Early Puberty

jillyjacks

In our area the school nurses come in in year 5 or 6 and talk to the kids...boys as well...about puberty and changes to their bodies...they take the girls off on their own for a chat about periods and everyone gets a leaflet explaing whats been talked about..

tattycath

ailuro2 wrote: »

My DD has taken it in her stride, I always ask if she has her "tin" with her, and suggest ways that she can keep it handy so she doesn't need to go get it out of her schoolbag, so the inner pocket of her coat, for example, is a good place to keep it.. I remind her to replenish it too, and make sure there's always lots of towels in the cupboard in the bathroom...

one thing DD did find odd was the towels seemed too wide for her pants, she now uses Always simply fits for during the day and Always night time ones for night time - I was amazed at how heavy she seems to be, has had quite a few accidents, though thankfully not at school..:eek:

I think by talking to her and always being open with her without grossing her out too much she sees it as just something else that happens and isn't too fussed by it.

She shouted me through to the bathroom the other day to annouce she now has hairs under her arms... 7 of them!:)

I think having a bin in the bathroom is important too - that way she can dispose of stuff without leaving the bathroom, iyswim, it's something I never had as a young girl, and it just added to the stress / annoyance factor. ( Mum also used to keep the ladies things in a drawer in her bedroom - most embarassing when it was something that wasn't talked about openly)

I can so relate to this. my mother didn't tell me anything about periods and always kept sanitary towels in her bedroom and we didn't have a bin in the bathroom either-it was always a palava when i wanted to use a pad or change a pad-she'd run upstairs and get one and i had to put the soiled one into a paper bag (also kept in her room) and then she would dispose of it-normally throw the bag with the pad on the fire i think. It would have been much easier if pads were in the cupboard in the bathroom and if there was a bin in the bathroom. That's what i do for my girls-and i buy cheap nappy sacks to put the used pad in-when money is tight I use cheap sandwich bags -(kept in the bathroom for that purpose)

pigpen

At our primary the boys get the talk about periods too.. while they might not have them themselves, they need to understand their sisters and mothers and sometimes grandmothers do too and all their girlfriends and wives will so they need to know and hopefully it is less of a taboo there as well.

Well my sister started she shouted to our brother to go by her some tampax lol.. so off he trotted like a gem.. great having 3 sisters, he loves it.

I do think it is important they pick up their own stuff from the shop right from the start.. mine have their own stuff in their rooms (the little ones tend to fiddle with anything left in the bathroom ) and I always ask if they need anything when doing a shop.. and if they run out I give them a couple of quid and they run off to boots. I often have spare packs in my room and the girls are allowed to help themselves.

I think having a bin in the bathroom is easier too. I had 7 shades of the proverbial beaten out of me when I started and my to$$er of a dad told everyone I pooed myself! And he wonders why I hate him.. anyway.. I bought my own stuff and kept it well hidden as my siblings were never kept out of my room and stole my stuff, and my stepmother took my pads if she had none.. even though I bought them. I wasn't allowed to put anything in the bathroom bin I used to tie it all up in a carrier and drop it in the ST bin at school when I got there.

I need to have a girl talk with DD3 as well I guess.. she was 10 in December and will be 11 before they have the chat at school.

scottishminnie

If she has a close friend at school it may help if she tells them. I started in primary 6 and was devastated by the whole experience. I thought I was the only person in the world to go through it at the time.
My mother had never explained what may happened and I honestly thought I was dying as it started overnight and I'd never known pain like it.

My mother used tampons which she wouldn't consider me using and unfortunately her experience of pads had been years before so she bought huge bulky things which were so obvious. They showed terribly when I had to wear those ghastly blue gym shorts -thank goodness things have moved on since then.

It will take time before she finds what sanitary wear suits her best - just make sure she has plenty to use. I worried about not having enough pads and was too embarressed to ask for them which wasn't a good situation to be in.

The book links others have posted look very good - that would have made so much difference to me - may have avoided an unfortunate incident with my first tampon - lets just say I put it in the wrong place - that's how little my mother had explained to me!

One thing I remember was that the school didn't have disposal facilities in the kids toilets which was a bit of a challenge. That's worth thinking through too.

cautious_bob

Family Planning Association produce two really useful booklets '4 Girls' + '4Boys'
Working with young people (and sometimes adults) I have used both- and would suggest that some knowledge of the 'opposite sex' in terms of puberty etc is important - and often overlooked - for young people.

Bob

elisamoose

I am surprised that the whole class have not had the talk.I work in a primary and sex Ed is part of the curriculum . We usually do it in summer term of y5with a refresher in y6 as part of the moving on to secondary school. we take girls separately and the talk goes into lots of detail with products to look at .
the staff in year 6 have a stash of towels in the classroom for emergencies and we keep a pack in the first aid room too. All girls who start know who to speak to when they need supplies. I always take some on school trips too!

BTW she is surely not alone .....our average y6 class has at least 3 or 4 who have started.

NEH

I'm surprised that schools haven't done the talk either....We all had it when we were quite young and we were bombarded with freebies which kinda helps you decide which is best without spending a fortune....

I would second having a bin in the bathroom, makes a difference and also when her friends stay the night and start too it makes things a lot easier for them as well...Baby wipes are useful to use as well and quite cheap as well these days....

As for someone saying pads are too wide for their daughter it's something i've noticed about pants these days the crotch is a hell of a lot narrower....:rotfl: M and S are the worst culprit...

I would also make sure she knows about taking painkillers, using hot water bottles etc... as the pain can be hard to deal with especially in the beginning....

Make sure as well as having supplies for school that she also packs a spare pair of knickers in her bag as well....saves any further embarassment if accidents do occur...

In my day everyone couldn't wait to start though i think a lot wished they had been a late starter once they had started! :rotfl:

mishkanorman

I was 8 when my periods started, My mum didnt find out till I was about 10 / 11 as I just got on with things.


My poor sister however was 16 and was questioned almost daily by my mum to see if she had started yet !

faithcecilia

I too started at 10. In my case it was no shock - mum had given me 'the talk' at 8 as she had started at 9 and thought she was dying!!:eek::eek: From my memory, I wanted to just ignore it and get on with life as normal. I had no desire to talk about it or be spoilt or whatever and I couldn't bear to look at my dad for the whole of that time:o. I also insisted on using tampons from my second period - my mother was horrified as she has never used them, but it actually made it all more manageable for me as I could keep it more private.

I'd say just try to 'read' your daughter without talking too much unless she wants to. She may well be embarrassed, but behaving as normally as possible will probably help - after all, its something we have all done and all have to deal with every month:cool:

laurel7172

I work in year 6, and quite a few of our girls have started their periods.

It probably isn't necessary to go to the headteacher (though I'm sure she'll be kind and supportive), because the school may already have things in place to help.

We know it's traumatic for girls to start so young, and we have a chest of drawers in the disabled loo that I keep stocked up with nice sanitary towels and pretty handwash, so they don't have to smuggle towels past the other girls (and, horror, boys!). Though, obviously, somebody has to be, she may not be the first...we don't announce it in assembly, you know

My thoughts to her (and you)-it's a shock at that age.