Not a doctor but the pubic hair seems to suggest precocious puberty. I will agree with the doctor about masturbation though. My daughter is nine and has masturbated for years. I don't know if it matters how but she'll just put a stuffed animal down and "ride" him until she "feels good". She doesn't go for direct stimulation but agian, I don't know if that matters for anything. I have heard that boys typically start masturbating at six months and honestly I wouldn't worry about it at any age so long as they know it's something that's o.k. in private but not in public. When we lived in a smaller place my girl would grab Snoopy, head to the bedroom and ask for privacy. I wish you well in dealing with all of this.

Actually - when I saw your title I thought we were dealing with girls of 10 & 11 - my granddaughter 'matured' at 11 which I thought was quite young but didn't worry me because she has always looked and acted older then her actual age.  Born at 10 1/2 pounds so she looked like a 3 month old.  Walking and talking young.  Asked why she wasn't in school when she was only 3 or 4 (we don't have junior kindergarden).

But then I saw that your daughter is still a toddler.  I am glad that you are seeing a specialist.  It may be nothing - but it may indicate something is out of balance that can be treated - and better now than later.

To me, this does seem unusually early. I don't have kids, but I do know that there is a wide range in the timing of various types of development. I had also heard that girls in particular were maturing earlier, but I can't remember where. 

As far as I know, masturbation, including various specific acts, are not really related to puberty. Kids will explore themselves and many discover how to masturbate in very early years. I'm with jon in agreeing that the thing to do is teach them that it is something that they can only do in private, but otherwise not to make a big deal about it.

I can't comment on Actually's daughter.

but on the topic of early puberty in general....  I remember reading a few years ago about a study that showed a correlation between young girls growing up around men-who-were-not-their-biological-fathers and early puberty, and lots of contact with biological father correlating with late puberty. The study was suggesting that pharomones might be involved.

I haven't heard that cknk but I have heard that in general girls at least are showing secondary sexual characteristics earlier (i.e. breast development) and it was attributed to more protein in the diet. Even poor kids get their McDonald's burgers whereas in a past age poor might mean very little meat in the diet. Of course we're only talking about a modest increase in how soon breasts show up, nothing that would provide an answer for actually, a doctor needs to do that.

Some of what you post seems entirely normal to me.

A toddler who masturbates is normal.  what you need to teach them is that it is something not done in public, but at the same time not imply there is anything wrong with it.

Having baths with mom is normal.  very normal.  I would have encouraged her to bathe with you , it makes a good time to talk about bodies and touching.....

Sweating is normal.  Keep her in light clothes, bathe frequently.  I wouldn't use deordorant though.

Early breast development appears to be genetic to some level.  It is also apparent that toddlers may get breast "buds" but that is just fat laying down and no actually ducts developing.  Take a look, is your toddler a bit chubby?

As to pubic hair, that does seem out of line.  There is certainly a line of thought that says with all the hormones added to the food chain we are seeing increased hormone levels in people too.  but it may be something different.  A few diseases cause hyperfunctioning of glands so i would ask for a thorough physical.

Are girls going through puberty earlier?  Earlier than we did in the 30's 40's 50' and 60's but is it earlier historically or were those periods of late puberty?  Is it because we are healthier, eat better?  Historically girls were married at very young ages and had children at very young ages.  Hell, they mostly died by 30 so they did everything earlier.

Historically early puberty is nothing new but I'm sure that awareness to it is something new.

There are better treatments available for it now than there were then it would be hard pressed to find a young woman or teenager that does not have problems relating to hormones.

Avoiding having baths with your child, is a sure way to start negative body images !

And masturbation is something that even fetuses do ( thank god they have some privacy LOL)

Umm, what?  That makes no sense at all.

Which part ?

Okay let me rephrase not allowing her child to get into the bath with her is a sure way to reinforce negative feelings about her body later on ... parental insecurities are contagious !

How we each deal with nudity around our kids varies alot.  There isn't a right or a wrong, although there are extremes.

When our kids were little my hubby and i had showers, baths, swims with them and in the nude.  All of us were comfortable with it.

by the time my son was about 7 or 8 and daughter 4 or 5 it tapered off and ended shortly after although that was a gradual thing.  No comments were ever made, it more related to them getting older and swimming with friends, being at camp........

However, going to nude beaches in Europe with my hubby i am a bit surprised by the number of families of teens where all the family are nude.  I am not sure i could do that with my teens.

I would not cover up from my daughter ever although I also don't walk around the house nude.  But if I am in the pool nude and she comes out, there is some discreet sitting on my part.  I would cover up from my son now.

My husband is the same in the ways he deals with our kids.

I think an advantage of being nude with them when they are little is it allows them to question and gives you an easy time to answer.  Why mommy's and daddy's look different than children.  Where others can not touch, why daddy's are hairy, when will kiddy get hairy.....

but I also know that many are not at all comfortable with their children ever seeing them nude.

As long as you can easily talk about bodies, sex, touching, masturbation....... it makes no difference.

Ha it's a well known fact that europeans are not nearly as sexually screwed up as we are in this part of the world.

But they are in other ways !!!!

k, that makes way more sense.  Thanks :)  I even agree!

My understanding is that puberty is beginning earlier and earlier for girls however 3 is very young. The Masturbation thing isn't a biggie usually, but the other signs you talk about might need more exploration. 

If you are dealing with a family doctor, I would ask for a referral to a Pediatric Specialist.  This doctor can confirm but I had a friend with a daughter in a similar situation (she was 7 however) who was referred to an Endrochonologist.

I'm certainly not a medical person, but I know with my own kids whenever I have not been fully comfortable with the casual brush off of the Family GP, I've insisted on a Pediatric referral.

Holden

interesting information cknk.

As for this though: 

Avoiding having baths with your child, is a sure way to start negative body images !

I have a bath with the door open, she can come in and see me, and I don't cover up.  I don't think that displays that I am ashamed of my body, it just means that I don't want her thinking everything that is mine is hers (like the bath water.)   I'm trying to dicipline her to respect my space to a certain degree.  

Someone mentioned weight as well, that does affect child hormones, but my child is very average weight, and eats home cooked meals most of the time, rarely fast food.   She goes to a daycare with only about 2 boys in her age range, so I've had some thought to maybe the estrogen affects her from so many females around. 

I'll update when we see the specialist.

Thanks for your suggestions people!

This is slightly off topic but I had to share since the topic of kids in the restroom came up. When my girl was little she would come into the restroom while either I or my wife was on the toilet and say kind of proudly "I'm going to give you some privacy now" and then leave again, because we were teaching her about privacy. That always struck me as funny.

That is funny.