My turn - kid gets period

[af1212]

My oldest kid, who I think was just a newborn last week, has gotten her first period today.

We are prepared - she took a workshop, has lots of products, etc. But of course I’m still shocked and feel caught off guard.

She has two swim meets this week - I’ll have her try tampons I guess and if she doesn’t like she can cancel?

She is going to overnight camp on Sunday. It’ll be over by then right?

I know all of these things have been asked a million times already so thank you for humoring me.

Anything you have done to acknowledge that your kid is growing up? Gift or outing or anything? I think she is excited by this but doesn’t want to show it.

[cereal K]

DD (11, almost 12) got her first kind of period in January. It was mostly dark brown blood, she says, and sounded like it was mostly just spotting for a week. After that there was a whole lotta nothing until a few weeks ago when she got it again, and more “typical” in its presentation. Of course, that happened the day we left of a short family trip to the river for swimming and tubing.

She was SUPER skeptical of tampons, but we got some for just the water parts of the trip. I took one out of the packaging to show her how to extend the plunger, push it all the way in once inserted, and to put the applicator in the paper, always check for the string, etc. She’d read it in books, but needed to see it for it all to click.

She didn’t love the tampons, and went back to pads when we weren’t in water, but I think she feels like she’s over the hurdle and could use them again.

Everyone’s cycle is so different (and thanks to an IUD I haven’t had a period in almost 8 years, so I’m out of practice), but her’s wrapped up in just about a week, which was nicely timed, as she left for girl scout camp the same day. She still packed some pads and tampons just in case it wasn’t done yet, and to share in case another camper was in need (love that!).

Aside from getting supplies, we didn’t really mark the occasion. I made her a cute zipper bag for her backpack to keep pads in, using her favorite colors, but other than that, it was kind of a “cool, you’re growing up kid” moment, and then we moved on.

[nicolewi]

Thank goodness she got it now and not next week at camp!!!!!!!

Yes, I would think it will be over before camp.

My daughter, despite all kinds of prep, was horrified and traumatized and cried on and off, so we did not do any gift or anything. We just got through it!!! Luckily, she was at home, she was doing virtual school at the time, and it was truly much better than it could have been. I had originally thought we'd go to lunch or do pedicures or something, but it was in the midst of Covid.

I would try to do tampons but don't be surprised if it doesn't go very smoothly. In my case, I would totally let her cancel if she doesn't mind cancelling and doesn't want to swim this week. But maybe she'll have no problem. You can see what happens!!!

Glad she (and you) are handling everything okay.

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 14:03:02 GMT -5 cereal K said:

DD (11, almost 12) got her first kind of period in January. It was mostly dark brown blood, she says, and sounded like it was mostly just spotting for a week. After that there was a whole lotta nothing until a few weeks ago when she got it again, and more “typical” in its presentation. Of course, that happened the day we left of a short family trip to the river for swimming and tubing.

She was SUPER skeptical of tampons, but we got some for just the water parts of the trip. I took one out of the packaging to show her how to extend the plunger, push it all the way in once inserted, and to put the applicator in the paper, always check for the string, etc. She’d read it in books, but needed to see it for it all to click.

She didn’t love the tampons, and went back to pads when we weren’t in water, but I think she feels like she’s over the hurdle and could use them again.

Everyone’s cycle is so different (and thanks to an IUD I haven’t had a period in almost 8 years, so I’m out of practice), but her’s wrapped up in just about a week, which was nicely timed, as she left for girl scout camp the same day. She still packed some pads and tampons just in case it wasn’t done yet, and to share in case another camper was in need (love that!).

Aside from getting supplies, we didn’t really mark the occasion. I made her a cute zipper bag for her backpack to keep pads in, using her favorite colors, but other than that, it was kind of a “cool, you’re growing up kid” moment, and then we moved on.

Oh wow so she went 5 mos between first and second period? Good to know!!

I saw her undies this am and was only a little and she put on a panty liner. And nothing more for a while. But I just ran an errand and she called me to say that it was a lot of blood. Not sure if that really is a lot of blood or if it’s just surprising to her to see it.

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 14:22:39 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

Thank goodness she got it now and not next week at camp!!!!!!!

Yes, I would think it will be over before camp.

My daughter, despite all kinds of prep, was horrified and traumatized and cried on and off, so we did not do any gift or anything. We just got through it!!! Luckily, she was at home, she was doing virtual school at the time, and it was truly much better than it could have been. I had originally thought we'd go to lunch or do pedicures or something, but it was in the midst of Covid.

I would try to do tampons but don't be surprised if it doesn't go very smoothly. In my case, I would totally let her cancel if she doesn't mind cancelling and doesn't want to swim this week. But maybe she'll have no problem. You can see what happens!!!

Glad she (and you) are handling everything okay.

Yes I was thinking the same thing about camp!! At her well visit in January the Dr said will likely be in next 6 mos and my kid is very “by the book” with development so I was expecting it anytime now.

[af1212]

Ok so to follow up it wasn’t a lot of blood which I know because she changed her pantiliner and left it sitting out on the bathroom counter 😰😰 and told the rest of the family just to not go in there 🤣

And she is practicing tampons now. So far so good!! I’m skeptical as she won’t let me watch and it seems too easy for her to be doing it right??

And she just asked me - so how often is this going to happen. Like will it be going on tomorrow? 🤦🏼‍♀️

[cleo29]

Will definitely be over by the time Camp rolls around. C has found platex tampons to be the most comfortable, so I would give those a try. And for future, Ruby makes swim suits for girls, but C will still skip swim on her first day or second day when things are far heavier.

[joy]

Jun 26, 2022 14:45:46 GMT -5 af1212 said:

And she is practicing tampons now. So far so good!! I’m skeptical as she won’t let me watch and it seems too easy for her to be doing it right??

Oh my. I never let my mom watch me! Haha. I was a competitive swimmer so I knew full well that when the time came, I was going to need to be all-in on tampons. I read the instructions, practiced a few times, learned that it can go quite far up and the further up it goes the less I will feel it, and boom. Done. So, yeah! She could have figured it out quickly!

[joy]

Jun 26, 2022 15:03:10 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

Will definitely be over by the time Camp rolls around. C has found platex tampons to be the most comfortable, so I would give those a try. And for future, Ruby makes swim suits for girls, but C will still skip swim on her first day or second day when things are far heavier.

Yup, agree with Playtex rec! That’s all we had in my house. I remember learning about OB (no applicator) and Tampax (cardboard applicator) and was a hell no to both. The Playtex curved plastic applicator made insertion easiest.

[1confused1]

My daughter wears these swimsuits (they have racer back ones) when she has her period. They work great. She also has the sleep shorts.

us.modibodi.com/collections/swim-red/?page=2

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 15:07:01 GMT -5 joy said:

Jun 26, 2022 15:03:10 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

Will definitely be over by the time Camp rolls around. C has found platex tampons to be the most comfortable, so I would give those a try. And for future, Ruby makes swim suits for girls, but C will still skip swim on her first day or second day when things are far heavier.

Yup, agree with Playtex rec! That’s all we had in my house. I remember learning about OB (no applicator) and Tampax (cardboard applicator) and was a hell no to both. The Playtex curved plastic applicator made insertion easiest.

I use playtex so that’s what she Tried although she has a sample pack of a bunch of different brands but she didn’t want to “waste” them 🤣 so I told her she could open and throw away as many of mine as she wanted.

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 15:36:45 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

My daughter wears these swimsuits (they have racer back ones) when she has her period. They work great. She also has the sleep shorts.

us.modibodi.com/collections/swim-red/?page=2

Unfortunately she has to wear her team suit for the meets so doesn’t have any options there. She does have some thinx she is going to try out this week.

[gretchenindisguise]

My kid went straight to tampons, hated the feeling of pads. They were able to figure them out pretty quickly and said they were comfortable. I use tampax pearl so thats what they tried and will stick with them.

Their first one actually lasted more than a week before it finally died. 2nd hasn’t come yet 6ish weeks later, but their body seems to be gearing up for it. We leave for vacation on Sunday so probably then 😫

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 16:20:58 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

My kid went straight to tampons, hated the feeling of pads. They were able to figure them out pretty quickly and said they were comfortable. I use tampax pearl so thats what they tried and will stick with them.

Their first one actually lasted more than a week before it finally died. 2nd hasn’t come yet 6ish weeks later, but their body seems to be gearing up for it. We leave for vacation on Sunday so probably then 😫

Ah isn’t that always the way. Good to know about the length.

She is now on tampon #4 and seems to be doing fine with it!

Eta - not because they are full but because she wants to keep checking them 🤣

[af1212]

Jun 26, 2022 16:20:58 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

My kid went straight to tampons, hated the feeling of pads. They were able to figure them out pretty quickly and said they were comfortable. I use tampax pearl so thats what they tried and will stick with them.

Their first one actually lasted more than a week before it finally died. 2nd hasn’t come yet 6ish weeks later, but their body seems to be gearing up for it. We leave for vacation on Sunday so probably then 😫

How do you know they are “gearing up for it”? Just want to know what to look for.

[gretchenindisguise]

Jun 26, 2022 16:37:09 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Jun 26, 2022 16:20:58 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

My kid went straight to tampons, hated the feeling of pads. They were able to figure them out pretty quickly and said they were comfortable. I use tampax pearl so thats what they tried and will stick with them.

Their first one actually lasted more than a week before it finally died. 2nd hasn’t come yet 6ish weeks later, but their body seems to be gearing up for it. We leave for vacation on Sunday so probably then 😫

How do you know they are “gearing up for it”? Just want to know what to look for.

Mood, crampiness and discharge.

[sonrisa]

Ugh. I'm so sorry your kid is dealing with this. I would start preparing for camp. My teen periods usually lasted about 10 days.

One of the things I mention to my kids in preparation is that a period lasts for many days. My mom really downplayed it as "just a little blood in your panties." I was devastated and felt betrayed when I realized that it wasn't "just a little blood" and lasted for days and days.

[mambo123]

I really wished my mom let me used tampons. Wasn’t a thing until I was in college and away from the family home. Kudos to everyone in the thread giving their kid some space to figure it out!

[skidunks]

You guys are awesome moms!

[af1212]

Update - she is asleep with thinx and a tampon. We made it through day 1 whew.

Thank you all for sharing your stories. I swear just yesterday I was swaddling her and shushing her to sleep while pacing the halls. Time is a thief for sure.