks (like flattening the knee by straightening the leg to shave to prevent cuts) and tips (like she shouldn't have to shave the back of the thigh). Maybe it will spark more conversation, menstruation started for my daughter soon after I granted her permission to shave and I wished I had talked a bit about it then. We did talk about cleanliness and deodorant and the reasons why sharing clothes and personal care items was a bad idea at school. My point is, my daughter and I had a good time getting girly (we are both kinda tomboys) and talking about personal issues. Maybe you two can too. Have fun, sister!

I don't know what the avg age is, but as a mother of 12 year old twins, I can share my experience. I think it depends on the person. My girls showed no interest until this past summer, when they didn't want to go swimming. So far both are shaving their armpits, and one shaves her legs once in awhile. I remembered what my mom did for me, and I did the same thing - I bought them each a basic electric razor for them to start with.

A nice alternative to shaving is to use the "Smooth Away" product. It is basically like a rough (but fine) surface that takes the hair off. This way there are no razors, no chemicals, and it is painless. I had ordered it for my daughter who is much younger, but was having extreme embarassmant and sensitivity to the hair on her legs, and it worked very well. I had ordered mine on line, but I know it is available at Walmart and Walgreens now.

My daughter started at 10. I think its no big deal it goes along with good personal hygene. You wouldnt want your daughter to be self consious infront of the other girls. Adolecense is hard enough already.

A.- I have a 6 and 8 year old and was very happy to see this post. Our 8 year old is of an ethnic group that has very little body hair while our 6 year old already could be shaving. This post was both a burden off my mind and a wake up call. When I was a kid 13 was typical for shaving legs---WOW times have changed. Good luck Mom.

Just a warning - I did a little experimenting with an older sister's razor when I was 10. For some reason I couldn't figure out how to get the hair off the blades (duh!) so I swiped my thumb across them. Needless to say - that was a really bad choice. Good luck with all your girls!

Hi A....I didn't get a chance to scan through all other posts, so my apologies if this is redundant! My daugher will be 11 in Dec and is blond, so her leg hair didn't show much, but was a little long. Her BFF is darker and had already started shaving...so I compromised...we used Nair. It worked great w/ no razors involved. My daughter is old enough and mature enough for a razor, but I felt this was just easier for now. And since she is already wearing a "bra" (haha!) and has had "the talk" at school, I felt she could handle it...it's all up to how you think your daughter will do and if she (and you) is ready! Best of luck.

I started with no permisssion when I was 13. My stepdaughter is 11 but luckily she's blonder than blonde and none of the hair shows up yet.

I would say if it's noticeable and she's one of the only ones not shaving let her start under supervision but only from the knee down to the ankle. If she's not allowed to shave the knee then she's less likely to cut herself. Hair above that rarely grows dark anyway. I'd also limit her to shaving ONLY once a week.

Women shave their legs not little girls. Who is looking at her legs that she wants them shaved. This would be more of my concern. Who is influening this child.

Something to think about.

When they start middle school, if they want to.

I have two girls, one is 15 now and had the same thing. She was very self-conscious. I told her to wait and well, she tried one day and cut herself. She was fine, but that's how uncomfortable she was. I did let her start shaving at 11 1/2. I watched her, bought her her own shaving cream and razor and just taught her how. We found that she could see more hair from the bottom to just over the knee than at the top of the leg. I let her shave that much and she seemed content for a while. Some do show more than others - the other area that because obvious to her was her underarms and we did that at 12. They grow up so fast. Happy decision making.

My daughter started shaving around 5 grade (10 years old). She had the same argument and I polled my friends, who had daughters and it was around the same time that their daughters started. At the beginning, I encouraged her NOT to shave her thigh, but, years later, now she does. I sat her down, at the time, and taught the correct way to shave, carefully. It's good your daughter is concerned about proper hygiene.

Good luck.

If she is asking then I think she is ready, considering it takes a lot of courage at that age to bring up such a topic with a parent (or maybe not, was for me!)

I'd discourage Nair, because I don't think there is good research on effects of that particular chemical on developing bodies.

I'd suggest a trip together to Osco- or wherever you shop- to select a razor, shaving cream and some soothing lotion. Make time when the two of you can be alone together without sibling interruption to teach her the steps and how to be careful.

(Ouch, that mama who ran her thumb over the blade! I've done that, too! Good safety point!!)

Congratulations on your growing family.

A.

See my previous post dated 8/16/09 on this very topic.

As someone who felt very embarrassed about body hair in school her feelings are real and she will feel this way winter or summer!! There are so many alternatives to shaving for women these days she would have to "shave" forever. I would call her doctor and find out if it is safe to have a wax or use an over the counter hair remover on the body hair that makes her uncomfortable.(This will last longer and not have to be done as often as shaving.) Girls can be VERY mean in a locker room and keeping a healthy body image and confidence is so important for young girls. I remember for me it was underarm hair and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO embarrassing and it wasn't just gym class. We lived in a tropical climate and I used to have to put my other hand under my arm when I raised my hand in class it was so embarrassing. My two year old little girl already has dark hair on her legs and as soon as she feels uncomfortable about it I am going to do something for her. No need for my child to bare the emotional wounds I do.

We started this last year for my daughter (she just turned 11 this week). She has extremely hairy arms and legs. We use an electric razor. We have only really needed to do this once in the beginning of spring and once in September. It was enough to make her feel better and didn't turn into an every week thing.

My daughter was 11 too. Take this opportunity to get to know your daughter who is starting to mature. There is a great book at the bookstore/library about girls & whats starting to happen to them.....I got this for my niece who is 12 now.....it answers a lot of questions for them & you to help understand this new phase in their life. At least you will be ready for this with your 9 yr old.