Early Puberty

pigpen

NEH wrote: »

Yes but you do have to be careful because you don't know who will have told their friends and if what they know is correct...I'm not saying don't talk about it as i know we did when we were young but it's amazing how many wild myths fly around at that age :rotfl:

They are usually the conversation openers I found. Laughing at the silly things they discuss and believe then we can move to the reality.. it makes the conversation light and sensible rather than harsh and embarrassing.

euronorris

pigpen wrote: »

I don't think they need to know for a good few years so why tell them? they know very basic stuff.. male/female have different bits and men don't have babies.. they don't need to know the rest until it will affect them. Unless you want to end up with a 2 year old trying to insert a tampon which my sister had. These know girls have these pads and boys don't but until they are about 9-10 IMO that is enough.

Though, how DD3 will manage with periods over night is beyond me given she still wears a nappy for bed!!!!!!!!!! I am dreading it..

Small pads.. the ones for teenagers weren't absorbant enough my girls found and a lot were too wide and folded up and leaked at the sides so they like the boots ones which seem narrower but very absorbant, their second choice are bodyform.. and the ones with wings are a must.. they help with positioning and with preventing leaks.

I think that the age you discuss it at should be from 7/8 onwards. Only because shortly before I left, another girl in my school started at age 8, and this appears to be becoming more common now.

Pads ALWAYS need wings in my opinion. [EMAIL="D@mn"]D@mn[/EMAIL] things never stay in place otherwise, and not only leak, but the sticky sides end up sticking to me and that irritates even more.

Seriously considering this mooncup now! A lot of the questions I had about it, have been answered on the website. I find I always end up 'irritated' down there during my period, no matter what brand of PAD's I use.

NEH

pigpen wrote: »

They are usually the conversation openers I found. Laughing at the silly things they discuss and believe then we can move to the reality.. it makes the conversation light and sensible rather than harsh and embarrassing.

I wish i'd written a book of some of the things that went round our school...:p

pigpen

euronorris wrote: »

I take it you like it then? lol

Is it comfortable? Did you find it difficult to start with? What about if you are and about and need to empty it and rinse it? What then? ie, I'm comfortable doing that in my own bathroom, or even in someone else's bathroom (provided they have a sink in there, not just a toilet), but I wouldn't be comfortable trying to rinse it out in front of others in a public loo.

Also, from the diagrams, it looks quite small. Is it really suitable for heavier days?

They are not as small as you think. I realy struggled with the bigger one despite having had vaginal births.. the smaller one is better for me..

It took a bit of practise to get in and not drop down the loo.

Emptying while out I hated.. it gets emptied in the loo then wiping with toilet paper rather than rinsed.

I found it leaked fairly regularly too.. both sizes.. and the bigger one would tilt and empty which caused a few embarrassing situations. ere is a lot of trial and error but it is at least as good as tampons.

pigpen

NEH wrote: »

I wish i'd written a book of some of the things that went round our school...:p

Me too.. and some of the things my sisters came home with.. but at least we are open enough to straighten it out.

Sis 3 came home one day horrified when her friend had told her lady bits were caled a fadgina... erm.. not quite.. lol.. the was quite smug trotting into school the next day with the correct words for ALL the bits rather than just that one part... she called hers her baggy droobles..

Nicki

pigpen wrote: »

Though, how DD3 will manage with periods over night is beyond me given she still wears a nappy for bed!!!!!!!!!! I am dreading it..

Won't the nappy absorb the flow then? My recollection is that normal flow is only about 10-20mls per day, though obviously it looks more because blood is such a dramatic colour! Or could the incontinence nurse in your area advise as this must be something all adult females with continence issues have to deal with.

My DD who is also autistic though thankfully out of night time nappies hasn't started yet, and i've no idea how to explain to her what's coming (she is 10 with the understanding of a baby). She has a tendency to wander round the house completely naked though, so getting her to wear protection will be a challenge too!

euronorris

pigpen wrote: »

They are not as small as you think. I realy struggled with the bigger one despite having had vaginal births.. the smaller one is better for me..

It took a bit of practise to get in and not drop down the loo.

Emptying while out I hated.. it gets emptied in the loo then wiping with toilet paper rather than rinsed.

I found it leaked fairly regularly too.. both sizes.. and the bigger one would tilt and empty which caused a few embarrassing situations. ere is a lot of trial and error but it is at least as good as tampons.

Thanks PigPen. I saw someone else had raised a query with them, for the same issue about it leaking. They suggested it wasn't in the correct place (too high up).

I think I will try it, but still wear a pad the first few days, just to be safe.

building_with_lego

Look away now if you're squeamish...

euronorris wrote: »

I take it you like it then? lol I love it;)

Is it comfortable? Yes, now that I've cut the stem right off.
Did you find it difficult to start with? Yes, wore it for one period then back to tampons for the next, then gave it another go. I was having a three week period :eek: and used tampoons for the middle week; when it became apparant that Ms Period was hanging around for a bit longer I went back to the cup and realised how awful tampons are!
What about if you are and about and need to empty it and rinse it? After DS was born I had incredibly heavy periods, and emptied my cup every couple of hours. I suspect that even a megatampon would have leaked before then. You quickly get a feel for your flow and how often to empty. *However* now that they've settled back to normal I can empty twice a day- I've just measured and it holds 15ml of water. The chances are you won;t need to while you're out and about. What then? ie, I'm comfortable doing that in my own bathroom, or even in someone else's bathroom (provided they have a sink in there, not just a toilet), but I wouldn't be comfortable trying to rinse it out in front of others in a public loo. You can just empty it and wipe it round with loo paper, then wash it properly next time. Simples!
Oh, and they have a three period guarantee- if you don't like it you get a full refund ( and they use any returned ones to give out as samples), so the very worst that can happen is that you save three months' tampon money.

Also, from the diagrams, it looks quite small. Is it really suitable for heavier days? See above

My replies in blue above. I really should be on commission!

See also https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/196357

HTH

Edit: It did take some getting used to keeping it low down- it sits much lower than a tampon. There are other makes too- google 'menstrual cups' and see the pretty colours!

pigpen

Nicki wrote: »

Won't the nappy absorb the flow then? My recollection is that normal flow is only about 10-20mls per day, though obviously it looks more because blood is such a dramatic colour! Or could the incontinence nurse in your area advise as this must be something all adult females with continence issues have to deal with.

My DD who is also autistic though thankfully out of night time nappies hasn't started yet, and i've no idea how to explain to her what's coming (she is 10 with the understanding of a baby). She has a tendency to wander round the house completely naked though, so getting her to wear protection will be a challenge too!

The nurse said 'we'll cross that bridge if we have to' .. which doesn't help me or DD.

My friend with continence issues uses tampons so can wear her usual pad and the flow remains separate but I don't like them having tampons at the start.

my sister had a friend whose younger sister has Downs and she showed her pad to everyone when she started.. it was a steep learning curve for her. One of the ladies at KIDs whose daughter also has severe autism was very accepting of her periods and was shockingly mature and sensible about it and took it all in her stride. She has little speech but dd really well.

Rebekah24

Some great help in this thread

I had precocious puberty, medical early puberty at 2, was put into menopause until I was 10, however I started to bleed through the hormones from the age of 8 onwards.

I dont think 10 is early thesedays, but a lot of little things can make it more comfortable for them. Often they take a while to settle down. I had awful ones at primary school!

Teen towels, really help - smaller dimensions, ASDA do their own range. £1 a pack. I still use them now! as I am only little lol

Sanitary bags/scented bags..not very MSE I realise..but again £1 for a huge pack..and they are handy if they need to go to sleep overs or other embarassing situations where they may not have accesss to a bin

Having own little hot water bottle and a good assortment of pain relief - obviously most households have these!

I agree on the telling them what they need to know bit, just knowing about periods is plenty. My mum spoke to me early so I understood, I knew about all the bits and hormones and what my injections did. Didnt need to know all the naughty bits at age 5!! But I did need to understand my own treatment and what to do if I did start bleeding through.

Hope your littleun gets on alright ((probably all finished with by now lol )