s/o what age to talk about periods?

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

My daughter is 8.5 and we read the Care and Keeping of You book by American Girl. I started on the early side and it's looking like she will, too, so we started soooner with the talking rather than later.

[Deleted]

I got the talk around 8 and started my period at 12.

[wambam]

I got a talk at 8. I started when I was 13.

[flex]

My mom handed me a book and told me to read it around age 10. I started my period at 11 while I was out in the woods WITH MY DAD!!

Be sure to tell her about the cramping. Mom never said anything about it.

[meggers5]

When I was 10ish my mom asked me if I learned about periods and stuff in school. I said yes, she said Oh good!, and handed me a book that she said would answer my questions.

I was glad for this approach. I could look at the book at leisure, rather than talking to my mom about it. I love my mom to bits, but I would have been horrified at a period talk and I am uncomfortable even typing this out.

[VeryViolet]

I was always kind of aware that women got periods and kind of what it was. I think I was really curious about tampons when I was little and my mom just kind of gave me a basic talk. When I was 10 I had Family Life at catholic school and my mom gave me a pretty in depth talk about sex/periods/my body starting with family life is bullshit and masturbating is fine and normal and definitely not a sin.

[Deleted]

Also, I read "Are You There God? Its Me Margaret." on my own when I was like 9. lol

[Deleted]

We talked about periods in school at age 9.

[Deleted]

When did you and your mom start your period? Typically a girl follows that pattern, so I'd do it a couple of years before.

I think I got the talk in 1st grade because I was an early bloomer.

[Jalapeñomel]

No later than 5th grade/10/11ish

[Deleted]

Aug 29, 2014 9:49:03 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

I was always kind of aware that women got periods and kind of what it was. 

Me too, except I didn't know about menopause. So once I started my period in the middle of the night at my grandma's house. I went searching in all her bathrooms for a pad lol. Only years later did I realize why she didn't have any pads laying around. 

[shopgirl07]

I'd talk to her now. A lot of girls are getting their periods really young now. I was 10 when I got mine.

[livinitup]

My DD is 6 and she asked about the pads/tampons she saw in my bathroom. I took the advice to answered questions when they are little and curious and bonded to you and eager to get information from you - rather than waiting until they are older and think you are an idiot. So, I told her about women and the monthly cycle. She completely took it in stride.

I hope to answer more questions as she has them, and to add age-appropriate books to spark the conversation.

[meggers5]

Aug 29, 2014 10:13:37 GMT -5 milsaroo said:

Aug 29, 2014 9:38:45 GMT -5 @astrid said:

Menstruation at 8, sex at 11 when I started menstruation...I think.

ETA: THE TALKS.  THE TALKS WERE AT 8 AND 11.

When I was in basic training my bunkmate had a picture of who I thought was her brother, but actually her 8 year old son. She looked (and acted) young, and I later learned she was 19. She then told a few of us the story...

When she was 10 they had the sex talk in school where they split the boys and girls up. Her friends made a pact that the first one to get their period would be the first to have sex. Sure enough, a month later she got her period and had sex (!!!!!) and got pg because her and the boy were both 10 and didn't know what they were doing.

The end.

Mother of God. I can't imagine.

[dragonfly08]

DD #1 was about 8 1/2 when I gave her The Care and Keeping of You. I'd been planning to have the talk when she was 9, but a lot of her friends are older and had already talked with their moms, so she started asking questions.

DD #2 turned 8 today and I don't think she's quite ready for it yet. But I know the time is coming soon when I have to tell her; she's a bit more physically developed at this age than either her sister or me and I have a feeling she'll get her first period earlier.  She's not clueless; they girls know Mom uses tampons/pads on a monthly basis, it's just more specific info that's lacking.

[VeryViolet]

Aug 29, 2014 10:01:40 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Aug 29, 2014 9:49:03 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

I was always kind of aware that women got periods and kind of what it was. 

Me too, except I didn't know about menopause. So once I started my period in the middle of the night at my grandma's house. I went searching in all her bathrooms for a pad lol. Only years later did I realize why she didn't have any pads laying around. 

I knew about menopause because at some point maybe around 7 or so I asked my mom if once I got my period if I was going to have it forever. It sounded awful even to 7yo me. LOL 

[circa1978]

I was 7 or 8. I got my period at 9, which was normal in my family, so my mom and aunt talked to me early. I just remember my only question being "This is going to happen EVERY month?"

[grumbledore]

Aug 29, 2014 9:36:42 GMT -5 Mrs. ChanandlerBong said:

My daughter is 8.5 and we read the Care and Keeping of You book by American Girl. I started on the early side and it's looking like she will, too, so we started soooner with the talking rather than later.

I gave my DD (now 10.5) that book a year or so ago.  She read it avidly but didn't ask any questions.  When/if she does ask questions, I answer honestly.  We were watching a tv show together a couple of weeks and someone said the word "virgin" and she looked perplexed and asked me, "What's a virgin?"  I wanted to run like hell, but instead I just said, "Someone who hasn't had sex," as calmly as I could.  She nodded her head and moved on. 

My mother never said a word to me about any of this stuff.  I did get a book at some point that covered some of the basics.

I envy kids these days - there's so much information immediately available to them online.  I wish I'd had that when I was at that stage of life.

[textbookcase]

I started talking to C about it when she was around 8. K started picking up on things a bit younger, from reading c's books and overhearing conversations. So she knew the jist of it closer to 6-7. also highly recommend the American girl book "the care and keeping of you for younger girls" it covers all kinds of topics on puberty, health, hygiene, etc. and it's been pretty helpful.

[LeggsBenedict]

when did that episode of er where dr greene's daughter got her period air? because it was that night.

[Deleted]

How old are kids in grade 4? That when we had our first sex ed class for the girls.

[Deleted]

I had the talks with the girls in 4th grade, schools do their little assembly in 5th grade. We also read the American Girl book, the Care and Keeping of You.

My DDs both got their periods between 6 and 7th grades but my SD got hers in 3rd grade.

[berbles]

Aug 29, 2014 9:59:17 GMT -5 @wandering said:

When did you and your mom start your period? Typically a girl follows that pattern, so I'd do it a couple of years before.

I think I got the talk in 1st grade because I was an early bloomer.

Welllll, not necessarily.  I don't really remember having a period talk with my mom, and maybe that's because she assumed I would follow her pattern and she could wait.  She didn't get her period until she was 16.     I got mine at 12.  She also might have just avoided it because she knew I was getting accurate info from school, starting in 4th grade.

ETA: I do remember her telling me when I started the classes in 4th grade that if I had any questions I didn't want to ask in class, I could always ask her.  But that was about the extent of it, until The Sex Talk when I was 14 or 15.

[thatgirl2478]

I got the period talk around 4th grade - shortly after school separated us into boy/girl groups and showed us our own movies and handed out 'pamphlets'/'books' about it.

Didn't get the sex talk until the night before my wedding - it was too late at that point...

[berbles]

Aug 29, 2014 12:33:32 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

I got the period talk around 4th grade - shortly after school separated us into boy/girl groups and showed us our own movies and handed out 'pamphlets'/'books' about it.

Didn't get the sex talk until the night before my wedding - it was too late at that point...

LOL! OMG

[thatgirl2478]

Aug 29, 2014 12:34:05 GMT -5 berbles said:

Aug 29, 2014 12:33:32 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

I got the period talk around 4th grade - shortly after school separated us into boy/girl groups and showed us our own movies and handed out 'pamphlets'/'books' about it.

Didn't get the sex talk until the night before my wedding - it was too late at that point...

LOL! OMG

yeah... and it was phrased as 'wifely duties'... my mom is really old fashioned.  Unfortunately for her, she was about 7 yrs late!

[jane6672]

Aug 29, 2014 9:59:17 GMT -5 @wandering said:

When did you and your mom start your period? Typically a girl follows that pattern, so I'd do it a couple of years before.

I think I got the talk in 1st grade because I was an early bloomer.

NO!

My mom didn't get her period till she was 16, and she followed this line of thinking. My oldest sister got her period at 11 (not having had the talk), and literally thought she was DYING.

[Deleted]

I am a whackadoo hippie mom and have already talked about it with my DD1 (4). She also knows the basic mechanics of sex. I figure if we talk about it in a casual and matter-of-fact way from an early age whenever questions come up, then we don't ever have to have a big awkward sit-down when she is older.

[elleblue]

I first got the talk at school in 4th grade, when I was 8. They separated the boys from the girls and we watched an educational film about the changes our bodies would soon be experiencing. 

I didn't get my period until I was 14. lol

[penguingrrl]

My oldest will be 7 tomorrow and knows about periods. She asked me a few months ago what tampons and pads were for so I told her. DH and I had been discussing when it would be time to start those talks, so it seemed opportune. I warned her that it can cause uncomfortable cramping after I was lied to about that (I asked the school nurse if it hurt and she said not at all...).