Puberty facts: 10 things that your child needs to know about puberty
Here are 10 puberty facts that all kids need to know about. Facts that will help your child to thrive (and not just survive) puberty.
Puberty can be a scary time for kids, especially when they don’t know what to expect. So it helps kids when parents can talk about puberty in a natural, everyday way. This helps to normalise puberty for them and prepares them for the changes that will be coming their way!
There are a lot of puberty facts for your child to learn, but here you will find 10 that are more about the principles than about facts.
Read on, and you’ll see what I mean!
You can find more helpful resources to help you with the puberty talk in my Puberty 101 page!
1. You will experience both physical and emotional changes
Our first puberty fact reminds us to NOT just focus on the physical changes.
It isn’t just your body that changes as you go through puberty. Your brain and your feelings change as well. So, your child needs to know that they will start to think and feel differently. This article from Hey Sigmund explains what teens need to know about the adolescent brain.
So make sure your child knows what changes will be happening to their body (read about the stages of puberty for kids with testicles or ovaries, as well as the fact that their feelings will change as well.
Find practical tools to educate kids about puberty in the Sex Ed Shop
2. Puberty is normal and happens to all kids
Our second of the puberty facts is about making puberty a normal stage of life.
When going through puberty, your child may feel as if they are the only one going through it. So it helps if you can remind them that they aren’t alone. Remind them that their friends will be going through puberty as well. And that you, too, went through puberty and survived.
3. Puberty means your body can make a baby
Our third puberty fact is about the true purpose of puberty.
Puberty is all about making us capable of reproducing and starting the next generation. This means that your child’s body will eventually be capable of creating a new life, i.e., they will be fertile. So they need to know that if they had sexual intercourse with someone of a different sex, they could make a baby. Reassure them, though, that even though their body may be ready they still need to do a lot more ‘growing up’ before this will happen.
4. The changes won’t happen overnight
Our fourth of the puberty facts is about reassuring kids that the changes are gradual!
Reassure your child that the changes that will happen to them don’t happen overnight. They happen over months, meaning they will have plenty of time to get used to them! So start talking to them about how to care for their body as it changes. When you notice an underarm smell, buy them deodorant and chat about why they sweat and how they should manage it.
5. Puberty happens to all children
Our fifth puberty fact is about making sure they know that puberty is a ‘similar yet different’ experience for both boys and girls.
Remind your child that puberty happens to all children (regardless of their gender and assigned sex). Some of the changes will be similar (pubic hair, body odour, pimples), but some won’t be (ejaculation, periods). So make sure your child knows that all of their friends will be going through changes too, but some of their changes will differ.
6. Puberty starts at a different time for everyone
Our sixth puberty fact is about reminding kids that we all start puberty at a different time.
Let your child know that we don’t all start puberty at the same time. Some kids begin much earlier or later than others. This means that some kids will be much taller than others, and some kids will be flat-chested, whilst others need a bra. Everyone is different, so their body will start changing when it is ready to. You can’t make puberty start any earlier or stop it from happening. Your body knows what to do and will begin when it is prepared for it.
7. Changes can happen quickly or slowly
Our seventh of the puberty facts is that their body may change more quickly or slowly than their friends do.
Some people’s bodies can change more quickly or slowly than others. So their friend may have lots of pubic hair within a few months, while it may take months for them to just grow a few! Everyone is different, but by the time puberty is over, everyone has had the same changes and ends up with similar adult bodies.
8. Everyone is different
Our eighth puberty fact is that everyone is different, and that’s okay.
Your child needs to know that although the changes we go through are all the same, they can still be different. So that may mean they have no pimples or lots of pimples. And there is nothing that they can do to change that. It is like a lucky dip – you get what you get!
9. You can’t stop or alter the changes that’ll happen
Our ninth of the puberty facts is that you can’t stop or change anything.
Some kids worry about the changes that will happen to them and want to know if they can stop or even change them. They can’t. Their body is already pre-programmed to change in a certain way, meaning they will end up with the body they are meant to have.
Looking for more puberty resources? Then visit my Puberty 101 page!
10. You will start to think about sex differently
Our tenth puberty fact is that they will start to experience sexual feelings and possibly even see their friends in a different light.
As well as making your child’s body fertile, puberty will slowly start to change the way they think and feel about sex. This happens for a very good reason. For a baby to be made, you usually need to have sexual intercourse. So puberty will rewire your child’s brain so that they will want to have sex, which means that they might fall pregnant and make a baby. Even though we live in the 21st century, our caveman instincts remain.
More puberty resources
Don’t forget that you can find more puberty resources in the Sex Ed Shop.
Like The Parents’ Guide to Puberty, which will help you to wrap your head around puberty and how to help your child as their body changes.
I hope that helps you to talk (about puberty) with your child.
Happy talking!
❤️ Cath