what age for bra's?

[mummaof4]

and by bra's im not talking underwire or padded etc.. just the bralette types.. i know bonds makes the ones with the wide band underneath & matching knickers.

so q being, what age did you daughter start wearing them?
thanks

[MyBabiez]

Whenever they need them I guess..

Dd wears the bonds bras, she's two. They're sooo cute. I just wish they had more that come with matching undies..

[The Fox]

when they need them. Girls develop at different rates so Id go on a needs basis

[Mrs P]

I can't remember when I had my first one, when little boobies appeared I guess!

[mummaof4]

see i was 11 when i needed a bra. my daughter is 7 and wants to wear them.. she wears singlets under her school uniform & tops, so with summer is approaching im wondering if it would be better?

but then i think she's only 7?! thats so young imo.

[MummaBear03]

I agree, whenever they are needed. I didn't need a bra til well into high school, and even then it was only optional :o but in upper primary school I was wearing a singlet under the uniform because of the cut of it. DD's uniforms are the same but they have the option of wearing the dress with the bad cut or a blouse and shorts, we stick with the blouse and shorts because it isn't a loose fitting top and buttons right to the top, unlike the dress that zips up but is really quite low and not very good at all!

DD seems to have my body shape so far, so I think she'll probably be the same, but I might make her wear a singlet into high school if she isn't in a bra yet, even with the proper blouse uniform that doesn't gape. Will have to wait and see.

I don't like little flat-chested girls in them. The 6 year old next door has a matching "bra and knickers" set and it looks to adult-like for such a little kid. I do like the matching singlet and knickers sets though, DD has a pink and white one, no actual pictures or anything but really cute and sweet and kiddy-like.

[Tam-I-Am]

I wouldn't be buying bralettes for a child of that age. Crop tops, maybe, but they would be age appropriate - and would not infer breast tissue where there was none.

[mummaof4]

tam i think the crop tops is more what im talking about..
can i ask what the difference between a crop top and bralette?? :) thanks.

[MummaBear03]

Crop tops cover more of the top part, but without making out like there's anything to actually cover. The sport-like ones are probably the best, but I would go with singlets TBH. DD is 7 and it isn't something I would be anywhere near close to considering. My bestie told me she was going bra shopping for little training bras for her DD who is now 11 because she has little buds and I seriously cried because her little body is changing, she's starting the "growing up" process, and it's a whole new stage of life. She's not the little girl anymore that she was just a year ago running around without a top on inside the house. She now has begun to develop and keeps herself covered up. I wouldn't start to dress kids like that before their body needs it.

[Tam-I-Am]

Well, a bralette is shaped like a bra. Ie it is designed to cover the 'breast' area ie like this (http://ugc-01.cafemomstatic.com/gen/constrain/500/500/85/2010/06/10/13/ct/78/poiaags4oovzcr.jpg?imageId=18995684). It infers breast tissue, that at that age usually (except in some rare circumstances) just doesn't exist.

A crop top is more like a cut-off singlet. It has no shape that infers breasts (ie more like this (http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtWg2vCh507xh-VVTp9mVix3qNQjjYKKt6p-FFbmXXTQ3QQMs&t=1&usg=__q3tRZ1Xh-yGm73f6sQxoAx_GfPY=)). I would, TBH, upon reflection, even be a bit wary of buying one of those for a pre-pubescent child. I would be far more likely to buy a matching singlet and undies set. However if my child was set on wearing something that looks something like MY bras (which I assume is what it would be about at that age), a crop top is as far as I would be willing to go on it.

[mummaof4]

thanks mb :) i googled crop tops and can see the difference.

and thats very true. will be a special day bra shopping :)

thanks!

eta thanks tam. yes i think it would be wanting bra's like me. its just so confusing i guess as i was never a girly girly. my oldest very much is.. i have 3 girls so i really aim to get things right with my oldest otherwise i could be in big trouble in a few years!! :)

thanks again for the help everyone. shall steer clear for a few more years.

[MrJones&Me]

I was about 9 when i started wearing crop tops,

12 with bralettes, and 15 for an actual bra....


BUT I had nothing to put in them ;) lol

[goldtoe]

What about at the beach?
Where we go, there are plenty of little ones running around naked. But it seems the girls go straight from that to a swimsuit that covers the chest, and often a two-piece.
A six-year-old in a bikini just looks wrong to me. A bit like high heels and lipstick. Obviously I'm in the minority.
My girl is just four, and she and her friends want to get naked at any opportunity. I'm going all Taliban, and telling them to keep something on in the park.
So the question - how long before she has to cover up at the beach?
Is it just the kids demanding to wear swimsuits like their mums and older sisters? Or are the parents making them? Will other parents glare at an uncovered pre-pubescent chest, or the parent who allows it? Or would they just think we have poor fashion sense?

(Aside from the issue of sun-protection. lets say it is after 4pm)

[MummaBear03]

What about at the beach?
Where we go, there are plenty of little ones running around naked. But it seems the girls go straight from that to a swimsuit that covers the chest, and often a two-piece.
A six-year-old in a bikini just looks wrong to me. A bit like high heels and lipstick. Obviously I'm in the minority.
My girl is just four, and she and her friends want to get naked at any opportunity. I'm going all Taliban, and telling them to keep something on in the park.
So the question - how long before she has to cover up at the beach?
Is it just the kids demanding to wear swimsuits like their mums and older sisters? Or are the parents making them? Will other parents glare at an uncovered pre-pubescent chest, or the parent who allows it? Or would they just think we have poor fashion sense?

(Aside from the issue of sun-protection. lets say it is after 4pm)

A little kid running around naked at the beach looks normal and free and child-like to me. The same little kid in a bikini looks too "mini-adult-like" to me and I find that sad. DD is currently in a pair of knickers and nothing else. It looks natural and child-like whereas a bra on the same child, right now, in the same pair of knickers, would not look so childlike and free and innocent and beautiful. Of course to go outside she has to put on a t-shirt and shorts.

[2girls&1angelboy]

Croptops were my 1st thing i was about 12ish i think when i started highschool still didnt have anything there.
Beachwear my DDis 6 and she will be wearing boardshort and a rashie for as long as possible i dont think the idea of bikinis for young girls my DD's also have a bather set that like a singlet top undies and a skirt to match

[MummaBear03]

As for the usual swimwear, DD does squad now and wears Speedos and a sunshirt.

[MrJones&Me]

Oh and my mum refused to buy me bra's too.... :detective:


I had bathers as a kid (not bikinis) but we did have crop top style bathers and undies... like a 'tankini'

[SassyMummy]

I'd do it when they actually need them... but if they wanted it to just have some extra cover under school uniforms or something, I'd go with something more youthful...

Something liek this maybe? http://www.shopbot.com.au/ps-bonds-girls-crop-tops-and-bras-hipster-bandeau-8819518.html

It's very plain and looks just like a smaller singlet really...

[Pinkzy]

I would buy one whenever she needs one.

I was nine when I needed crop tops, by the time I was 11 I needed a proper training bra.

[mummaof4]

I'd do it when they actually need them... but if they wanted it to just have some extra cover under school uniforms or something, I'd go with something more youthful...

Something liek this maybe? http://www.shopbot.com.au/ps-bonds-girls-crop-tops-and-bras-hipster-bandeau-8819518.html

thats a good idea :) thanks

[anewme]

when they need them. Girls develop at different rates so Id go on a needs basis

:iagree: My first dd needed one at 8. My next dd dosen't need one yet and she almost 10.

[SassyMummy]

I couldn't fit into proper bras when I first needed one... so my first bra that would fit me in the back properly, was an 8C, when I was 11. I obviously needed a bra before that, but instead had to settle for bralettes with a more moulded cup (because they offered far more support than just a bit of stretchy fabric).

[WorkingClassMum]

When they need them and not until they need them

Bra's are a part of rites of passage - the recogniton of a teen or tween moving onto the next stage in life

DD will be going from a singlet to a crop top to a bralet/training bra and then onto a full blown bra as she needs one

< 6yo's do not need bra's - there's nothing to put into a bra and it robs them of part of their childhood and innocence

[OhGeeMuma]

DD will get a croptop/bralet/bra when she needs one. That said I never had much when I was in school (and still don't) so I would consider it earlier if necessary so she was socially acceptable amoung her piers.

[Janesmum123]

When they start getting boobs and need some type of crop top thingy. I'd start with a bond sports bra type of thing.

I wouldn't get them just for the sake of it.

I also don't let DD wear a bikini and my friends think I'm being unfair to DD for not gettng her one (she is 7). DD wears a one piece she has her whole adult life to wear bikinis.

[MummaBear03]

When they start getting boobs and need some type of crop top thingy. I'd start with a bond sports bra type of thing.

I wouldn't get them just for the sake of it.

I also don't let DD wear a bikini and my friends think I'm being unfair to DD for not gettng her one (she is 7). DD wears a one piece she has her whole adult life to wear bikinis.

That's right! Childhood is such a short time and it ends all too soon. Childhood is the only time we can be so free and innocent. I don't understand why anyone would want to rush anyone through that stage in life.

[~BEXTER~]

I think when they are developing breast and need them, not just because Mum wars them

[goldtoe]

I was nine when I needed crop tops, by the time I was 11 I needed a proper training bra.

What do you mean by "need"? I would not have thought you "need" anything until you are at least a B-cup.

[Tam-I-Am]

What do you mean by "need"? I would not have thought you "need" anything until you are at least a B-cup.

Then why do a-cup women wear bras, by that logic? :confused:

[MummaBear03]

Then why do a-cup women wear bras, by that logic? :confused:

Yeah I've been an A cup most of my adult life and can get away with no bra under some shirts, but not others. My bestie's DD was starting to "poke out" through some shirts too so she wears a training bra now and is 11. I wouldn't have liked her to go to school without a training bra how she was. But that's not to say every 11 year old should wear one, many wouldn't need one. I'm in a polo shirt today and no way could I wear no bra with this shirt as an A cup person.

[NonnyMouse]

DD was 11, which was when her breasts started growing.

Although bras aren't needed for support at that size, they're needed for modesty and comfort, as new breasts are tender and having them held slightly firmer under a bralette reduces the pain. And modesty because DD gets embarrassed that hers are drawing looks, so in a bralette they "point" less.

[goldtoe]

Then why do a-cup women wear bras, by that logic? :confused:

Logic? I thought is was just to hide the nipples. I never quite figured out why so many women simultaneously want to enhance the breasts and cleavage, but hide the nipples. As if they want to look like Barbie dolls.
Boobs are fun, but nipples are dirty. Fair observation? Makes no sense to me. Remember Janet Jackson.

Boys can get sore nipples at puberty too, but I don't see them wearing a support garment.

Answer #2: marketing. The shops are full of useless products that nobody wanted until the ad-men created a perceived need. See the Gruen Transfer.

[~BEXTER~]

I also don't let DD wear a bikini and my friends think I'm being unfair to DD for not gettng her one (she is 7). DD wears a one piece she has her whole adult life to wear bikinis.

You are not alone there, my daughter will never wear a bikini while she is still a child...

[The Girls Only Club]

DD1 is a 12a(heading towards a b) at 11 years old,she wears either her bralette or bra depending on her mood.They are all white and soft pink.She wears a white polo to school everday.

DD2 is 9 and has buds,she wears bralette or crop top,again all in white or soft pink.

They both own bikini's,they dont wear the top part,they wear a rashie shirt instead.DD1 doesn't like the feel of a one piece under the shirt.they both also own black one piece that the wear for swimming lessons.

All my family developed early,had our periods by the time we were 10-11(I got mine for Christmas the year I turned 10)I have the smallest breast at C,my mum and older sister are both EE cups and my younger sister an E.