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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to 'allow' my daughter to try a tampon?

96 replies

coccyx · 13/07/2011 21:17

She is nearly 13 and is due her third period right in the middle of our holiday. We were in superdrug today and i picked up a pack of the small tampons. My friend was horrified that I was going to suggest them to my daughter for when she wanted to go in the swimming pool.
Daughter is fully aware of where tampons go and I of course would never push the idea if she said no.!!!!!
Am I very out of touch

OP posts:

AmberLeaf · 13/07/2011 21:31

at stir fried tampons!

AuntiePickleBottom · 13/07/2011 21:31

i could never get a tampon to be comfortable...but then i discovered a mooncup and never looked back

Nagini · 13/07/2011 21:32

your friend is odd. This thing that girls shouldn't know/ touch their own bodies is outdated and wrong IMO.

WannaBeMarryPoppins · 13/07/2011 21:32

I think a mooncup might be a bit difficult if she is only just starting her periods. I remember being in pain even just using mini tampons, couldn't have tried a mooncup at that age. But of course it's all down to the person.

I don't understand what your friend's problem is, should she not use tampons/go swimming just because she is young?

I hated towels and found tampons incredibly liberating! Suggest her using a tiny bit of lube with it if it's really hard to get in

HPonEverything · 13/07/2011 21:36

I wish I'd had a mum like you! I didn't try tampons til I was about 18 and I so wish I'd done it earlier, my teenage years (communal changing for PE and all that) would've been so much less anxious.

As long as she changes it as regularly as necessary I really don't see a problem.

TattyDevine · 13/07/2011 21:36

I too think Mooncups are great things (and wouldn't go back to tampons) BUT I think you have to build up to them. Start with a "Barbie's tampon" (i.e the mini) and work up, then when you are okay with all that, the Mooncup might work - even now I have little panicy moments when I think I'm not going to get the bastid thing out. And don't even get me started on salon-length nails

I love my Mooncup but I wouldn't have managed one at 13

JackTheNipper · 13/07/2011 21:36

I wish my mum had given me the option of tampons, I wore pads until the age of about 24, when someone was giving away tampons as they had gone throught the change and no longer needed them, I much prefer tampons I feel cleaner and I wish I had experimented earlier.
maybe a little talk before hand about how important it is to wash hands before insertion and not to touch the tampon its self and she should be fine!

KRIKRI · 13/07/2011 21:37

YANBU - I'm another who used them from day one of first period. I remember some other girls were shocked by this, but even then I thought their ideas were antiquated. Seriously, I thought these attitudes went out with the ark.

TattyDevine · 13/07/2011 21:37

In response to the OP, YANBU. I learned tampons myself, the brand was "meds" in Australia, they were pretty small, it was like I'd shagged a football team the day I got one of their minis in (!) but let her work up to it I guess!

pooka · 13/07/2011 21:37

I used mini ones right from my first period too. Never used sanitary towels until I had the lochia post-the dcs.

Xales · 13/07/2011 21:38

OMG Tatty a mooncup and salon length nails my eyes are watering just thinking about it >

activate · 13/07/2011 21:38

I never used towels

first period - first tampon (the ones without applicators too)

of course you are doing the right thing - if it's her choice

Halogen · 13/07/2011 21:38

YANBU. I was using super plus at 14 (v heavy periods). Your daughter will thank you in the future for being so sensible and matter of fact about it all.

pointythings · 13/07/2011 21:39

OP, your friend is mad. My DD is 10 and if family history is consistent won't get periods for a good few years yet, but she knows what tampons are and where they go, and I did tell her that they might come in handy if she wanted to go swimming when she was on - and I'll definitely have them ready for her in her size if she wants to give them a try.

HuwEdwards · 13/07/2011 21:40

My dd is a physically v.mature 11yo, I have already advised that when she starts her periods, she should use tampons as soon as she feels ready

spiderslegs · 13/07/2011 21:40

Maybe your friend would like to kit her out with a belted sanitary mattress towel as the nuns did with us.

Menses is, of course, filthy & should be dealt with in the most inconvenient way possible.

Original poster

coccyx · 13/07/2011 21:41

I was surprised at my friends response. Think she felt she would find it awkward to discuss with her daughter. I am a nurse and can discuss any thing about body functions!
will have a chat with DD, buy some of the small tampons, go over lady garden anatomy etc. have an open relationship so hope she knows she can ask me anything.

OP posts:

biddysmama · 13/07/2011 21:42

yanbu, i used them at that age but please make sure you explain all about tss, i had a really bad reaction to the satin tampons and luckily recognised the symptoms

AuntiePickleBottom · 13/07/2011 21:43

coccyx, i wish my mum was like you...when i started my periods she said speak to your older sisters and handed me a booklet.

Tuppence2 · 13/07/2011 21:45

I've used tampons since I started, and never had a problem. But I do know a few friends who tried to use them, but found inserting them a bit awkward/ uncomfortable. I'd also maybe suggest the Tampax Compak (I think thats what theyre called) that have a plastic applicator tube thing... May make things a bit easier for her.

StrandedBear · 13/07/2011 21:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PippiLongBottom · 13/07/2011 21:47

An earlier poster suggested lube on the end of the tampon but I would suggest Vaseline if you don't want to share your 'Durex Play' with your dd

I use a mooncup and towels so my dd has no comprehension of tampons although she knows the (literal) ins and outs of the mooncup. She is only 9.5, would it be worth buying a box to show her do you think?

TooImmature2BDumbledore · 13/07/2011 21:49

Don't think you are being unreasonable at all, but despite advice from mum (and stepmum) I just didn't want to use tampons at that age. I did try once but found it very uncomfortable (was mini one with applicator). I was also a bit panicky about tampons possibly leaking when I first used them (aged about 18). Now I wish I had bitten the bullet earlier, because it would have meant much more swimming and less worrying about whether people would notice that I had a sanitary towel in my pocket. I used to sometimes go swimming with nothing in and just hope for the best (no one ever noticed, but I wouldn't take the risk these days!).

midori1999 · 13/07/2011 21:53

YANBU at all. I also used tampons within a few months of starting my periods and found/find them much more hygenic and convenient than towels.

DSD was 'banned' from using Tampons by her Mum until the age of 16. It meant she couldn't go swimming when we took her on holiday and it seemed a shame.

LittleMissFlustered · 13/07/2011 21:56

Tampax Pearl, the purple ones. Tiny and easily the easiest ones to insert.

Or, go on a begging session with your female friends. Gather a selection of different brands and put them in a toiletry bag and let her experiment at her own pace.

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