Help with daughter's first period during our vacation

[abandcsmom]

One more thing. I don't know about anyone else's daughter, but I think bringing Midol along "just in case" is a good idea.

Oh how I wish we had brought Midol along on what I was sure would be my last visit to Disney EVER because of the horrible time I had when I was 16. Let's just say, I wasn't a nice person to be around, and my family was not very supportive either and sort of egged on the horrible witchy me. Now that I think of it, I bet my mom wishes we had brought it along, too.

 

[brymolmom]

I agree with those who say to not make a big deal about it and not to mention that you usually 'make' your period not be at the same time as vacation. You want her to think it is very normal and not a horrible thing (which are both true) to have a period during a vacation or other event. If she starts thinking it is bad to have your period during anything fun or different - she's goign to want to stay home and in bed once a month for a few days.

Just go and have fun and take lots of supplies just in case - and hit the bathrooms more often than usual.

Teaching her that girls survive and have fun on vacations even with their period is a good thing to start now.

 

[marcyinPA]

Oh, I'm so glad I have boys!

 

[islangrl]

I am the tampon expert - show one cousin how to do it, then they all start asking.

I hope the Tag Fairy sees this one

 

[bigbabyblues]

Oh, I'm so glad I have boys!

ME TOO!!!

I've never had a problem with the Kotex Ultrathin pads, if she doesn't use tampons yet.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I went through this with DD last year when we went to Disney. I would never have resorted to BC for a young girl, but I did try to instruct her on tampon usage. She hates them. Of course irregular as her periods were in the beginning, she had it when we went to Disney (Murphy's Law). The day we went to TL she relented and used a tampon...she never even got in the water and she was leaking. She was mortified. I still don't know if she didn't insert it properly or what, but now she won't touch tampons and she wound up sitting out of the water activities that day. We cut our time short there and I'm just praying we don't have a repeat on this next trip. Your not alone. You just have to deal with it when and if it happens on your trip. Maybe just in case, you can ease her into the tampon usage now so its not foreign to her later.

 

[jenseib]

Wow it amazes me how many girls won;t use them. When my older DD started I told her about tampons and she wanted to try right away. I told her to be sure that it is in far enough and if you "feel" it, then it isn't. She got it to work with in a few tries and only wear them for the most part now. But I think she was a bit older than most of these girls too. I think she was 14, but I could be wrong. I know she was in highschool.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Wow it amazes me how many girls won;t use them. When my older DD started I told her about tampons and she wanted to try right away. I told her to be sure that it is in far enough and if you "feel" it, then it isn't. She got it to work with in a few tries and only wear them for the most part now. But I think she was a bit older than most of these girls too. I think she was 14, but I could be wrong. I know she was in highschool.

My daughter is 11 and most of her friends are 11 or 12 and she and more than half of her friends have already started their periods.

 

[Missin'Disney]

Yikes, scary how early girls are starting puberty these days. I'm not looking forward to going through all this with my daughters. Just glad to know a lot of you are helping your daughters through (teaching them how to use tampons, for one thing) When I was first going through all this, my mom told me nothing. I used pads for years. Had a horrible leak one day in 8th grade, half the school saw, mortifying. But the worst was in 10th grade, I decided to try a tampon the day of my PSAT. But not being taught HOW to use a tampon resulted in my leaving a cardboard applicator inside myself. Not only did I sit through a 3-hr test like that, but I walked 2.5 miles home in 90 degree weather as well. I then realized that something had gone very wrong and needless to say am still traumatized. Anyway, I will smother my DD's with too-much-instruction when the time comes I'm sure. Better than what my mom did to me.

 

[hollyd99]

SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!

My daughter is almost 9 and this will not happen to her!!


Last week we in the bathroom at the US border (We were going shopping for your cheap American cheese!) and she was looking at the vending machine (apparently, we never use public bathrooms) and she was reading them...


"Napkin....Tampon.....Well, I know what a napkin is. You use it to wipe your face, but what's a tampon?"


I was going to tell her to hurry up and get back in the car, but then I realized I couldn't put off this puberty thing forever.

So it was there, in the US customs bathroom, that my daughter learned (very briefly) what a tampon was for.

 

[goofyisinphilly]

My cousin was about 6 and learning to read when she saw a box of tampons under her mom's sink. She said 'mom what are tampons?' Mom replied ask your Aunt Jan about it. Her mom thought she was being really smart b/c Aunt Jan only comes in at Christmas every year. Needless to say my little cousin who was by then 7 made a point to ask Aunt Jan what tampons were. Her response...ask your mom

 

[Cinderellabride]

I got my period when I was 13, and loved swimming. I was unable to use tampons without issue until I was older. Also just so parents know: if you don't get them in properly and you go swimming they absorb the pool water and let me tell you how much that burns!!!!! So please be careful. However, I would definetly definetly not put a 12 year old on bcp's just so she didn't get her period while on vacation, and as a previous poster said I would not tell her that you do that either.

 

[wvdislover]

Thanks for all the great ideas everybody! We are going on a land/sea vacation at the end of September, and my biggest fear is that my DD11 (as of 1 1/2 weeks ago) will start during our vacation. We have had our "talk," so she at least knows what's going on and I bought her the "My Body" book by American Girls to help explain things a little better (and she really enjoys reading this...maybe it helps make puberty less scary ). We actually had our talk when she was 9, b/c she was having problems with stomach aches. A couple of people in the office at school asked me if I thought she might be starting When I told them she was only 9, they told me that there were already 2 girls in the 4th grade who had started Needless to say, we had our talk that very night! Now, we talk about it kind of jokingly, which I hope will make the situation easier when it actually does happen. Good luck, everybody!

 

[Rapunsel]

UGGH!!! My DD is only 3 but I still dont want this to happen. I rememebr the first time it happened to me. Labor day weekend right before 5th grade started... it was so embarrassing!!!

What i have come to realize over the past 22 years of having my friend is go with the flo! Ha!!! No seriously.. Try a couple different brands of tampons for her for swimming. I preffer the playtex Pearl, I am a swim instructor so I have tried many different brands!


Also for those of you out there that have boys.. wait till they start sending scud miselss.
A friend had bought a new box of "pencils" (our code word over the phone) and realized that they were all gone.. So she went to ask her boys of they had been horsing around and snooping in the bathroom. Well one of them yells. Mom watch. A pencil goes flying through the air to knock over some green army men...

Moral of the story boys can find inventive uses for them also...

 

[teresajoy]

One quick word of advice. When I was a teen I talked a friend into trying them. I guess we didn't stress enough that you need to REMOVE the two cardboard pieces. We were wondering why she was walking like a mummy!

You should have had a warning in your post about that one!!! I could have ruined my laptop when my drink went spraying out of my mouth!!!!!!!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'm glad to see how many mom's have had the discussion with their daughters early. I wish my mom would have. I started when I was 10. It was the first day of 5th grade. Mom thought she had a couple more years and had never talked to me about it. I'd been having cramps for a few days and had no idea why my stomach had been hurting so much. Then I came home from school that day and found blood in my underwear when I went to the bathroom. Thank god it didn't start while I was at school. But I sat in the bathroom for the longest time completely freaked out. I finally called my mom in. She didn't believe that it was possible and called my pediatrician to ask. She felt pretty bad that she hadn't prepared me for it.

Of course, she also avoided talking about sex with me until I was a couple months from high school graduation and was already on the pill and sexually active. And even then, her version of the talk was "Aunt Peggy thinks I should talk to you about sex. Do you have any questions?" Um, no. Got it all figured out. Thanks, Mom.

I am dreading these conversations with my daughter, but I'm going to make sure I have them well before she experiences these things.

 

[Disney_Angel]

I am the tampon expert - show one cousin how to do it, then they all start asking. It is not hard and they are so appreciative of the fact that they can swim, wear cute outfits and not have to think about their period.

My husband laughs cause I seem to buy tampons all the time to give to my cousins or friends kids or neighbor kids. I only get my period 4 times a year (thanks to Seasonale), but you would not know it from the number of tampon boxes that go through my house!

My one cousin cried last June - it was 90 plus degrees, humid etc and she wanted to swim so bad. Presto chango became a tampon user and had a great vacation.

So let me get this straight.....your the Tampon Fairy ?
Liberating woman one tamon at a time.

 

[Disney_Angel]

I got my period when I was 13, and loved swimming. I was unable to use tampons without issue until I was older. Also just so parents know: if you don't get them in properly and you go swimming they absorb the pool water and let me tell you how much that burns!!!!! So please be careful. However, I would definetly definetly not put a 12 year old on bcp's just so she didn't get her period while on vacation, and as a previous poster said I would not tell her that you do that either.

Agreed...placing a just starting menstration child on BC for the sake of convience during a trip to Disney is not a good idea.
Periods happen.

 

[Disney_Angel]

My cousin was about 6 and learning to read when she saw a box of tampons under her mom's sink. She said 'mom what are tampons?' Mom replied ask your Aunt Jan about it. Her mom thought she was being really smart b/c Aunt Jan only comes in at Christmas every year. Needless to say my little cousin who was by then 7 made a point to ask Aunt Jan what tampons were. Her response...ask your mom

 

[disneynewbee]

My dd got her very first period ever 2 days before our very first Disney trip. I was completely freaking out. My dd loves to swim and I didn't want her to have to miss out. I bought some ob light tampons and she was able to use them ok. Luckily since it was the first one it was gone a day after we got there. I use the pill to offset my period too but don't think an ob/gyn would do that for a kid their ages.