At What Age Should You Begin Hair Removal

When my daughter was 10 she started getting concerned about the hair on her legs and she had some underarm hair she went and got my razor. So then we went and found a simple little battery razor for $10-15. It's enough that she can take care of it herself and I don't have to worry about her cutting herself by sneaking mine! She doesn't do it that often just when she feels the need. (not as often as probably needed! especially underarms!) But it's enough to keep her from feeling self conscious. And that's what counts!

8 seems so young to even have hair under the arms....I feel like I was 12 or something. Darn kids are growing up too, too fast!!! I would absolutly without a doubt left my child shave as soon as she noticed the hair there. No one wants to see that and you do NOT want her to be uncomfortable.

Yes, let her shave. My mother would not let me shave till 7th grade.. It was awful, I finally got out a razor and went for it.. She was not pleased and said, "well now you will have to shave all of the time.".
I told her "Fine by me"

I do not think it is a big deal, because it is way better than hairy legs.

The time to remove hair is when it becomes a social impediment to the child. We remove hair for social reasons, no other. If she's embarrassed to wear certain clothing because she does not want the hair to be seen, then it's time to teach her how to remove it.

I never cared about my body hair until I was ten and wearing shorts one day in fifth grade. At that time a popular girl in my class pointed to my legs and made fun of my shining blonde leg hairs. She covered her eyes and said the sun reflecting off of them was blinding her and to please learn to shave as soon as possible. Of course, she and her posse were clean shaven. They all laughed and pointed. Drawing attention to my legs so that others who were nearby craned their necks to see what the fuss was about.

Mortified, I tried to pull my shorts lower but I could not hide my shimmering leg hairs. Directly after school I cried to my mother, "Oh please let me shave my legs, the girls are making fun of me!"

And my mother said, "Oh poo. Who cares what they think. You're too young to have to worry about shaving and your hair is so light you can't even notice it."

Later that night I swiped her razor and a can of shaving cream. I locked myself in the bathroom and lathered up. I then proceeded to cut a huge gash in my achilles tendon because I had no idea what the flark I was doing.

Good lord that hurt and it makes my toes curl just to remember it. Long story short; if your daughter is concerned about it, please oh please help her solve her issue instead of letting her try and figure it out on her own.

i totally agree with nicole. there's no medical reason to remove hair, it's simply a matter of aesthetics. so when your daughter is self-conscious about it, that's the time to address it.
khairete
S.

If kids are making fun of her, or she's embarrassed and avoiding things, then it's time. My daughter was turning 10 when she started shaving under her arms and 11 when she started shaving her legs. I'd suggest starting with an electric shaver, or try a depilatory cream (make sure to do a test patch first to see if it irritates her skin). Good luck!

Ah, this is still a sensitive subject with me. I started shaving in fifth grade, because I like your daughter have very dark hair (It's the Native American blood in my family) I reused to wear shorts and on a 90 degree day I wanted to wear jeans, mom said no. I told her why and she let me shave. I was so happy. I have to shave everyday to and it's a pain, but I still would rather do that than the alternative. Make sure she understands that. My mom helped me shave the first time, I would at least monitor her, her first time too.

I'd teach her how to shave. The Schick Silk Effects razor has fine wires on the blade that make it safer.

http://www.drugstore.com/schick-silk-effects-plus-razor-w...

As a woman who went through the same thing as a child -- show her now before she starts swiping a razor and trying to do it herself (and likely not safely). Back in the day they had "Flicker" razors that were round and had coils over the blade that made it hard to impossible to cut yourself shaving -- My mom finally bought me that. Not sure if they have anything similar these days. My sister in law will be going through this with her daughter in about 2 years and plans to take her for waxing....having had waxing sessions, I am not sure I could subject a 8-10 year old to that. Maybe an electric dry razor would be a happy compromise. I currently use an epilator but I could see a kid thinking that it hurts like an SOB :) so probably not the best choice...but the hair grows back finer and less of it (I barely have any hair that grows on the bottom half of my legs or under my arms after a few years of regular use). Being made fun of as a kid for being a hairy girl sucks!

If it's bothering HER, then it's time to let her do something about it. I would go with shaving at her age. I would not wax or use chemical depiliatories on young, delicate skin.

Wow, what a timely question for me! My 10yr old has been concerned with her underarm hair and "mustache" for a while now. We bleached her lip hair a month or so ago. At the time, I thought to myself "anyday now she's going to ask about her leg hair". Well, just last night she did exactly that. She has fine black hair all over her legs. It's very noticable. She has an Italian grandmother on one side and a Spanish great-grandmother on the other. And she inherited the hair of both. The hair on her head is gorgeous, full and lush. Unfortunately, so is the hair on her body. If she shaves it, it'll come back as hard, sharp stubble and she'll most likely (from my own experience) have to shave daily, or even twice a day (>_<). Waxing hurts like a b*tch, but lasts longer. Laser removal is too expensive and it really hurts, too (I'm going through it right now and it is WAY more painful than I was lead to believe -still totally worth it, though). I don't want to use depilatories on her because I'm concerned with all those chemicals seeping into her skin. I'm torn - I don't know how to help her. But I DO know that once the warm months roll around, she's going to be in long pants until that hair is gone. So I gotta find a solution to this soon.

she is not too young take her to the store and have her pick out a razer and shaving gel and show her the right way to shave

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I agree with earlier posters that you should help your child find workable solutions to "problems" she sees with her body. (My mother had moles frozen off from my armpits when I was 7 because the other girls were teasing me. After feeling how much it hurt, I never bothered with it again.)

However, please don't add to your daughter's anxiety about her body hair. Several posters have made comments like "nobody wants to see that" and "it is way better than hairy legs." Yikes! Remember that what you see as hairy is probably not what your daughter sees as hairy.

She may be happy with shaving once a month, whereas you would do it once a week or even more often. Unless your daughter has an unhealthy obsession with shaving (really often or over a large part of her body), I would allow her to set the pace with shaving. I tried it in 4th grade and cut my leg. I didn't shave again until my mother shamed me into it in 7th grade, and then I only did it in the summers.

Let her shave. I would hold off on waxing or laser!!! But under arm hair, yeah she doesnt need that. Hairy legs arent great either.

Why don't you ask the doctor? I had dark hair when I was young. At 13 I started shaving. BIG- BIG mistake. The hairs got thicker and the 5 o'clock shadow was out in no time. I would consider waxing, although it might pain her a bit the first time, it will take longer to grow back in. Once a month.
I am now 40 and had laser done 5 years ago. It is a bit expensive but well worth it.No more running to the salon to have someone wax me. Never have to think about getting prepped up for the next day if it's about wearing a skirt, dress, bathing suit etc. Definitely look after your daughter. I always felt insecure at her age, because most of the girls had beautiful legs whereas I had that mediteranean dark hair. Ugh...

Show her how to safely shave her legs and underarms..

I agree... let her shave. I would do shaving too, not Nair or anything like that. My dad didn't want me to shave with a razor, and had me use the Nair instead. I used it for about a month without any problems, then one day it burned/peeled a gash of skin off from my knee to my ankle! I still have a pretty decent scar from it. (I followed the directions, exactly like I had been the entire time...)

I like the Venus razor with 5 blades. I have never even nicked myself with it... it's pretty thick so she's not too likely to cut herself.

I say, if she is conscious about the hair – she needs to shave. Have you ever seen a hairy 8 y/o by the pool? I guess no one wants to see one or be the one. I do not think there is an age limit, everyone is different. There are some girls who have some hair but not aware. If your daughter is bothered by it – it may hurt her self esteem.

If your daughter is aware of it and it bothers her, I think it is time. Self esteem is so important. I would help her shave it the first few times, and watch very closely the other times until you both feel confident in her technique. I have a feeling my 7 year old will be asking any day as well! Italian ancestry on my side. :)

hi D. well my daughter began removing her leg and underarm hair at the age of 10, her hair is also very dark so i taught her how to remove her hair. i told her she was old enough for shaving but she cant wax or do laser until she was 16. we agreed it was ok for her to shave if she has bandaids and supervision :)

Updated

hi D. well my daughter began removing her leg and underarm hair at the age of 10, her hair is also very dark so i taught her how to remove her hair. i told her she was old enough for shaving but she cant wax or do laser until she was 16. we agreed it was ok for her to shave if she has bandaids and supervision :)

I was super hairy and started shaving when I was 9 or 10 (without telling my mom so it's huge that your daughter is even asking). I was a good kid but was hugely embarrassed by the all the hair and it was very dark. As an adult, I've had laser hair removal (used deals through Groupon) on most of my body; it's made a huge difference in appearance and comfort. If I had a daughter with this issue I would look into laser hair removal because of my own experience. You may want to do some research or even ask her pediatrician as to safety.

Show her how to shave safely.

She should start with shaving and see how that goes for a year or two. We use the same razor as daddy so we never run out of blades:) .Never did the waxing thing so i couldn't say. The laser i do with my 16 yr old now for her underarm and bikini area because she was getting little red bumps from shaving and also you are not suppose to apply deoderant after you shave and as an athlete she needs it. For lazer you shouldn't be in the sun 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after so it is something to start in the fall. It requires repeat visits every 2 months or so. The best part about laser is that the hair grows back thinner and finer, so if you only do it a few times then it still helps. She is a bit young for it meaning it would require more visits (like a year or two). my daughter at 15 was going on a 1 month tour last summer so it was good for her not to have to shave for the month. Her upper lip we do electrolysis, instead of pluck. When they are young plucking promotes more hair growth so i didn't want to start her on that. Lazer only hurts a little, electroysis hurt a lot (we had to apply a special cream that numbs the area 1 hour beforehand).

For sure let her shave or use the cream hair removal. I would not wax her. Ouch! Laser is expenive. But if i could afford laser hair removal i would do it.

Well my mom thinks i shouldn't because i am too young, but if you have too much hair! I think you should!!!!!!! :D

Keeping in mind that she is an eight year old little girl, I don't think she should be shaving anything. IF she is going through puberty and has more than fuzz in her underarms and is getting body odor then you should shave her underarms until she is old enough to safely do it. As for the hair on her legs...she needs to wait until she is older to shave her legs. Letting her shave her legs at 8 because she doesn't like the hair is sending her the wrong message. What are you going to do when she is 13 and hates her nose or 16 and wants breast implants. My daughters are half Italian and both complain(ed) about their hairy legs. When the oldest was 11 she was taught how to shave, the 9 year old is being taught how to live with herself, just like her sister did. Neither one is suffering from self-esteem issues or being harassed by other girls because they have (had) hair on their legs.
Let her be a little girl, they grow up too fast as it is.
BTW, I read you questions to my oldest (13) and she said "she is way too young to do anything about the hair. Tell her she'll be fine"

I have a ten yr old..she is not that hairy yet..but if she was I would go ahead and use bait on her..I think the underbrush is a must..only for the fact that kids could tease her and really hurt her self confidence..there's also the hair exfoliater method..softsilkylegs.com. hope that helps..

I would recommend using Nair. It is way less scary than using a razor or wax. All you do is put it on your hair for about 10-15 min. then use a wet washcloth and rub it off...all it does is itch a little.