I have never raised a girl before. I did 4 boys, and they are just flat out different!

So I'm wondering about Angela's voice. She does not have the typical gruff voice that often goes with kids who have DS. She has a high pitched sweet little voice. Until about a week and a half ago, she started sounding very hoarse to me. She's not wheezy, and has no other indication of illness other than an occasionaly cough. I haven't brought her to the doctor, because other than the hoarseness, she's fine, and I'm tired of the doctor's office. But her voice is all of a sudden very gruff.

Tonight at dinner I said something to Dean about it and he said, "Her voice is changing".

WHAT? (mind you, Dean has one son who is 16 and hasn't lived with him in 11 years. So he probably has no clue what he's talking about.)

Do girls voices change like boys do? If they do, would it be that quick of a change? If that IS what happened, I DON'T LIKE IT! I liked her voice the way it was, and I want it BACK!

So someone who has raised girls into puberty, please respond!

Both my 14 and 12 year old daughters voices have changed. Not remarkably, but they are a bit deeper than they were. My oldest girl still has one of the highest voices in the choir, but she cannot hit the notes she used to a year ago. My younger girl's voice changed more so, but her voice was never sqeaky or high pitched.

So, I would think that if Angela's voice is pretty high pitched she probably won't change much.

I do not recall either of them changing quickly, maybe she has something else going on-could she have recently strained her vocal cords-like from singing or screaming?

Just a few thoughts I have...

That's what I was kind of wondering about. She's finally stopped the growling thing. She rarely does it anymore, and she doesn't scream. (she's not able to, her diaphgram doesn't support a scream) But you know, sometimes her voice is sounding breathy, which makes me wonder now as I think outloud....I wonder if she's developed nodules on her vocal folds or something like that.

I think it is definately worth some investigation by the doctor just to be sure. Maybe it's nothing at all, and maybe she will wake up this morning sounding like her usual self-you never know. But I would say if the change was rather sudden it wouldn't hurt to check it out with the doctor.

My twin girls are 12 and I haven't noticed any change in their voices at all. Noah's voice changed dramatically when he had his tonsils out, it was just amazing. Funny, Noah is hoarse now too, like a little bit of laryngitis and you can only pick up on it when he laughs with that little gruff sounding voice, or when he's yelling about something and sounds all rough and deep. It's so cute.

And if the voice thing is getting to you, just WAIT till she starts her period, OH MY!!!!! Can't wait to hear those stories, ha ha ha.

Oh my God Vonda, you are mean!

Hey, I don't know about this with DS... But something to consider, perhaps. I went through puberty at 11, and around 12, my voiced changed. Don't get me wrong, I'm fair skinned and haired, not masculine AT ALL LOL, but I'm not one of those girls with the "sing songy" voice.
Also... My Emily, who is only three God love her, we are thinking she has a hormonal imbalance, as she is very "womanly" if that makes sense- In other words, one of those girls who are going to start her period WAY TOO YOUNG. Her dr actually thinks it was homogenized milk, but nonetheless, when she started gaining wait, her voice deepened. Kelley has talked to her- she has a gruff little voice. Could be an indication of those womanly hormones.

Amanda! Have you brought her to a ped endo yet, (like you need yet another doctor to run to) to have her tested for Precocious Puberty? I learned alot about it when Noah was going through his GHD junk. It's really important to have them tested, because thier growth plates fuse early, which means they stop growing!

I think for the most part... all boy's and girl's voices change with puberty (DS and typical and whatever)... I think it's just puberty law! LOL I just think some are more noticeable then others.

Regan, my oldest, just turned 13 in March. She has not started her period yet and I couldn't tell you if her voice changed but it probably has. She has her own "issues" and is VERY flat and monitone by nature... she has no intonations or emotions... so I just hear a monitone voice. It would make it harder for me to "hear" the change.

And as far as the period stuff... by nature... a girl's body usually has to be around 100 lbs before she will get her period. Our bodies are designed to carry a baby and won't start menses until around 100 lbs for that reason. Doesn't mean it won't be EXACTLY 100 lbs.. but around there. Regan is 95 lbs at the moment. I am waiting... waiting..waiting LOLOL I was a late bloomer too.

A.

Yep- she goes back next month. It's a scary thing really. I feel so bad for her. But the voice thing- I really do think it could be related to her hormones changing. Mine was, and Emily's too- even in a scarier way.
I don't know about the weight thing. I am very short. I didn't reach five foot even until I was in eighth grade. I was in fifth grade, 4'9, and 86 pounds when I got my period. I was very small. I know that for a fact, because my mom was one of those weird ones who kept track, lol.

LOL I'm laughing about my spelling in my last post. I spelled "weight" wait... Geesh why am I even typing? teehee

[Edited by tsmith on 04-13-2006 at 04:49 PM]

Well, I got my period at 12, and weight about 75 lbs (I was very small!) In fact, I had trouble getting into the Army at 17 because of it. Weight minimum for women wa 105, and I was only 95 lbs. I had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get in......and came home 6 months later 45 lbs heavier!

If that were the case, I wouldn't have to worry about Angela till she was about 20!!! LOL She's turning 10 in 2 months, and is only 50 lbs!

Hey.. now that is interesting and cool I think! LOL heehee... who knew! I was tiny JUST like you in 5th grade... Regan will ask me from time to time how tall I was.. and I always say "HALF you size". I was 4'9" in the 9th grade and in the 10th grade I was 5'4". Yep... got stretch marks to prove it. I trip out actually... Reece, my youngest, is 5 and already 45 inches tall. I tell my husband and Regan that when I was 8 1/2 in the summer I couldn't even swim in the local pool because I wasn't even 48 inches yet.. and Reece is just 3 inches shy of that at 5!!!!

And the weight/period thing... I guess it's a "guideline" thing.. the weight thing... it's in books... I have read it and it makes sense to me. But I guess that doesn't mean it happens to all of us like that! Since Amanda and Leah have now disproved that LOL. And I was "lighter" then then what they say too. They also say you pattern your mother.. but that didn't happen to me like that either. My mom and sis were younger.. but their "stature" was different then mine. My mom says I was 14... I thought I was 13 but she SWEARS I was 14 when I started.. and I was probably only around 80-90 lbs I suppose when I was 14.

A.

after eleven years of teaching middle and high school children and doing theater and plays & muscals.

Girls voices do not change like a guys (I always think of that Brady bunch episode! ....When it's time to change...you got to rearrange.... ) But they become more fuller. A majority of girl drop their high soprano and develop some range in the alto/ soprano area!

It is always way different than boys and usually happened around 7th or 8th grade for us-(right in middle of huge production of something like that) But it becomes much more richer and well rounded!!!