A List of signs that indicate your first period is near. As a girl, I feel like we really shouldn’t be afraid to talk about period-related things. Sadly, there’s a lot of stigma and taboo around it, but the first step starts with us. We can be the first ones to break it.
On this page, you will read about the signs that indicate when you’re going to get your first period. This article is for girls who are 11, 12, or 13 years old or those who are likely ready to experience their first period.
This content may also be useful for parents to help them closely observe their daughter and make her feel comfortable with these changes
Disclaimer: Everyone’s Different
Now, before we dive into the five signs that your first period is coming, there’s one disclaimer I want to mention: no one can say exactly when you’ll get your first menstrual period, but it will be sometime during puberty.
Puberty is the part of your life where you start to become an adult. Some girls can start puberty at age 8, and some girls start puberty at like 14 or 15. Each girl goes at her own pace. There’s a saying, or like this thing, that you can ask your mom when she got her first period to kind of get an idea of when you’ll get yours.
So, I’d recommend asking them if you can. My mom got her first period at 9 years old, and I got mine at 11 years old.
It didn’t really make much of a difference for me because we didn’t get it at the same age, but I guess a two-year difference isn’t that bad. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask them.
The noticeable signs of when the first period is expected are not in any particular order. So, this is another disclaimer.
5 Signs That Indicate Your First Period Is Near
These are five signs that you or your parents should know, showing that you (or their daughter) is about to start her period.
1. Chest Start to Grow
The first sign I want to talk about is your chest. You need a bra, aka your boobs start to grow. In the beginning, the small bumps around your nipples become raised.
Then, the darker areas around your nipples will start to get darker, and they might even feel like there’s a little lump on your chest. These are just called breast buds.
Most people get their first period two to three years after their breasts start to grow. If your breast buds begin to grow around age eight or nine, it might take closer to three years for your period to start.
If your breast buds develop later, like when you’re 13, for example, then your period might actually start in less than a year.
2. Your Body Is Changing
Your body shape and size also change quickly before your period starts. Menstruation usually starts six months to a year after your fastest growth spurt. This is the average timing, but it might be a little different for you, and that’s totally normal.
This growth spurt can also happen two years before your first period or around the same time as your first period. If you’re tracking your height and you notice that it was changing really fast and then it starts to slow, that could be a sign that your first period is around the corner.
Along with height and weight changes, it’s also normal if your pants size changes because your hips are getting wider. Some parts of your body will become fatter and rounder, a little bit thicker, but some parts will also stay the same.
3. Downstairs Changes Too
Your vagina, uterus, and ovaries will also grow. The way your vulva looks and feels will also change. The outer lips of your vulva will become fatter, and the inner lips will become a little bit more wrinkly. And then, your clitoris also grows a bit in size.
If you don’t know what your vulva is, it’s basically your outer lips of your vagina and then the inner lips too. So, the inner lips get wrinkly, the outer gets fatter. You can take a look at the changes going downstairs by just using a little handheld mirror.
4. Pubic Hair and Acne
You start growing hair down there shortly after your boobs start to grow. You might notice your first signs of pubic hair. It doesn’t have to be in this order—like, it doesn’t have to be your boobs first and then pubic hair. It could be pubic hair and then boobs first.
It’s all normal, and it doesn’t really follow a set pattern. At first, you may just see a few long pubic hairs, maybe even one, but just know that they eventually will fill in over time.
You are getting acne. This was definitely how I knew my period was coming.
I do remember getting my first little pimple, and I was like, “What the heck is this?” But when I really started to break out, that’s when my first period came in.
You might also notice that your skin is oilier in general and that your sweat and underarms have more of a smell.
5. Vaginal Discharge
This is one of the common ones. I think you may know, and that is that you start seeing discharge. Sometimes, when your boobs start to grow, you might start to notice a little bit of liquid in your underwear that isn’t exactly pee. Your vagina may also feel a bit wetter than it has before.
Some people will start to notice this about 6 to 12 months before the first period. Again, there is no set timeframe. This liquid is normal, it’s vaginal discharge.
We all get it. It’ll likely be a thin, white liquid that doesn’t really have much of a smell.
This happens as your vagina develops a new community of healthy bacteria and becomes more acidic to protect your reproductive tract from bad bacteria.
Sometimes, there’ll be more fluid; sometimes, it’ll be less fluid. Sometimes, it may look and feel creamy, kind of like a moisturizer. Other times, it might look stretchy and clear, kind of like an egg white.
A Quick Note on Discharge
Now, please do not try and wash your discharge with soap. Discharge is normal [I cannot emphasize that enough].
Fun fact: your vagina is self-cleaning. It can throw off the balance of bacteria in your vagina to douche or wash your inner vulva. So, don’t clean, don’t wash, don’t use any harsh soaps or any soaps in general inside your vagina. Keep it to the outer lips at most.
Once you start cleaning your inner vulva with soap, it can cause your vagina to get a little smelly, become itchy, and become less healthy in general. There are some vagina-specific soaps, like pH soap that I would still recommend using on your outer vulva, which is like, you know, your actual vagina.
Don’t put anything inside or close to inside because as I mentioned before, your vagina will clean itself. So, don’t mess with it and let it do its job.
Conclusion
These are 5 signs that you or your parents should know, showing that you (or their daughter) is about to start her period.
The last thing I want to say, I want it to stick in your head and I want you to remember this is that everybody is different. And I mean that literally. Everybody is different. The exact timing of your body’s growth will be unique to you.
There is no set formula, pattern, or whatever you want to call it. It’s just life, and you know, it’s kind of beautiful in a way. It’s so unique. You are the only you.
So, don’t feel stressed if your friends have their period and you don’t have yours yet. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You will get your period one day or another, it just might take longer, or it just might come sooner. Nothing to worry about, I promise.