Teen dancers and period pants

[DeuxCroissants]

Can anyone talk to me about young dancers and periods please? My DD has just started and dances a lot. She's not keen on trying tampons yet.

I've seen modibodi do leotards, but she needs to wear her dance school uniform one. I've seen tights, but do they really work? Pale pink tights with nothing else underneath seems a bit risky..? I'm trying to find period pants cut to go under a leotard but I've not had any luck yet, can any dance mums recommend any, or anything else I haven't thought of? She's quite small, wears age 12 clothes/adult XS leotard, so normal adult sizes will probably be too big.
Thanks 😊

Have you asked the dance teacher? I was also wondering about this.

I will do when I see her, and I'm feeling slightly guilty for not pre-empting this and asking sooner 🤦‍♀️ But I wondered if anyone had any direct experience of types/brands etc.

I don't know anything about leotards etc but the period pants my daughters wear are no more bulky or large than normal briefs. So unless your 12 year old usually wears a thong under her leotard it won't be a problem. Modibodi,cheeky pants, wuka. They all do loads of different styles and colours including smaller sizes for preteens.

Thanks that's good to know. Definitely no thongs in this household 😆 She has some slightly higher cut but normal knickers she wears under her leotard for classes, and some high cut flesh coloured dance wear types for shows/exams/competitions. But for normal classes it's good to know the right pair of normal pps will likely work.

I have found my daughter normally still needs a thin pad with the period pants. They are just extra protection. I haven't found them infallible. My daughter is allowed to wear a wrap skirt with her leotard so hoping this will survive (high cut period pants underneath leotard. It's not ideal and I can imagine her not wanting to go some weeks.

There's definitely a gap in the market for period dancewear.

No wrap skirts here. Although, ballet is the only class they insist on leotard + tights or socks only - no leggings/shorts, although they are also strongly discouraged for modern.

Thinking about it today I'm sure I've seen something about period dance wear before, I just haven't found it I must be googling with my eyes closed. I'll post if I find it @questionsconfusion! Either way, you're right @RunAwayNow , there is definitely a gap in the market for more dance and other active wear for teens.

@DeuxCroissants if I knew ANYTHING about manufacturing I'd be in business doing exactly this!

My DD14 is a dancer. I bought her Cheeky Wipes period pants and they are quite thin. Her leotard is black and so are the pants so they go underneath quite well. She still felt very self conscious though so uses tampons for dance now.

Modibodi ones work under leos, lots of the girls in dd’s class use them, and I’d be having a word with the teacher about allowing the girls to wear skirts. With the best will in the world they feel self conscious about it all at 12yo and wearing a skirt just makes them all feel more comfortable. Lots of girls give up ballet at this age and I suspect dealing with periods and skimpy clothing has a lot to do with it.

DD has dealt with it brilliantly so far and isn't particularly self conscious usually, but ballet on early teen periods will likely be a challenge, and I want to do my best to help. I can't see me affecting the uniform rules even though I am friendly with the principle and they are generally very supportive. I will discuss it when I have a chance though.

It's not just ballet @FacingTheWall , I gave up competitive swimming at around this age. I'd say 80% of the reason was periods and/or being increasingly self conscious in skimpy clothing (I'm so pleased there are lots more options for girls now!), 10% because I was so short sighted I couldn't see where I was going, and 10% because I was crap! 😆 It's not hard to see the correlation with clothing and attitude and girl's participation in sport falling off a cliff in the teen years and it's sad.

Absolutely, and this is why I’d take the opportunity to discuss it with the principal and point out that it might help them stay longer if they felt more comfortable. It is really sad that girls participation stops so soon.

Honestly I'd try and encourage her to give tampons a go. She may just be scared of the unknown.

We bought some pants from amazon - I think the brand was INNERSY - random but they have been okay
The dance school also allows girls to wear a dance skort

DD 16 now but also started at 12 and dancing. She used flesh coloured innersy ones I think but also got into using tampons almost right away for the convenience. The pps were more a second line of defence I think! I'd worry alone they might not be enough with ballet tights being so light. Definitely worth considering tampons again and talking through. Maybe get her a teen tampon kit to try in her own time. And letting her know it's much easier than it first appears.

https://www.knixteen.ca/collections/teen-period-activewear/products/leakproof-leotard-teens

do you have Knix in the UK? They do a period Leo?

Yes, we’ve just started dealing with this! I have a dd similar age to yours who does a lot of ballet, and we got some great period pants in M&S. I’ll attempt to link, but they have a good selection: Here

Modibody pp are brilliant. They do a teen range (smaller) too and you can get them in all colours and style of brief, even a thong. Ive never needed to wear a liner with them. But i do buy the right level i need for flow.
Im one that just didnt get on with tampons.

Meant to add, some of the M&S ones come in a size 4, which is what we bought. We also got some small ones from Cheeky Wipes, but I wouldn’t say these were cut for dancing.

Wuka period pants do a teen stretch one which is practically seamless

Modibodi do a high cut pair that would go under a leotard. DD wears them under her leotard.

https://www.modibodi.co.uk/products/seamfree-hi-leg-cheeky-moderate-heavy-red?variant=39684105535542&redirect=disable&gadsource=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtaOtBhCwARIsANNx-3KThwJUYLBOqNvFoEvx2OmAAHjhgxsCsusTyXV9g91EysAv6zta20aAq8lEALw_wcB

At DD's dance school they change to navy leotards around about the age most tend to start their periods which helps a bit.

DD wears a heavy flow period pant (high leg) from m&S - she’s very pleased with them. They’re no bulkier than a normal pair of pants and they do them in small sizes too.

I used to do a lot of gymnastics and all I can say is thank god for tampons. My daughter does a lot of gym too, and switched to tampons right away without any prompting from me.