10yr old bled through her leggings - laundry help!

[FuckingHateRats]

My 10yr old started her period a couple of months ago - this is her second period. It's really heavy. She's changing a pad every hour or so.

Yesterday she felt a 'gush' and it's leaked all over her favourite peach-coloured leggings. I put them through a cold rinse but it's done nothing. Are they salvageable? Does anyone know of any laundry hacks to get the stains gone?

I do remember that it took a while for mine to settle down and bleed more regularly / consistently. The heaviness is uncomfortable for her but nothing worrying, right?

Thanks.

ACE bleach. It's brilliant. The three women of the house swear by it. You put in on and it fizzes the blood away. Then add extra to the normal wash. Never failed me yet on any kind of stain.

Your older DD sounds lovely.

Try Ace on the stain leave for 10 mins and wash 30degrees with the rest of the capful off ace and biological detergent. (Colour safe If you don’t want the leggings to fade)
if it doesn’t work fully first time just repeat till gone (Will be fine as long as you haven’t tumble dried in meantime).

I had this at work the other day and I’m almost 30. I had a gush when I stood up and next thing I knew I’d gone through a night pad, pants, thick leggings and my trousers. Thankfully all was black. My mum swears by cold water, salt and fairy liquid - I rang her for advice when I got home! I have a bottle of astonish stain remover spray and used that too, it’s fabulous for any stain x

Max dose ibuprofen can help to reduce flow too. Just make sure she's taking it with food and not for longer than the box advises.

This!

Sunshine for residual stains after the soaks.
GP for DD to help control the bleeding

I was 10 when I started and it took me years to settle down into a fairly regular cycle. I had very heavy periods like your daughter seems to be. Pads, tampons and towels on the bed! It's a little early to go to the GP if this is only her 2nd period imho, and I can't see them doing anything. I would guess they would ask you to wait 6months or so to see if it settles. These days there are mooncups and similar product that might help. I remember my mum being very squeamish about buying tampons and only stearing me towards pads, so I nonchalantly picked up lilets and dropped them in the basket. She didn't say a word - not did she know I had been using them from my second period lol! I am menopausal now but used to have a box of each size, changing up or down according to flow. I found when I was using a diaphragm for contraception it held more than a tampon, so used it with panty liners through my periods. I would think a mooncup and a pad would do the same. Good luck to your lovely sounding daughters.

Thanks for the lovely replies about my girls. They're fantastic - my eldest helped her sister download an app to help track her cycle, set her up with snacks and is just generally a fantastic support. My eldest child (firstborn, 15yr old boy) has also been lovely to her. Didn't chat about it explicitly but was around much more the days she first started and was hovering about waiting to say nice things and be helpful. I'm really proud of them.

I've bought both girls two mooncups for if/when they want to try them. They're the only sanitary products I use and I think they're miles better than anything else. I want them to be comfy though - she can have a go when she's relaxed and feeling more confident about it all.

I was 13 when I started my periods (back in the 70's), but I well remember that 'rush' of blood that ruined many clothes. I also got mine every 21 days...it was a nightmare, so I went on the Pill age 16 and thank goodness they were lighter and regular. Having children also seemed to lengthen the time between, until I got to my 40's and back to being heavy and frequent again, so Doctor fitted the Mirena coil....what a blessing.

The only thing I would recommend is to wear dark trousers to at least disguise the blood if it happens again.

Hmmmm
I'm always very dubious of these types of posts supposedly written by grown women who have no idea how to do laundry for a problem they would have experienced in their lives more than once and should therefore not need to post in detail about their young child gushing through their leggins in such detail 🙄

ModiBodi user in this house… they are definitely worth the money 👍

Hmmmm
I'm always very dubious of these types of posts supposedly written by grown women who have no idea how to do laundry for a problem they would have experienced in their lives more than once and should therefore not need to post in detail about their young child gushing through their leggins in such detail 🙄

Especially as there's a disproportionate number of posts on MN about precocious puberty. It's staggering how many there are.

If you’re a bit worried about how heavy their periods are, I really recommend this tool on the NHS website:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/heavy-periods/

I have never had to, as an adult, deal with this. I had heavy periods as a teen but my mum did the laundry. I had my first child at 20 and it totally changed my cycle so I've never really had to get rid of menstrual stains in clothing before.

What on earth would I gain from fabricating an anecdote like this?!

If her periods are that heavy she needs to see a doctor. Don't leave her to suffer with this.

Again, why on EARTH would anyone make this up? We had to wait an age to see a specialist as I raised my concerns during the height of lockdown. By the time my daughter could be seen, she was 9 and it was too late to do anything, even if we'd wanted to.

It might seem eyebrow-raising or unusual to you. That doesn't mean it isn't true. Believe me, I wish I could have shielded her from developing far earlier than all of her classmates. It was the only saving grace of it being a national lockdown - no swimming lessons, getting changed for PE etc. She was already acutely aware of her development as it was.

If anyone suspects troll then report to HQ.

Use advance search and you will sesnop has been around a while

As with any post, always be careful what you reply with and dont give too much detail about your own kids or say anything that you would not be comfortable with.

Theres a product called- save my knickers, which has good reviews although I've never had to use it so far but I do have some.

"why on EARTH would anyone make this up?"

Hmmm. No idea. Why indeed.

The reasons why people are doubting you, OP, is that if you are an age to have a 10 yo, you KNOW how to wash clothes. You have washed piss, shit and vomit out of clothes. And blood.

And you don't need to make a special post because it's "period blood.". Why not just "best way to get bloodstains out of clothes"?

We DID NOT need to hear about your child's "peach coloured leggings."

I haven’t got anything useful to add, but your eldest sounds like an absolute angel. What a treasure

your poor DD, how miserable. For her clothing, use a biological washing powder and the longest washing cycle your machine has that is loaded with lots of little things like tea towels or flannels. It's a combination of detergent/biological enzyme/ physical agitation and scrubbing in the machine that will shift heavy stains. I recommend Cleanclothnappies.com. brilliant for laundry advice - intended for very heavily soiled laundry (think multi layered cloth with urine/poo). With their advice I've managed to rescue all sorts of stains. cleanclothnappies.com/why-am-i-getting-stains/

For those doubting the OP, there is a good chance she hasn't had to get blood out of anything for a while. When she was her daughter's age, if she bled into her undies, her mum would've done the laundry at a guess. Then as she got older she would have "period pants" that were probably a bit stained - but who cares? That's why they are called period pants. Most women who have heavy periods know to wear dark clothes and "pad - up" so they can leave the house. There is a very real chance that she has managed to miss washing out blood stains in the past, or has got there fast enough that the blood rinsed out in cold water. Dried blood is much tougher to get out. Her daughter, probably feeling a bit crappy, put on her fave leggings, maybe because they were comfy and have her confidence. I dare say she will avoid light colours on her lower half at period time from now on! Also, maybe the OP unconsciously wanted to share some of the load. Or spread the joy and pride she has in her children. Does it matter if there are other, similar threads? People are obviously happy to read this thread, and in some cases pass comment.
Just MHO...

You have had some lovely advice on here and you sound like a great mum. I agree that I’ve never have to get a significant menstrual stain out of clothes. Firstly I wear a lot of black so stains aren’t really visible and I don’t have particularly heavy periods so have very rarely leaked.

I just wanted to bring up something that resonated with me, you said that she didn’t feel she needed to tell you she had started her period. And I think that’s ok. My mum always wanted to know when my period was and I found it quite intrusive. I think I was at least 16 before she seemed to let it drop and assume I could manage them myself (I managed them easily by myself pretty much from the start). It’s good if she wants to come to you if she needs help or support, but if she’s generally managing them well herself does she need to specifically tell you every time?

Literally what is wrong with people?

Lots of us have never had a situation where we flooded through our clothes (being lucky), or it happened so long ago it's hard to remember what to do. Or where a child has a beloved very light pair of leggings that she desperately wants to wear again the next day. Why be so nasty and bitchy about it to a mum who is trying to help her little girl with her period?

When I started peri after a life of light periods and I had a few flooding episodes I threw away a few pairs of underwear, and I'd forgotten what else to do other than chuck clothes in the washing machine but of course that didn't always work, so I threw out more than one item. If I hadn't gone on the pill (great solution, no flooding, back to light problem free periods again!) the problem went so now I dint have to deal with it, but what's the problem in forgetting and needing to be reminded?