When Should I Let Her Get Her Legs Shaved?

If it's bothering her and making her feel bad, let her do it. It's not a big deal and will boost her self-esteem.

Getting teased about something that is fixable is beyond the time to help fix it.

Buy her an electric shaver so she can safely do it herself.

If she is being teased and bothered by it enough to beg you to shave it for her, shave it for her already!!! NOW. :) Let her watch you and you do it for her for awhile until you feel she can handle it. GL

M

in my opinion if it is causing her to be picked on and she is embarased by it, id let her shave BUT id show her how to do it because i wouldnt do it for her. Kids are starting puberty earlier and earlier and i was in 4th grade when i started shaving and i got my period

Poor girl! I had a very close friend when I was young who had the same problem and her mom wouldn't let her shave until she got her period. Yes, I know how nuts that sounds! Anyway, she did live through the first 13 1/2 years of life with hairy legs, but it would have been much easier on everyone had her mom just given in and let her shave.

Honestly, in the grand scheme of things it isn't a big deal. . . . EXCEPT I bet it is a big deal to her. ;) Explain to dad that he doesn't understand being a girl and to trust you with this decision. I totally understand the idea of girls growing up too fast and how hard that can be for dads. However, parenting each child individually -according to their needs, not our own- is the priority. Yes as parents we have to be firm with our rules, but we have to make rules according to each child's needs. She clearly has a need here. There are times to be rigid (laws, rules, ethics, etc.) and there are times to be flexible - this is one of those times. Whatever you do - show a united front when she is around. Discuss this behind closed doors because neither of you want to devalue the other in front of your daughter.

Also - this is a great opportunity for your daughter to be reminded of how she can come to you with what is going on in her life and you will do your best to help her. In a few years you will be begging for her to come to you with her problems - if you fight for her now, she will remember it later on. =)

Such a simple fix! Help the poor thing shave her legs. Let her dad read these comments. The teasing won't stop and the hair will only get worse and darker.

I would teach her how to shave them. It is obviously hurting her self esteem. In my opinion, age doesn't always equal bodily maturity, so you can't really put a time limit on things like that. I knew a 9 year old who desperately needed a bra, but the parents wouldn't allow it until she was 13. She was always humiliated, made fun of and in pain.

Well I started in the 3rd grade. With Electric razor. The last thing you want to do is have you daughter made fun of. But once she starts they might make fun of her for shaving also. Until they do it also. You just can't win. But i would let her start with a electric razor. For me I couldnt use nair It ate my skin. It was horrible. But Electric Razor have her do it in her bed room with a trash can near by. Just safer with out water around. I would talk to you husband about pro's and con's and have your daughter talk to you husband about it with you. It might soften his heart more with her there. He needs to let go a little bit. Some girls start there periods at 9. So need needs to loosen up a little bit. They grow up so fast...

My daughter has hairy legs too and shes 4. I wonder when she will ask for her legs to be shaved. I would do it if she is concerned about it and is getting teased. You know kids can be cruel.

Her father associates shaving legs to being an adult. He just doesn't want his little girl to grow up. My father had a difficult time with my mile stones and your husband probably will too. As her mother you will need to do what you think is best as my mother had to do. Good luck!!

I would say let her do it. I was teased for having hairy legs too and my parents felt I was too young. I didnt want to go to school, I was afraid of speaking up in class because that would attract attention towards me. It really does lower your confidnce.
I know this will hurt, but waxing is a good solution. The hair wont be thicker , buts it painful. Try no no machine for hair removal. they say its painless and easy to use. But if she is telling you kids are making fun of her, its probably worse than she admits.

If it is bothering her, PLEASE consider shaving them for her. I was so self conscious about it. I had dark hair too. The girls with the blonde hair it was fine because it was not so obvious,

Make her life less stressful and consider it.

What difference does it make in the long run if you do it now than if you wait another year or two..

each child is different. one of my girls started in 7th grde, the other in 4th. if she's getting made fun of, shave them.

Electric shaver! Great idea!

My youngest shaved her legs when she was 10 and no one in the house even noticed...but she didn't have the dark hair distracting her from other more important things. By the time I noticed, she had forgotten she had done it and Dad never noticed. When I was a girl we wore our dresses longer and we had knee socks. Today the legs show and the hair is not a big enough deal to force her to get picked at at school. Tell Dad it's not a right of passage like it used to be. It's simply part of routine hygiene.

God bless!
M.

I agree with the rest. If she is being teased...this is a simple fix. Nair, Veet and electric shavers are a good plan. I hit puberty at 9, so i can relate. Good luck to her. Also, may want to have teacher give a talk about being mean and bullying, without her being singled out. Just a talk in general to the kids.

Would you and your husband be willing for you daughter to try a simple ladies electric razor, so she can be in charge of when and if she chooses to shave? I was 9 when I started shaving, but I also had dark hair on my legs. I would much rather have my daughter start early than be bullied at school over this.

If it's bothering her, she's not too young.

Kids are growing up faster than me and i grew up faster than my parents so maybe she just is advanced but the way kids in school are now days you got to let her shave the girls at school will bully her andmake it a way bigger problem its HARD to let your babies grow up but as much as we want to we cant stop it so i think you should show her how and talk to her about it and dad will have to deal with it i go thru it too i dont think she should be doing some things this fast but its life hope i help good luck

Instead of shaving, let her use nair. Why is her dad dead set on it? Is it because of her age? I would explain to him that it's more of a self-esteem issue. I can't see him wanting her to continue getting made fun of. Bring it up like this "If we can remove it without shaving, will you agree to let her do it?" Then bring out the nair!

wow so early. but its causing her to get teased. maybe get some nair or something. but talk with your husband so you both dont argue over it.

Well, my daughter is 10, but hubby and I just had this SAME arguement a few months ago! The mama's here really helped convince my husband that it isn't a sexual thing to shave like it is for a woman. Please let her shave them if it's something to get picked on about. Girls these days are so fragile and I'd hate for this to have a negative impact on her.

I would wait, realistically is she going to be able to keep up with shaving every other day? I was called a gorilla for years because of my legs and my Mom held off until I was in 7th grade. I'm glad she made me wait. She shouldn't want to change something about herself because other kids are making fun of her.

If it'll help her self esteem do it, most likely she'll feel self conscious about it until the hair is removed. Shaving causes razor bumps and once she starts it she'll have to shave constantly to keep on top of it. I suggest a product called Moom it's an all natural organic waxing kit. It'll hurt more but it takes longer to grow back and after doing it a couple of times the hair takes weeks even months to grow back. I highly recommend it, it's cheaper on amazon.com if you want to try it.

I'm sorry but why would her dad even CARE about something like this?! It's girl's/women's business and has nothing to do with him :(
If SHE feels the need to shave then teach her how to do it safely.

Let her do it. Get her an electric shaver if a razor is too much for her. Maybe having her start "to the knee" would be a compromise dad is will to live with? Kids can be so mean.

I got picked on by the boys in school because I had more hair on my legs than they did and my mom wouldn't let me shave, so I went to a friends house and we tried to use her mom's razor. I now have a small scar on my leg from that little adventure. I was older than your daughter (just starting middle school) but if it is bothering her that much, she still might try to do it herself if you won't help her, so ask her father if he wants her to learn how to do it right, or try it herself and potentially get hurt, turn it into a safety issue, he might not fight it as bad.

I say help her out. If shaving is out of the question for dad maybe like other suggested use the Nair. I was that child that developed very early and it is embarrassing. My mom finally taught me to shave my legs in 4th grade because I would wear socks pulled up to my knee's 24/7 to hide the dark hair. Kids are cruel and what you may over hear is only half of what she will hear from them. I can understand that 8 seems young but unfortunately we can't control how fast bodies mature.

Speaking as a woman who needed to shave at a VERY early age (grade 4), I think if she is worried/noticing it, then you should let her. But I agree with other posters, that kids get teased for a multitude of things. This will not "solve" her problems. But at least for me, it was a relief on one issue. And believe me, I handled a lot of other issues :)

I dealt with the same thing! I let my daughter start shaving her legs in about the 6th grade - she had dark hair and it really made her uncomfortable. I discussed the options with her and let her try my electric razor and she decided that's what she wanted. We made it into a Mommy & Me time and went shopping and found a pretty pink electric razor. She was thrilled! She took care of that razor and treated it like a prized possession. She has now moved on to the non-electric kind of razor and is very happy with it. As for dads, they just don't get it! I wouldn't have let her dad stop us from getting a razor and/or shaving her legs. I didn't even discuss it with him, we just did it. Good Luck!!

I read your post because I was curious, too. My SIL just bought an electric razor for their 9 year old. I was shocked. But, I haven't looked at her legs and she is my brother's kid (lord help all of his kids...he was known as Caveman).

I wanted to throw out there that I love the Intuition line of razors that already have the bar of soap on them. They don't cut as deeply as regular razors and are EASY to use. I get 3-4 quick shaves from them. Maybe a better razor to start with if you choose to skip electric razors and/or creams. Be careful of the creams though, they can burn sensitive skin and she would have to wait a few minutes before it is washed off.

Best of luck to your daughter. I worry what we will have to do about my daughter's back hair some day. I sure hope it lightens or falls out. (I'm sure Uncle Caveman's genes are what is causing that, too!)

Love these answers. Actually I had never really thought of Nair, Veet or an electric razor.

My daughter is 9 and has VERY hairy legs. The only good thing is that the hair is blond...course she tans really dark in the summer so the blond hair really sticks out. She has not asked about shaving yet but when she does I am going to remember these suggestions. Turning her loose with a razor kind of scares me (I have more than one scar on my legs from not being careful enough with a razor).

Great ideas.

I agree with all the other moms, you should definitely let her shave (with an electric razor). I am worried that my daughter will be in the same situation in a few years, and I completely agree this is a big deal. I remember pulling up my knee socks as high as they would go in 5th grade to cover my hairy legs.

BUT...
I also would suggest you talk with her and explain she can do it if SHE doesn't like the way her legs look, not because the other girls think she should. Make sure she understands we are all made differently and that NO MATTER WHAT, EVERYONE gets picked on and teased for something. She is not getting teased BECAUSE she has hairy legs. She is getting teased because EVERYONE gets teased, and the hairy legs is just what others chose to tease her about. As a teacher I saw every girl get teased for something -- too fat/too thin, too "ugly"/too pretty, too shy/too outgoing, too "dumb"/too smart. How much sense does that make?

She is getting made fun of, and her Dad doesn't want to to something VERY easy, to stop that? Wow. That's sad. A father should be protective, and be extremely upset that his daughter is getting picked on.

Shave her legs and give her a break, that's what you do.

My daughter had dark hair on her legs. (Apparently she did get her biological father's dark hair, but only on her legs...) She was getting teased in gym. This was at 8 years old. I made her wait another year...then I gave her Nair and taught her how to use it.

I figure when she gets a little older, I'll teach her how to shave. (She's 12 now, almost 13.)

I would definitely let her do it. Why not? I developed very early and it was very uncomfortable to have to deal with that stuff that young. Kids can be cruel and why not help her feel better about it?

Puberty doesn't know she's only in 2nd grade. I would suggest Nair first since its cream and she can't cut herself.