To not really understand why some people find mooncups so disgusting...

[katykuns]

Particularly after reading the 'fitting in' thread in AIBU... I just don't really understand, it's just blood, and you still have to deal with it when you use other sanitary products.

If anything, I think it's less yucky, because it collects it and you aren't wiping it off yourself? If it's about things going up there, that doesn't really make sense if you use tampons...

mrsjay they most certainly should feel guilty if they are the one who recommended the damn scented odour control towels to me for post natal use because they made my vagina burn seriously burn I had to use frozen peas.

If you know about something that you think is good, then surely it's natural to want to share it with others? Isn't that one of the really good things about mumsnet?

I usually find those who find Mooncups disgusting are those who have never usd them.
Clean silicone,no fibres or chemicals to be absorbed into your system and no finding tampons and towels washed up on the beach

Mooncups are vile

Just in case anyone is wondering I love mine !

I'm going to have to buy one just so I can come back and tell you they are grim having had real experience.

Oh and I would say natural sponge is more better for the enviroment then plastic moon cups. I actually really dislike plastic and I'm sure lots of our illness's today are caused by our food being wrapped in it, our clothes, our drinks and storing food in plastic.

They are made of silicone not plastic.

Yes, medical grade silicone.

I'm having a laugh reading through this. Amazes me how people who've never used one have such fixed ideas of what they are like to use!

A moon cup holds about 20ml of blood, which is about three times that of a super plus tampon. The usual range of blood loss over the whole period is 10-80ml with the average being 35ml. So generally you won't fill it up, even if left in all day. It's surgical silicone and it holds the blood away from you so it's clean and safe - I'll sterilise mine when you sterilise your husband's penis or your disposable sanitary wear.

There's no noise, bit of a popping sensation sometimes but it's inside your body so something only you are aware of and it doesn't make a noise coming out. Not sure where anyone gets that from

It's a flexible cone, 5cm, you pinch the end of it, so far away from the blood, and pull, it comes out with the blood still inside and you tip it into the toilet - not the sink??? If you have a water supply handy you can rinse them out or you can use tissue to wipe them through. They only leak if you keep them in beyond 20ish ml, which for most people would be a long time!

I hated the amount of blood I got on myself with tampons and towels. I always got blood on my hands, in my hair, on my legs... The first day I used a cup I changed my tampon before leaving the house, got to town (about a mile from my house) went to the toilet and my super plus tampon had already leaked and was starting to move, my clothes were covered. In the 16 years I used tampons I don't think I ever really managed to do it without touching blood. The worst thing about having children is the 6 weeks of towels! I hate the blood going everywhere. I hate it on my skin, in my hair and in my clothes. It doesn't matter if it's one day from birth or four weeks, however much I lose I still have to come into contact with it far more than when I was ill and losing 100ml a day whilst using a mooncup (which I wouldn't have been able to know or tell my GP/ gynaecologist if I hadn't been using).

TrustMeImANinja have you spoken to your doctor? That's a massive amount to be losing. When I was at my worst (100ml a day for 12 weeks!) I was changing it about 4 hourly, a little longer at night. I had to be seen at the hospital because it was quite a significant amount that the GP wasn't happy to deal with it.

Why do people keep saying it gets tipped down a public sink??? What do you think we do? Come out of the toilet with our pants around our knees, tip it out in front of everyone and then go back into the toilet to finish off? Or maybe we're back onto the other popular MN conversation - accessible toilets!

i can fill my mooncup in an hour and mine does make a squelchy noise on removal, still love it though.

Changing in a public toilet is straightforward. Multiple people saying don't worry about changing it out and about because you won't need to gives the impression that it's an ordeal and it really isn't.

If you're losing half a litre a day then you really need to get that looked at! That might explain why it squelches anyway.

Yes, definitely easy enough, but for people first starting out it's probably easier to get used to doing it at home and be comfortable with it before doing it out without the worry of doing it out putting them off.

'I'm going to have to buy one just so I can come back and tell you they are grim having had real experience.'

Yes, do that BrandyButter! I don't see how you can tell happy mooncup users that they're grim if you've never used one

In the past the thought of these has always made me feel a bit uneasy - I'm not good with sticking fingers in myself for reasons I have never worked out! I use applicator tampons but never non-applicator. So I'm reading this thread and finding myself seriously considering it. Quick google search and it seems there are a few options in terms of brands. So any advice on what is the best for a beginner (who is 38 with 3 children so hardly a beginner in terms of periods!) I am generally quite light apart from 1st day and have a copper coil fitted if this makes any difference. Would be grateful for your recommendations. Thanks

Just don't fancy the guddling about in my fanjo to insert and remove every time.the concept just doesn't appeal

Just found this site with so many different brands - help! www.femininewear.co.uk/menstrual-cups-2-c.asp

The 'squelching' is just the sound of the seal breaking when you remove, nothing to do with fullness.

Mine has never squelched on removal.
I would get more blood on my hands inserting tampons - both applicator and non.
I've never washed mine in a public sink and don't understand the logistics of how someone could - when they then need to reinsert.

I'd love to know why I have made people feel guilty with this thread... and if you think it is all so personal, why come on the thread and comment?

I have no shame regarding my periods, and frankly I can talk quite openly about them. If you don't, just think of us 'hippies' as weirdos and move on

I think there's only one MNer I've ever seen posting that they tried it and didn't like it, and that's fair enough - it can't be for everyone surely? Still, I think it's pretty amazing that for something where the idea of it is often very controversial (I remember a discussion at our NCT meet up where someone mentioned that a new cloth nappy shop in our town sold - gasp - mooncups! And everyone making shocked/disgusted faces when it was explained what it was. I didn't have the heart to tell them I used one ) in a community such as mumsnet where clearly lots of people have tried them and are happy with them that I've only ever seen one person with a negative experience - that's a pretty universal positive for the product, really.

I love my mooncup! And I can be quite evangelical about it, simply because it's such a small, cheap item which has made such a big difference to my life. Unless you have issues around periods in general then I would recommend a MC to anyone.
I love that when I go on holiday, or abroad for work, I don't have to think about how many tampons to pack, and if I'm due on I can stick the MC in just in case without having to worry about toxic shock.
Then there are the lighter periods, the lack of smell, the lack of horrible wet tampon string hanging out, little or no cramping etc etc.
It did take a couple of months to get the knack of inserting and removing without making a mess but now it's so easy it's ridiculous. I just wish I'd discovered them earlier.
They're the best thing since sliced bread!

Ok. I don't actually have a problem with my periods, reasonably light and short with only a little cramping but I'm convinced. Ordering one now...

I agree re cleanliness and the mooncup. I have a very very heavy onset (measuring with my mooncup, approx. 40 to 50 ml on Day 1, then about 10 to 20 ml a day thereafter). Tampons were not enough; there was always disgusting uncontrolled blood flicks/surges when I took them out. I did start by standing in the bath to remove my cup just in case, but seriously. Seriously. There is a reason for the evangelism. So so so much cleaner and less icky; so much more control; so much less changing bloody sanitary products in public toilets.

I get serious splatter from tampon removal - don't flush them so have a bag ready but the buggers always swing out with aplomb flicking stuff all over place. Am gutted that my new mooncup didn't arrive in time for period this month - looking forward to next month.

Pooka Do contact them if it has been longer than a few days. I allowed the 10 working days before complaining to be told they had despatched on the day after I ordered one. They immediately sent a replacement which did arrive within 3 days. I was gutted to have missed my period too.

And I am glad of the overwhelmingly positive endorsement of MCs on this site. If it works for me then my days of changing a super-plus-extra tampon every hour are behind me. As is the weird problem I have of having to drag an overdry tampon out of me on day 3 when my period inexplicably stops for several hours. It resumes at some unpredictable stage so I have to reinsert a tampon into an unlubricated vagina.

I'll get back to MN with my verdict but thanks for the initial recommendation.

TrudiRed - if you're near a Boots and happy to buy them OTC then it's probably simplest to try a Moon Cup first. You'll need the 30+/ post children size - same one I use but no idea what letter it is.

spoonsspoonsspoons - I've never heard a squelch. I wonder if it's like the pop of it opening that as it's inside of you it's more a sensation/ something you can hear louder because it's inside of you rather than something that is actually audible?

ilovetermtime and YouWithTheFace - exactly, it's one of those things you don't realise you've missed until you have, maybe you couldn't even see the point and then you wonder how you managed life without one!

whois, Pooka and nemno - I look forward to hearing how you get on welcome to the club!

nemno - I always hated that, I would always stop suddenly and trying to get them out dry but because the MC is silicone it never sticks so you can put it in before you start if you know you're due and take it out empty. The whole idea of that with a tampon is scary!