steppemum
the strange advice some people give regarding teenagers use of tampons (under 20's) is a lot to do with a lack of knowledge and fear.
in the late 70's along with the previous new invention tampon that was introduced, higher absorbancy tampons also arrived by the 80's they over took the sales of light/normal flow tampons very quickly. at about the same time most companies also removed the dont use over night warnings,that had previously been on the packets.
this led to loads of people automaticly picking up the tampons designed for heavey flows when they didnt need them and keeping them in for much longer than the recamended 4-6 hours.
think about it this way, how many of us only change a tampon when it starts to leak without even thinking about it? i reckon loads.
its easyer to say dont use them untill your older than it is to drum into people that its important to use a suitable absorbancy for your body AND to change it at least every 4-6 hours but in all fairness not many adults read the leaflet that comes with them so its fairly safe to think the mum wont give the important info to a child if the mum does not know it herself.
this is why 'teenage' tampons came on the market called either junior or lites/light and have a absorbancy of about 6g max and they used to have snazzy packets to appeal to younger users to try and prevent the problems caused by using super absorbancy ones.
under 20's and over 20's for that matter should be perfectly safe to use tampons if they are educated correctly and have no pre existing streptococcus skin infections. obviously there is a risk for compleatly healthy people but its tiny.
fwiw,im a mooncup user normally, a thick pad user after giving birth and an occasional tampon user if i have fogotten to sterilise my mooncup.
they lady who does phse classes with me (i do sexual respect and domestic violence she does sexual health and body changes) often surgests to parents that they keep a box of small/light tampons, none sented or deodrised thin towels, a couple of very thin liners and a moon cup somewhere accesable in the house. go through the instruction leaflets with dd's very matter of factly talk about disposal of items and tell dd's that blood stains should be removed with COLD water not hot and salt can help bad staining.
she surgests not offering your opinun just very matter of fact product info combined with answering question about body changes. that way the child knows all the options wont chuck away so much underware or trousers and can make up there own mind with out presure. she also says (and i agree due to a recent vagina on fire issue) sented or towels containing beads intended to remove smells are the devils work and should be avoided