There is no "right" answer to this question -- only the one that fits your family's needs and beliefs. Many girls will start to experience darkening and coarsening of their hair sometime between the ages of 10 and 13, with lots of cultural variation. In the melting pot that we've become in the U.S., this is now even harder to predict.
Once your daughter does begin shaving, she will need to commit to the process as her hair will usually grow back coarser and darker.
A note about safety: Many 11-year-old girls lack the precision and fine motor skills to safely complete the task. Be sure to buy a good razor with safety precautions and supervise her shaving until you feel she is competent.
A note regarding facial hair: this is often trickier to tackle, and many women prefer waxing. That's a more expensive investment, and one you might wish to delay until she's a little older.
Marilyn Augustyn
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whaaaat? is this seriously an advice site?
first, why can't an pubescent girl shave when that's what the women of her culture do, and she is at an age where she is becoming a woman? would her mother walk around with hairy legs and a mustache? this isn't a 5-year-old we are talking about here, but a young woman!
secondly, it is a myth that hair grows back darker and coarser. hair grows in cycles, and when it is unshaven, each follicle is in a different part of the cycle. when you shave, all the hairs start over at the same time, so to speak. the hair is coarser only in that the end is now blunt from the razor's cut (the next strand of the cycle will bring a softer tip, if not shaven or cut). the hair itself is not coarser. nor does it come in any darker. let it all grow out for a few weeks after shaving, and you will see that it is EXACTLY the same as it was before shaving. even if it did change, i hardly think shaving is something an 11-year-old must "commit" to.
a note about safety: most 11-year-olds DO have the motor skills to run a razor down their legs. believe it or not, they can also run a pen down a paper, a paintbrush down a wall, and a scissor down a paper. i'd say that by the age of 8, most children could carefully use a razor with no significant difference in the frequency in which they nick themselves, as compared to adults. motor skills are not the problem at age 11--you might worry about carelessness, but that depends on the child, of course. but i hardly think that there exists a normal 11-year-old who cannot competently run a razor down her leg.
for her daughter's sake, i hope the mother who submitted this question has found more competent guidance elsewhere.
What that commenter said!!!!
If she is starting to grown hair, then yes. Don't make her life any harder by being teased by peers just because she is only 11 and you don't want her to grow up.
Once you can notice darker/longer hair on the legs and underarms it's natural and cleaner to shave. I started when I was 9 1/2-10 years old, not long before my first period. I just didn't want hairy gross legs/underarms/nether regions. I had no trouble shaving safely. It's was just as much about looking clean than being vain. I was a very conservative person so it wasn't about growing up and looking good for boys, it was about looking nice in myself and not being a hairy monkey. I have a sis in law and her family didn't let her shave until she was 17! She is Greek so you can imagine the balck long hairs and she says how she was made the butt of many a joke. It shouldn't get to that point. Let your daughter shave and feel nice about herself. It's not like wearing a mini skirt or makeup, it's just about hygene. My daughter is 6 now and I expect sometime around age 9/10 she will shave. She won't be showing a lot of leg but she will have smooth clean legs.
If you can afford it, why not eliminate the mustache by electrolysis or laser NOW? Why condemn her to a life of shaving, bleaching or tweezing: it's time consuming and never-ending. It's a wise investment especially the earlier you start, and you won't have to keep buying shaving supplies, depilatories and bleaches all her life. Ask your dermatologist to refer you to a competent practioner. You will not be sorry.