12yo DD terrified about going on school residential

[Lazinonasunnyafternoon]

My 12yo DD was in tears yesterday after finding out that the school residential activity weekend (coming up v soon) will mainly include swimming and other water based sport activities and that all these activities are obligatory. She was really excited originally but is really worried now as her period is due to come at the same time and she will not try tampons. The teacher has apparently told them all that no excuses will be accepted and all students must do all the activities. She desperately doesn't want to go.. any advice? A) on getting her to try tampons or B) should I just let her skip the trip?

[dlnex]

Teacher is being unreasonable. Skip the trip.

[Pibplob]

Send her on the trip. If she doesn’t use tampons then she won’t be able to participate in everything. That’s a valid reason not an excuse. There will be other girls in the same boat. She will e able to participate in other activities. They won’t all be water based - what about the kids that can’t swim / aren’t water confident.

[spanky2]

Can you explain to the teacher that she is on her period? It seems a shame to miss the trip because of it. Is there anything a doctor can prescribe to delay her period? Or choose not to go. It's meant to be fun.

[dlnex]

12 is very young to be managing periods away from home, and to start expecting to get medication to delay periods. I would be very surprised if GP would prescribe and would not be bothering them with this sort of appointment.

[Lazinonasunnyafternoon]

I've emailed the teacher asking her to give me a ring to talk it thru but she hasn't got back to me. I'm not sure about getting something to delay it.. Seems a bit young to start messing with cycle/hormones etc. DD is also worried about 'leaks' changing clothes / sharing a room..:(

[MrsLemonadeBrain]

IF she wants to go and her period is her only barrier have you thought about asking the GP for Norethisterone.
I know it’s not ideal by any stretch but, I work with children, and it’s not uncommon particularly when kids don’t want to have to worry about periods on trips or during exams when they don’t have regular cycles etc

[dementedpixie]

Do they not offer other activities? Ds is just back from his and they did rock climbing, dry ski slope, kayaking/canoeing, etc.

[PerfectlyDone]

i used to swim competitively at that age, in the pool 5-6x/week, period or not.
Depending how heavy her period is, she might get away with a towel in her swimming cozzie (honestly, that works), or the smallest Lil-let tampon (the ones without applicator are more comfortable to use IME).

I do hope she won't let her period stop her from potentially great trip

[PerfectlyDone]

Or ,yes, Norethisterone.

[DailyMailFail101]

Make it clear that she doesn’t need to go and you won’t mind if she chooses not to go then the ball is in her court whether to try tampons or miss the trip, at this age periods are a huge deal.

[Lazinonasunnyafternoon]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll wait until Monday and hope teacher calls back. If there's the option of sitting out the swimming/water activities my DD might be less worried. She'll still have the worry of leaks tho. I've never heard of norehisterone before now but I'm not sure I feel comfortable giving it to her so young.. I think perhaps the kindest thing to do is let her skip it. Thanks again for your advice :) x

[MrsLemonadeBrain]

I agree with perfectly done re a pad in her cossie.
I too used to swim and it was really common to go with a decent pad in your swimsuit and a pair of neoprene shorts /wetsuit shorts over the top like this:

www.surfdome.com/xcel_wetsuit_shorts_-xcel_woomens_centrex_paddle_wetsuit_shorts-_black/honey_dew-245988?$ja=tsid:%7Ccid:867645838%7Cagid:43860967156%7Ctid:pla-307223863892%7Ccrid:203169707412%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:5977847569562602403%7Cdvc:m%7Cadp:1o7&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhPONqtDK2gIVErcbCh1-CwVDEAQYByABEgLIIfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Or to just wear a shortie wetsuit like these (not obviously a wet suit and v common in seaside dwelling teens and young adults where we live for a good ten -15 yrs

[ladybee28]

How about giving something like these a test-drive before making a decision? www.pantyprop.com/

Can't vouch fully for them as have never tried myself, but a friend wears them when she swims competitively and loves them.