What Age for a Bra?

Girls seem to grow up - physically - earlier than they used to. When a girl *needs* to start doing some womanly things, it's time to do them. There are sports bras and training bras that do the job. Childhood may be short, but this is not pushing a girl out of childhood. This is body changes making themselves noticeable.

My 10 year old just started to "bud" and we bought several bright colored sports bras that she wears under her shirts. I tried the training bras but they didn't really help. It takes care of the way she looks in a shirt but is also fun and kind of a fashion thing. She also wears cami/tanks from Justice that have a shelf bra in them. We are not ready for the real thing:) They grow up so fast! I guess I'll have to start buying Midol in bulk! Ha ha!

Its time.
If it is noticeable to you, it is noticeable to everyone else, too.
I see girls like that, at my daughter's school.
And I wish under my breath, that the Mom would get their daughter a bra or sports bra top. Because it starts to get too obvious. To others, too.
Because, everyone CAN tell. Breast buds, are budding.

My daughter is 9.
Even last year, some of her classmates, had to wear "bras" already.
They do not get teased.
Don't worry.
But if your daughter has breast buds and doing nothing about it, then they will be noticed.

Get yourself and your daughter the "American Girl" book series. ie: The Care & Keeping Of You."
It is for this age, age appropriate, and about a girl's changing body.
I have this for my daughter already.
She likes it.
And it is made to discuss with Mom, too. That is the point of it.

ALSO keep in mind, that from 9-12 years old, a child is a Tween. A Pre-Teen.
And... some girls even get their periods, already.

It is time, for you and your daughter to go bra shopping.
Try Walmart or Target.

You notice her breast buds.
I am sure, your daughter notices too. Already.
But she is not going to say anything to you first. How awkward, for a
girl. Or maybe she is thinking YOU didn't notice.
So talk to her about it.
Its time.
And about deodorant etc. and etc.

My daughter and my granddaughter, her daughter, both started "budding" at 9, and started to wear bras. (I started to bud then as well, and when my mom and I were school shopping for me @ 10 she commented, "I didn't realize you needed a bra!" because I was past needing one.)

If your daughter is starting to bud she will continue to develop, and like me may not tell you when she knows or feels she needs a bra. And it can be camisoles or sports bras that don't scream "bra" for awhile.

Just get a training or sport bra, no biggie and don't make a biggie of it.
Keep your lines of communication open like you appear to be doing.
I see a lot of 1st grade and up with heavy camisoles, trainers or sports bras.

Good luck!

My 10 yr old wears those tank tops with liners in them under everything. Just like her older cousin. My niece is 15 and wears nothing but those tank tops with the bra liner and the elastic at the bottom of the liner in them that's all she will wear. So I am going to go with that.

Age has nothing to do with need, fortunately!

I was 10.

By 11 I was 5'9 with a C cup and could pass for 21.
By 13 I was 6'0 with a DD cup
My youngest sister was a B cup for 7 years, and then got gozanga boobies (J during her first year in college). Hormones happen. Whenever they durn well please.

My 3rd grade class (8&9) about half the girls wore (needed) bras, and about half had their periods (not the same half), and one girl was pregnant. (Yeah, sex Ed got bumped down to 2nd /3rd after that! I had my period a full year before needing a bra. (aka was 8 turning 9)

Sports bras.

Oh. The 'earlier' thing isn't really true. It a fashion thing. Pre women's lib even toddler girls wore undershirts and shifts under dresses and shirts. Aka, did the same thing as sports bras. Pre 1920s (about 1200AD-1920) girls wore rather shapeless dresses without waists until they 'came out. The line being ABOVE breasts. Also, they wore shifts under those as well. For MANY centuries corsets were also envogue. Even under shapeless smock dresses to 'train the waist. Ahem... In the east Obis (the foot wide tying belt that sealed kimonos went OVER the chest with girls until they wre old enough to have lowered obis. Which were/are only low enough to to act as a bra.

It's FAR more of a fashion issue than an 'earlier and earlier' issue.

There's some aspect of diet involved... As in a good healthy diet makes bodies develop earlier. One reason gymnasts starve themselves is to PREVENT puberty. Getting your period (and growing breasts) is a mark of shame in competitive gymnastics if you're under 20. Historically girls develop ANY time between 8-17 IF the food supply is good.

rBst has been shown to be a contributing factor in SOME studies and NOT in other studies. I had zero rBst in my diet and was at developing at 8&9.

What we DO know for sure is that the age of development is 8-17 as normal, for the past 6,000 years of recorded history. So your daughter is right on track!

I don't think 9 is too young. I was 10 and my mom just got me a trainer bra (looks like a thin sports bra). I do remember when I was 9 years old and in 4th grade, there were girls in my class with huge boobs already!

It's earlier than my daughter, but not out of the ordinary... all girls are different, and it seems to be starting earlier and earlier for some.

I gave my daughter "The Care and Keeping of You" (the entire set which came with a journal and small "personal" bag to keep "personal" items in) for her 10th birthday. She and I regularly discussed the books in the weeks afterward, as she was reading through it. Now, she has fewer questions (she just turned 11), but she is fine asking anything that she thinks of, and the book definitely helps her know WHAT to ask.

She didn't REALLY need a training bra at 10, but over the past 6 months, she has. She received a couple of VERY nice ones as hand-me-downs from a friend from church (she's 3 years older) and so she started wearing them. No discussion, they were in the bag of hand me down clothes, and suddenly they started appearing in the dirty laundry, lol.

So I asked her if she would like a few more so that she wouldn't run out of clean ones. She said yes, and I picked up some really inexpensive ones at Target. Just cotton with a hook/eye back, no padding. They are really just the little cami-bra things. She started wearing them daily.
She just left for camp Sunday, and I noticed that on Saturday, when she was running around the house organizing her packing, that she didn't have one on. How did I know? Because I could TELL.
I made sure to give her some travel panty liners, just on the off chance she started her period at camp! (or in case any of the other girls did, and didn't have anything, and I let her know that if anyone needed anything to share).

Just buy her some. Take her with you if you want, and let her pick out colors/patterns. Some of them have polka dots and things.
Bras isn't a big deal, really.

And I do highly recommend the Care & Keeping book. It presents things in a very open and conversational way for the girls. :)
The book talks about breast buds and development, too.

As soon as they started showing in the area they got to go pick some bra's out. If you don't want her to stand out find a sports type store or dance gear store and get her several sports bra's. She can wear them under tanks or tee's and they just look sporty.

If she is starting to bud, get her a nice training bra.

I think 9 is young for a bra, especially if she isn't asking for one. At that age, have her wear a camisole underneath her shirt. it will cover up any buds but is still age appropriate, since she doesn't really need a true bra yet.

I'm in the same situation. It's tough to think about our daughters being that age and we want them to still be girls and not tweens or teens. However, just like with other development stages of our kids, we have to be the strong ones and Mamas know what their kids need and don't ignore the signs! (This is what I've been mentally telling myself anyway...hope it helps you). I think we are going to go the camis under shirts route and for the Summer,she can wear tank tops that have another layer in the chest area (the clothing store Justice has these kind). She does have a few cotton/sports type bras that one of her cousins handed down to her that I have no doubt she will wear by Winter or Spring of next year. I need to remember I was an early bloomer in the chest department and wore a "bra" by 4th grade so chances are my daughter might too! All the best to you and us Mamas are here for each other...

I know that when i was growing up, I started wearing the crop tops that are like short camisoles under my shirts when i was in 2nd grade. I started wearing real bras in 4th grade, around 10 years old. It sounds like it is time for something under her shirts. And dont worry about her developing too quickly, I wore an a cup until a sophmore in highschool, and developed slowly into a d cup over 6 years from that point. She may be growing up, but she won't grow up too fast!

I was a small B cup in 4th grade. You don't have to go all out with a fancy bra, but if she is starting to show, she needs something.

I was about 10 when I started to show and that was when my mom got me my first bra. Not training bra, not a sports bra but an actually bra. I would start her on a sports bra so that way she can get use to one. You would know what to do and what is right to do. Just go with your gut.

If she is not physically ready for a bra, have her wear an undershirt EVERY DAY.

I was 9yo and in fourth grade when my mother gave me my first, and I needed it.

It was the 6th grade (11 yrs old) for me.
My friend that was the earliest budder in our group was in the 5th grade (about 10 yrs old).
We had these little cotton training bras that were really more like under shirts, but then there were no support issues - we we're still pretty flat for a few more years.

Both my girls were 10.5 years when they started wearing bra. For my older, this was mid 5th grade. For my youngest, spring of 4th grade. I think my oldest wasn't quite the needing one stage yet, but she came to me saying she felt uncomfortable without some additional coverage, so that's when I took her shopping for some bras. My youngest wore those cami tops under everything for nearly 2 years. At first it was more of a fashion/layering thing, but later it was serving a coverage purpose. Then in the late spring she was just too hot layering everything and felt like she couldn't wear just a simple T-Shirt. When I gave her a couple of small bras, she was thrilled and suddenly started wearing more of her clothes. Depending on the top, she sometimes needs the coverage of a bra, and sometimes not.

It's not really so much about age as it is about time of development.
My youngest is 13 and is just now actually "needing" a bra.
Just watch your daughter and follow her lead, she will let you know when she's feeling the need.
You can always buy her some of those camis with the built in shelf bras if you're worried about her exposure.
The only reason my daughter cares is of course because all of her friends are already wearing them, she's the last one!
Just treat is casually and normally, you don't want her to think there's something wrong or weird about it.

There is no age. She needs a bra when she starts to develop breasts. My daughter had her first period at 9. Puberty happens when Mama Nature decides that it will happen, not when the calendar says it's time.

By that age I was wearing a bra for sure, but I am very well endowed. If you can see it.everyone else can too, so she needs a bra or tank tops with a bra built in.

If the buds are showing thru her shirt, then it is time. Most girls are excited about wearing them. A sports bra type is probably the best choice for now. My girls were resistant at first but got them any way. Then when they had gym and saw the other girls wearing them, they were fine. It was the girls who didn't have on a bra that were teased for not wearing one.