When Is It Too Young for a Girl to Start Shaving Her Legs?

My daughter is 10 aswell and has an interest in shaving her legs. I havent told her she can shave but I have little clues that tells me she has been doing so on her own. Im not really worried about it. I know she knows what she is doing and I dont really see any harm in it.

I would personaly say that if she is showing interest in it and her legs legs are very hairy then let her shave. she may already be getting teased at school. I really don't think it's to young as long as it's something she wants to do? Good luck

If she has expressed an interest then it is best to show her how its done. I express an interest to my mom around that age and she could never find the time to show me. While I taught myself but still let her show me too. I was doing good by myself and when my mom show me I cut myself.
If there's an interest then it means she's ready.

Hi D.,
I have two daughters ages 14 and 11 (and a 6 year old son). My oldest daughter started shaving when she was 10. She has very dark brown hair and was always very self-conscious about the hair on her arms and legs. I always tell her that there are solutions to every problem. Why let a girl feel badly about herself when simply shaving would solve the problem easily? My younger daughter just started shaving at age 11. I really think it should be based on the girl's awareness of the situation and her maturity level.
Hope this helps!
L.

I used to think that was too young to shave,but now my very girly 10 year old daughter has started getting hair on her legs and armpits that is very noticable. she begged me to let her do it and. I let her. there would be no way i would let her get made fun of over this issue.and later on as i meet some of the moms in my daughters class this issue came up and to find out 7 out of 10 moms were letting their daughters do the same thing!!!

In my opinion 10 is too young to start shaving. Just think of how much you hate shaving. The cuts, razor burn, etc. even from "Nair" type products there can be serious reactions. I have a daughter that is 8 and she has hairy legs too and has since birth. Her younger sister does not have the same problem. Shaving and puberty go hand in hand in my book. I am 39 and don't see myself as old fashion. When I was 13 I thought I was ready to start shaving and used too much pressure and tore a 3 in chuck out of my leg. I still have the scar from it. For a ten year old to have that responsiblity to me is too much. I have heard of girls going through puberty at younger ages so maybe she won't have to wait too long before she is "of age" to deal with we women have to deal with. Let her be a kid, her friends will understand. If not they are not real friends anyway. Have her blame the decision on her parents, that's what kids do any way when they can't do what they want. I hope this helps in some way.
R.

My sister was the same way, My parents let her start shaving around 10 I think. Me and my other sister waited til we were 12 I think, but because of other kids making fun of her hairy legs mom and dad made an exception.

At least 14 sounds a little harsh to me, she would be in high school!! (Good luck when the "makeup" conversation starts... lol) If she's being teased or feels self consious, it's time. They can get her an electric shaver for $20 if a razor doesn't seem right. There are so many things to made fun of that can't be changed (tall, short, flat chested, etc.), it seems almost mean to withhold something that's such an easy fix.

I have a grandaughter who is just now 13. She has been shaving her legs for over a year. Per pressure will tell her when it is time. If all the other girls are doing this then for her self esteem I would allow her to do it also. This advise is obviously not good in all situations but it is hard to be a teen age girl and harder yet to feel you fit in. Shaving her legs and underarms is a small step towards being a teen. Tell him to have fun with the tween years.

I think I was 10 or 11. I was still in elementary school, I know that for sure. If the girl is bright enough to be trusted with a razor and shaving cream (I don't think every girl is at 10), then she should be allowed if she's ready, willing, able, and feels like she would be better off socially. It's traumatizing to be made fun of at that age. It's not like she's asking for tatoos, hair color, or weight loss pills. Anyway, that's my thoughts on the subject.

I didn't start shaving until I was 12 but my mother was the same way with being old schooled. I, on the other hand have a 13 yr old daughter that also at 10 had very hairy legs. She was very self conscious (sp?) about her legs. She also had kids making fun of her for the dark hairs on her legs. So because of modern science and wonderful inventions we now have the Intuition razor where there is soap and a razor that will help prevent her at first from cutting herself. That is what my daughter learned to shave her legs with and never once cut herself. If the girl is having problems with kids and making fun of her and her father is raising her then he needs to make the decision and not the grandmother. The father needs to tell the grandmother that he appreciates her advice but he has the final say so and if mistakes are to be made in raising his daughter then he will learn from his own mistakes. The 5th grade is pretty much when a childs self esteem is either made or broke and you really do not need to be raising kids that are going to have to spend a lifetime in counseling because kids can be so cruel. So that is my total opinion. I hope he is happy with his decision.

A girl should start shaving her legs when she is old enough to be self-consious of it.

I think it all depends on the girl myself. If she is very hairy I would definately let her go with it. If you think she is responsable enough for a razor than go for it. Make sure she is shown how to use it so that she wont hurt herself. If she tries on her own for the first time she could end up hurting herslef. I've known girls to do this when their moms refused to help them. They will do what they want to do anyhow. You can't be with them EVERY second. This is a very minor thing in my oppinion and if she thinks it is big and knows she can be trusted with it it may also help with being able to talk about the bigger things she may want to do now or later. I would talk to her and se exactly what SHE would like to do. Making sure to let her know about all that come with the shaving.....have to do it ALL the time or it can be even WORSE...the stubble,the irritation, etc,etc,etc. If you or rather her father or whoever has the final decision doesnt think she's ready for the razor it is great that we do have things like Nair, etc for her to try. Good luck!

We allowed our 13 year old to use NAIR on her legs when she turned 11 and her legs were getting really hairy... She is using a razor now but in the beginning I wasnt too fond of the idea of letting her use a razor.

I personally was teased because I was one of the last girls in my class to start shaving my legs. I was very self conscious about it also. I think that if she really wants to do it, let her do it. There's no harm, except that once you start you have to do it all the time! haha!

PLEASE encourage her to be allowed to shave her legs. I am not quite sure of the "mothers'" concerns, but the fact that the little girl has hairy legs, and is being teased, sounds like enough of a reason to start. Things used to be different when we all were younger. It is important, nowadays, that young girls dont feel like outcasts. Issues like this lead to their desire to "fit in" using other tactics. I think Shaving will be the easy one. Good luck to her, and you.
:)

I think that things are different with every new generation, one thing that this one is doing is growing up too fast. Alot of the girls in middle school now adays don't even look like they'd be carded, so I don't recommend growing up too fast. My advise would be to allow her to shave to right above her knees once she begins middle school. Armpits should be shaven as soon as hair appears though. Just because other parents allow or disallow things is no reason to ever bend your own piece of mind. I found that out once she started middle school. Other parents let her friends do this or that, so those kids are gonna pick on this kid because of what her parents don't allow. Kids always find something to pick on someone else about. If your child isn't being picked on for something or another, find out if its your child doing the picking. Thats just how kids are. As parents, we are the ones responsible for a well adjusted child, because they care alot more about what we think of them than what strangers or mean kids think of them. Yeah, it may sting, but we are here to reassure them and make the sting go away by explaining our reasonings. Hopefully that will help your friend out.

Dear D.,
I remember being a young girl and having my young friend show me how to shave. I think I was 10 or 11 and I did it without my mom's permission. Since this young girl has expressed interest in shaving she should be taught the proper way to do it. She'll do it anyway so at least he can be a part of this. K.

I don't think 10 is too young. I have a 12 year old daughter. She started shaving her legs when she was 10, and I don't think it was too soon. She had become very self conscious about the hair on her legs, and she was so happy when I finally gave her the green light on shaving. I (of course) helped her the first couple of times to make sure she knew how to do it. My feeling is that girls don't want to start to shaving because they are trying to grow up too soon. They just want to feel good about their bodies, and I think they should! And yes, it matters immensely that others make fun of her--at least it does to her. I don't see the harm in eliminating that teasing by letting her shave her legs.

My daughter started somewhere around 9 or 10. She too had really hairy legs. She was trilled to be able to do so because kids made fun of her. I got her the intuition and she has done great with it. You don't have to have shaving cream because it's already on the razor which my daughter loves. I've had to use her razor while traveling and really liked using it myself. Good luck to your friend in handling this situation. It's not an easy decision to make but if the kids are making fun of her and she wants to shave then I say go for it!

i was ten when i started shaving, i didnt hurt me , sometimes idont understand why people get so up in arm about shaving... i think 10 is fine.. any younger might be a tad bit too young but, then again its all about the kid... but i dont see when i would hurt any one.. .sounds like his mom is a little old school....

I think 10 years old is an ok age to start shaving. I myself started at that age. My mom freaked out when she finally noticed (months after), but then she had no other choice than to get used to the idea that I was starting to turn into a young lady. I'd tell your friend that if she insists, he should let her, regardless of what grandma thinks!

10 is too young in my opinion. She's still a child. That said, I guess it depends on where a girl lives. I grew up in Europe and I didn't know anyone who shaved even though I did go to American schools. I moved back to the US when I was 12 and I was just about the only one who hadn't started shaving yet. Girls in the locker room would comment when I put on my PE shorts but I was never embarrassed, I thought they were odd and trying to act way beyond their age. I finally asked my mom to show me when I was 14.

It shouldn't matter if other kids make fun of her. No person should have to change their appearance for others, especially a child. That is just awful. Ask her if she's ready, if she isn't then she isn't. When she is, she will ask someone she trusts.

My daughter started about that time also. We were talking about how she was feeling about herself and I discovered it was getting to hinder her self image. In yesteryears it was not as noticed and girls did not mature as early as now. Once she was able to take control over it herself, she felt much more comfortable with her body. I laugh now because sometimes when I think she should shave she doesn't, so I just smile to myself. Also I started her with only shaving the bottom of her legs since the top usually is slower and not as noticable. I hope this helps.

I think 10 is ok for an electric razor. You can get a decent one that should last her a while at walmart for 20/30 bucks. That way no scars and no worries! :)