My 11. 5 year old just got her period, swimming tomorrow evening. What can we do?

[Pumpkinspawn]

Dd Just got her period she has swimming tomorrow evening & I wasn't prepared. She won't wear tampons. What can I get her, I don't want her missing it as I don't want her to see her period as a huge event just something we get on with with a few adjustments. Tia

Primark do decent period swim bikini bottoms, my daughter wears them.under her costume and has been v impresef with them

I got period swimwear delivered on holiday overnight when dd started on holiday. Try amazon and filter by prime delivery

An 11 year old is unlikely to weigh that much. Or have the same size hips as a woman who is a size 8.

Absolutely not. I was a little over 5 st when I started at 12. I wasn’t 7.5 st until I was 19 and my periods were like clockwork that whole time. And I’m average height. It’s really dependent on the individual.

I don’t think the weight thing is a myth, it’s not necessarily 7.5 stone, but menstruation is linked to having over a certain % body fat and being physically mature enough to sustain a pregnancy. There have been plenty of studies on this, and it’s also why some women’s periods stop with eating disorders or extreme weight loss.

Modi Bodi period swimwear is excellent, but I think you can only get it online.

If she is feeling OK and not bleeding too heavy then period swimming pants. But when I first had periods, they were really heavy and excruciating by the 2nd and 3rd days. There is a fine line between not treating a period as a big event and downplaying just how debilitating they can be.

I started at 10, just let your DD sit the sessions out and get everything together for next time..

Both my giros have modibodi pants and swimmers.

Why on earth not? Almost without exception you need to weigh 7.5 stone to start your periods, so an 8 (or 6) would fit most girls that size just fine.

Eleven year olds aren't an 8 or a 6 in women's clothing.

Primark do period pants, par of those under the swimsuit will work or, get her to try
Tampons, my kids managed them very young, also swimmers.

I realised I would be on my period on holiday so ordered period bikini bottoms and some board shorts and they came the next day.

My daughter's were competitive swimmers. It was their choice. Sometimes they choose to give training a miss and sometimes they used a tampon just for swimming.

Funkita do period swimwear

They do period swimwear in girls/teen sizes . If you can’t sort any in time then just let her sit this one out until you’ve bought some suitable ones. Doesn’t send a bad message at all, just awkward timings.

My daughter started her periods when was the same age, and also a keen swimmer. I managed to get a period swimsuit and bikini pants from primark that day. The smallest bikini pants were huge, but the swimsuit ok- after I stitched the straps to shorten them considerably. It did the job for that day.
I then got a modibodi and wuka swimsuit ordered that both fit much better, but took a day or two to arrive.
Hope the gala goes well

We have used Modi Bodi and Wuka period swimwear. Both have a black racer back costume similar in style to the common Speedo one. Both seem to work well for normal teen periods.

But equally if either of my DDs wants to miss a swim session because she has her period I’m pretty relaxed about it.

Was also going to say primark but it depends on which store. Never seen any in my local store.

i got my dd period swimwear from amazon. I have a pair too that are like briefs and i can wear them under a different costume or as a bikini.

It can increase hugely. The first few periods can be enormously heavy -,for reasons I don’t understand. I think it would be awful if it all leaked when she started the movement. You can swim with periods obviously but it takes us all a few cycles to get to grips with managing them, knowing when to change sanitary products etc . I think it would do her far more damage psychologically if they had to close the pool because she leaked than just skipping this time . Just explain you weren’t prepared with the kit.

She should skip this one. Tampons or mooncups would surely be highly inappropriate at this point. Celebrate her Menarche, it is a very special step in her journey towards womanhood. ✨️

DD15 swims competitively and has had her period since turning 12 and 1 month. She wears ModiBodi period bikini bottoms under a swim costume/race suit with tampons. She had to use them from the very beginning as the period bikini bottoms are really designed for lounging by the pool, not a 2hr training session.

Her friends who don’t wear internal protection with the pants, often find they flood a little on leaving the pool (for dive starts etc) if they’ve already been in swimming for a while. This would be more likely at a gala when they are in and out of the pool more often.

How do I find the poolside chat?

Forgot to say, she used to have the black racer back from ModiBodi. It didn’t stand up well to the amount of training she does. She also didn’t like signalling that she was on her period by wearing a different costume. She could wear it on its own on Day 1 or when her period was tailing off, but not without internal protection in between.

My DDs wear period swimear - it's great. Is there anything on next day delivery/Amazon? Otherwise, maybe Decathlon if there's one near you?

DD was a slightly curvy 8 at 11, and 5'5".
She was 13 last week and is a size 10.

My daughter who was in Y5 and skinny when she started hers was nowhere near 7.5 stone…