Seeking Moms - Lake Charles,LA

If there is a problem at any age it is appropriate to adress it.

Good grooming habits are developed early. It is important for her overall health that she understand how to keep that area down below clean and excess hair can be a problem for some women.

If hair protrudes past the lines of her bathing suit or creates a visable buldge it is a social norm to remove or reduce that hair.

If you or she is nervous about the using the razor in that area you can try the buffing pads they have recently been advertising on TV, smooth away I think they are called, my sister uses them and loves them.

My mother shaved my under arms at 6 because I was so embarassed I refused to leave the house in anything sleevless.

Hope this was helpful,
L. in Metairie

I'm assuming you mean V and not legs?

If you're concerned, I'd say now is the perfect time to share grooming and hygiene tips, tricks, & methods.

I would start of with trimmers (as opposed to shaving or waxing). Men's mustache trimmers/beard shapers work the best for beginners (or roughing in) in my experience, as it's practically impossible to cut yourself (yowza) unlike clippers or electric razors & doesn't give you razor burn like edged razors... and as long as the batteries are fresh they can cut through a lot of hair without tugging.

If you go straight to razors, DO teach her the Secret Unscented Deodorant trick of using it after you shave on all sensitive & bikini areas to keep 90-100% of razor burn & irritation at bay. I didn't learn that one for YEARS, and learned it from friends with great relief. Sigh. My mum was a fine haired blonde... from a family of fine haired blondes...she didn't even need to shape much less trim or shave.... and it CERTAINLY wasn't something my dad was going to share with me. Eeeeew. But thick dark 'gorgeous' (thwibbit) curly hair (think Stephanie Plum), means shaving or other forms of hair removal from toes to belly button, and frequently wrists to elbows.

Waxing was a definite relief (woohoo... I don't hafta do a DARN thing for 2 whole MONTHS??? Hallelujah.) But I'd say 11 is too young for that by a few years at least.

My daughter too was very hairy there. I talked to my sister as to how to approach her with such an issue. Turns out that I didn't have to approach her at all. One day while getting into the shower, I noticed that she trimmed down there and very well too I might add. I asked her about it and she said she had too. That it was bothering her and she was gonna wear her bikini. I'm assuming she found out thru friends. I did tell her to be careful and gave her some advice. I'd say if she's shaving her legs then it would be ok to trim there too. Kinda all goes together. Maybe when you talk to her about that nice monthly visitor we all have, you could bring up trimming there for hygiene purposes. I like the advice about the deorderant trick, I didn't know about that! Good Luck to you, I'm sure everything will work out fine.

Ack! Are we talking leg hair or pubic hair? "Down below" ? Leg hair I think depends on the girl, the mom, and the amount of natural hair that could be causing embarrassment if she feels different from other girls. But the other? Why even bring that up? It seems that is something a girl decides on her own WAY later. Like college.
Okay, reading others posts, I could see talking about a trim on the edges for bikini wear. Yikes, I guess I'm in for it when my daughter hits the tween age.

If it seems to be an issue you can tell her that she can trim or shave it to look better with her swimsuit. I know trying on swimsuits around that age my mom told me I would have to shave my bikini line so that hair didn't stick out and I just shaved it all b/c it was easier to maintain that way.

If she is hairy and uncomfortable about it, I would let her do it. My 15 yr old has been doing it for years as have I.

Especially in the summer with swimsuits, etc you just want to be better groomed. I don't think for a minute like a couple other posters mentioned that its because she wasnt to show it to someone.

It is a personal choice and some of us just don't like hair there.

Hmmm, i would jsut let that be up to her but as already stated if shes ready to shave there make sure shes careful

Wow. I'm a little concerned that we're talking about 11-year-olds doing anything to their hair down there. Why exactly is this an issue? So what if she's hairy down there? It is a completely natural thing that all women have. Plus, she's 11. Is she planning on someone seeing that part of her body and feels self conscious about it? Because if so, I'd say that's much more of an issue than how hairy she is. I didn't start shaving down there until I was in college but even still I have tons of friends who don't and it's never been an issue for them. Why not try teaching her to be proud of her body first rather than focusing on what might be perceived as a negative and trying to fix it?

In our family we all got very inexpensive electric razors early (around 10 yrs. old) and were allowed to shave anytime we felt self-conscious about our body hair. It was not something that was an issue and I did this same thing with our daughter. A local drug-store (CVS) has one all the time for about $15 that is perfect. They can't cut themselves with it and is a great starter one that lasts a few years. All of the girls/women in my family like to stay well manicured and this is just part of it that upkeep. Especially, when we're in swimsuits all the time in the summer.

I wouldn't have her shave it, but maybe if it is a problem and it bothers her, she should just "trim".If she shaves all of it, it will only grow back thicker and when it starts to grow back even a little, it is very uncomfortable and itchy.

hmmm, why does she need to do so? Is she going swimming and there is an issue? Don't forget, shaving down there comes with a price! She could get an ingrown hair down there.