Shaving legs...When Is It Too Young

I have 3 daughters aged 12 yrs to 23 months. My 12 year old started shaving about a year ago when she became self consious. Living in AZ where you wear shorts 9 months out of the year probably had somthing to do with her becoming self consious and uncomfortable (because of hair being itchy when she sweats) than if we lived in a cooler environment where she could wear pants most of the time.

I think it totally depends on the reason for wanting to shave...if it's that all of her friends are doing it, that is not a good reason. I have a friend though that let her daughter start at nine, she had very dark hair and was being teased about it. My girls were about 11 when they started shaving, there really just wasn't a legitimate need to before then.

6 and 7 is to young to me but 8?! idk..I think the number alone is why us mothers say it's 2 young but we have to adjust to how our kids are living now..They hear ans see a lot more than we did growing up, maybe the child is being taunted about the hair on their legs. My daughter was born with hair on her legs and she just recently asked me if she could shave her legs but she's 11. I really don't know what I would do if my 8 year old asked me if he could shave.

"What is the big deal, why do we as moms want to wait for it to be in pre-teens years. If the child is annoyed by it or embarrassed, should it be politicly OKAY ? "
Wow. I think the question should be why do we as a society require hairless women and now hairless KIDS? I think it's a bigger social issue being played out in just this question itself. It's very American to see that as a standard of beauty.

I have three girls, the oldest 7. Not one has even noticed their leg hair. In general, your kids have decades to be grown up and worry about such things. It is my goal to let my kids be kids as long as possible. Why add such worries to their load?

Whatever you do, teach your girls never to tease other girls who may have darker body hair. Teach them that beauty comes in so many forms.

I think there are lots of good reasons to wait... for example, once you start shaving it is harder to go without doing it because (at least it seems) you get more/darker hair. So then once you start shaving regularly, it becomes something you worry about, and something you have to spend money on. You lose some of your "worry free youthfulness", basically, you lose some of your childhood. It just seems sad to lose that when you're so young. Why should a little girl need to worry about the natural hairs on her body? Who is she trying to impress? Can't she just be herself, and enjoy her body as it is? Also, as a mom, I wouldn't want to have to spend extra money on the razors, shaving cream, band-aids, and lotion, that often come with shaving. And as an educated woman and feminist I would certainly want to have a serious, respectful discussion with my daughter about the history of shaving, and why it is something she wants to do so strongly. Women haven't always shaved you know! I would hope my daughter would have enough self-confidence to know that she is lovely and beautiful whether her legs are hairy or not!! :-)

I'm going to stand on my soapbox for a minute if you don't mind and I don't mean to offend, just stating my opinions... I really am appalled at the way our society has turned our young girls into such models for sexuality, and then we wonder why there are sexual predators who prey on our young girls (and boys). There's no "politics" involved here. Most clothing on the market for our kids now, including our toddlers and even babies, is atrocious! String strapped shirts with sewn in "chest makers", mini skirts, daisy dukes, etc. I am a mother of an 8 year old girl, a 6 year old boy, and a 1 1/2 year old girl. I find it difficult to even shop for my girls and find clothing to cover their butts and shoulders, but I make a conscious effort do do so, and I'm not about to go and shave their legs and "ripen" them up for boys and sexual predators. I don't know of any 6, 7, or 8 year olds shaving and if I did I would ask " Are they dating too?" Because it seems the only logical reason to start shaving. Seems to me like maybe the mothers in this situation are giving their girls the thought of embarrassment, because I know it's not peer pressure at that young age, and I've never heard of a 6, 7, or 8 year old being "annoyed" by her leg hair. I choose to keep my children's innocence implanted in their minds as long as possible, and I know that I will have to "face the music" eventually, but for right now, everything is working out great. My daughters are a great symbol of how I wish all of societies CHILDREN should be, they still dress hip and in fashion but all the right areas are COVERED.

I personaly think giving a razor to a 6, 7, or 8 year old would be NUTS! NOT safe!! I would not let my 6-8 year old use a steak knife to cut their dinner... let alone use a razor blade on their skin... even an electric razor can cut them.

I have 2 daughtes. (7 1/2 and 5 1/2) My daughters are total girly girls and have never noticed their leg hair at this age... I think an approiate age would be when they start puberty... Thats usually between ages 10 and 13. Hair starts growing thicker and changing color around that age... At that time I would def. sit down and show them the proper way to shave... I might even get them an electric razor, just to be on the safer side.

Maby you could sit down and ask them what bothers them about the hair... Let them know they are beautiful and the time will come for them when they are old enough to safly handel a razor. Explain to them that they are to young to shave their legs, because it is not safe. They could realy hurt them selves with such a sharp object.

Best of luck to you with your decision.

Hi S.,

My daughter is still too young for this concern..but I dread it in a way. The way I see it..it is usually more about the social pressure to fit our society's ideal of beauty. (If it was physically annoying for some reason...that would mean less psych/social stress was going on...but as we all know, shaving sometimes brings more skin irritation along.)
I would have to ask...why is the girl requesting to shave? Imitate mom, sister?? Peer pressure, mild or severe? I guess the hair removing treadmill is something quite a few moms do not want to see their daughters get on until social pressure gets ridiculous. Once you start shaving you keep going or those annoying prickly hairs take a long time to grow out.
My personal concern: Girlhood in our culture seems to be getting shorter and shorter...as kids are sexualized fast by media on marketing forces. This is consciously done by companies. Kids overly concerned about their physical appearance are so easy to pitch "solutions" to... A girl wanting to shave early: that is a symptom of this problem and denying shaving does not make it go away. I am trying to educate myself on how I can make my daughter feel happy being a girl...not a miniature woman. Adulthood comes along soon enough.

HI Sherri,

I in general want my girls to wait until about teenage because I do not want them focused on their bodies too much, but on their appearance (clothing cleanliness, hair brushed etc...). Later as their bodies develop we move into care of body etc..

Anyway soon before they reach menstruation seems to be when my girls have begun to complain and so I tell them they can shave their legs when they get their period. This is also the time I take them out to get their ears pierced. If my girls did not seem like they would get their period until later (15/16) I would probably allow some thing sooner. But I like offering them these outside physical changes to mark their inside physical maturity.

C.

I'm pro choice, let your daughters decide when they would like to do it and yes, let them know they may get cut...
I personally barely shave my own legs and my 10 year old daughter has said some girls in her class are shaving. I asked how she felt about it and she said she wasn't interested in doing it. Maybe just because she sees that I rarely shave or maybe it's due to other reasons...yet I like to end these conversations with 'it's your body, it's your choice.'

I think social pressure has a lot to do with it, but that social pressure was there even 25 years ago. I was 8 years old and tried to shave my legs with a real razor because my sister did it (she was 11) and girls in my class were shaving. Of course I cut myself seriously in the process. So, I don't think our girls are necessarily getting any younger earlier and I am not sure that I really think society is putting more emphasis on beauty than it did in the past (I think we are just getting older and wiser and see just how much emphasis there really is in the media). From personal experience, I think 6, 7, and 8 is too young. I think maybe 10 years is a good age and possibly when they make the transition to 6th grade and leave the elementary school.

I have 2 boys so I'm glad no girls because my boys came out very hairy just like me. even my younger SON at 8 asked jokingly he wants to shave his hair off his legs. I said no that's for girls & explained it grows back thicker... But,he notices I shave even my arms. Yes, I remember having very dark hairy legs at a very young age. I actually did not notice it was not "normal" to US society until 4th grd. In 2nd grade I lived in mex. & no one cared & even yrs later when visiting no one made a big deal about hairy legs guys actually liked it. (not the younger generation now) The teasing was not nice specially when it comes from BOYS even at an early age. I didnt even think about shaving back then but I would have wanted to have my mom say I can help you. I think if it's blond or light then have her wait. BUt, if it's dark & very hairy & living in AZ then maybe only shave the lower legs and have her wear longer shorts & skirts. I don't know what I would have done if I was living in AZ at that young age.

Why would you even think of shaving a 6,7, or 8 year olds legs? They are still babies.

I was a hairy girl and mom would not let me shave, I was in sixth grade and all my friends were allowed but I was still not. I was teased and so I did it anyway and got a huge cut from ankle to knee along my whole shin bone. So my mom noticed I was in trouble and thats how it began. If she would have let me, I maybe wouldn't have cut myself so bad. I think maybe around ten years old would be a fair age. I have a boy so I guess I never thought about it except my own experience.

12 is about when puberty starts and good grooming habits should be naturally in the forefront of a girl's mind - the ages you mention are too young in my opinion - there can't be such excessive hair on a child that young unless they are genetically inclined to it - and a child shouldn't feel self-conscious about it that young unless influenced by outside opinion in some way.

I think it is a big deal to give a razor to young child. They have their whole life to shave, why start now. If your daughter comes to you at 16 and is annoyed or embarrassed by her nose or breast size are you going to let her have plastic surgery??
With age comes privilege and responsibility. I really think that 6,7 & 8 year old girls need to focus on being kids, not teenagers. My daughters are 7 & soon to be 11, and the older one will learn how to shave after her birthday because she is already going through puberty.

My daughter is 9 now and is embarrassed of her legs being hairy. I wasn't sure that I wanted her shaving her legs so early, but another friend of mine had the same problem with her daughter....she Naired them. I asked my daughter if she wanted to shave her legs or if it was tolerable that she can hold off a bit longer....of course she opted for the shave legs. While I agree that I would never let her use a razor and unfortunately ther is no such thing as electrical tool without pain, we opted for the Nair. I don't do it for her often as her hair is still very fine, but now, she is happier and isn't embarrassed of wearing her shorts, skirts and dresses.....

I was born hairy:) My sister shaved my legs for me in 5th grade! I had very dark, black hair on my legs and I was made fun of by the other kids. I heard it all. Maybe because I was sensitive to the teasing, they kept doing it, I don't know, but it devastated me. Also I was teased by my siblings and they would say horrible things like I was adopted from apes, etc. When my sister shaved my legs, I was elated...until it grew back a day later;) I didn't shave my legs again until I was around 8th grade when all of my friends started doing it.

I don't think that it is appropriate to shave a child's legs who is so young. The child does not know the effects of shaving and that it will grow back within a few days. A little hands-on activity may be appropriate to show these girls that shaving is a constant upkeep and a lot of work!

My four year old sees that I wear a bra and wants the cute ones that she sees in the girls section at the store. Do I buy her one? Of course not! She doesn't need one. Just like a child under 10 doesn't need to shave their legs. Just like I didn't need to shave my legs when I was 10-or my arms;}

I started shaving when I was quite young, around 9 or so. My leg hair is so coarse, dark and ugly. I made my sister wait until she was nearly in High School. Now when she doesn't shave her legs you can't really tell. The different is amazing really. I would try not to shave the legs. My sister is glad I made her wait because she know what happened to me.

One thing my sister is doing with her girls is using that lotion to help reduce shaving. I forget what it is called, but it helps by thinining out the hairs so it is less noticable. She is also making her girls wait as long as possible. Try using the lotion.

I understand that getting teased because of being hairy is no fun, but perhaps you can explain to your girls about teasing and about their bodies. I am not one to jump on the peer pressure band wagon. Nothing good comes from following the mindless crowd. I would try to teach them to be strong individuals rather than give in to the social pandering of an uncaring society, but that is only my opinion.