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AIBU?

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Original poster

...to ask a question about who buys your sanpro?

177 replies

LadyPlumpington · 12/08/2015 16:02

TAAT, sort of.

Posters were saying that lots of men buy their wives sanpro and are totally unfazed by the topic. Is that generally the case please?

It's never occurred to me to ask DH to do that, ever, partly because I'm a better judge of what suits me and partly because....well.....he's a MAN. My dad would have been mortified at the very suggestion that he buy such things for his wife or daughters, and in the intensely patriarchal country we lived in, he'd have been looked at very oddly by the pharmacist.

What happens in your house?

OP posts:
Pohtaytoh · 13/08/2015 19:47

I remember when i was about 12 all the girls getting called into the hall for a talk on periods and sanpro, and being given foil sample packages with instructions to 'tell the boys it was chocolate'. I understand they split us from the boys so we weren't embarrassed (as preteen girls tend to be) to have open discussions, but surely the boys could have had their own talk, so it didn't have to be hush hush like we were handling contraband. Then maybe some men might not be so flummoxed or uncomfortable/embarrassed.

I speak as someone who asked for pantyliners and got heavy flow night time pads. I generally buy it myself, but dh would try to pick it up if asked.

maddy68 · 13/08/2015 19:53

Who ever goes to the shops, me dh, ds, dd.
really don't think about it at all?

FloraDiesEarly · 13/08/2015 19:58

I once asked my mum to pick me some up when I'd come on and I was a teenager so still a bit embarrassed about buying them myself. She bought panty liners!! I didn't want to be rude but I was like wtf?! It's the kind of thing you'd expect your dad to do.

Gunpowder · 13/08/2015 20:02

Am disorganised so get it delivered from these guys

No need at the moment as breastfeeding though. Smile

Gunpowder · 13/08/2015 20:03

I can't trust DH as he gets mingy scented ones too. Envy

ThisIsClemFandango · 13/08/2015 20:07

gunpowder never heard of that company but that's a brilliant idea!
If only I were remotely regular or predictable .. Grin

Sarahplane · 13/08/2015 20:15

I usually buy them because I do the main supermarket shop but dh had bought them plenty of times if I'm running out and he's going to the shop. I do tell him specifically what I want and he gets it right. I don't think he has a problem with it because he never complains but he's been doing it for years now. The boxes are also on full display in the bathroom. I refuse to be squeamish about these things.

Funny though, although he buys tampons no problem, he hates buying condoms or pregnancy tests (he'll wear them, but would rather not have sex than buy condoms).

littlejohnnydory · 13/08/2015 20:15

Whoever is going past the shop.

Hygellig · 13/08/2015 20:45

I mostly use a Mooncup and cloth pads nowadays (which DH often hangs on the line). I either add pantliners to the online shop myself or get them in Boots when I'm stocking up on contact lens solution. I remember asking DH to buy me some sanitary towels after I'd had DS and he bought massive Tena lady incontinence pads. To be fair, they were actually quite comfortable and did the job.

BumpTheElephant · 13/08/2015 21:02

When me and DH first got together he couldn't even touch a box of sanitary towels! He also thought periods lasted about an hour if only
He got over it pretty quickly and will hang my cloth pads on the line as if they were just the bits of fabric they are. He was even having a nosy at my menstrual cup the other day!

Absolutely no reason why a man shouldn't be able to buy menstrual products for a woman.

BestZebbie · 13/08/2015 21:09

DH has supermarket shopping as one of his jobs and so he buys the sanpro, also baby food and any other supermarket-located-body-related items we need.

I am as surprised as you are to hear that some people shield men from it - it is kind of classed with cotton wool and wound dressings and kitchen roll and so on in my mind, as just 'stuff that soaks other stuff up, that we should keep in stock'. :-)

ethelb · 13/08/2015 21:42

I generally buy my own or make my own reusable cloth pads.

I have asked DH to pick some up once or twice as he was going to the chemist. Tbf I only ask if he is going to the pharmacy as he can get some help if he gets stuck as opposed to a supermarket/corner shop. I also ask him to get tampax as they are colour coded (ie can you get me a box of the yellow ones pls DH) and he is more likely to be able to find them, where as I normally buy own brand.

Sanitary owl is genius.

katienana · 13/08/2015 21:46

I buy my own, I'm sure dh must have picked some up for me if needed at some point in last 11 years though. He cleared shelves of maternity pads in the weeks after I had ds, same thing really.

elliejjtiny · 13/08/2015 22:09

I do. My DH isn't embarrassed about buying them but is totally clueless. He once bought me pantyliners when I had the period from hell and asked him to get the most absorbant thing he could find.

Hulababy · 13/08/2015 22:12

They just come with the online shopping. As does Dd's.

If I needed him to he'd get them if necessary. But tbh it'd be more hassle having to describe which ones to get it'd be easier to buy my own unless it was some form of emergency.

But most of our shopping is done online so rarely a need.

NothingUpMySleeve · 13/08/2015 22:18

DP does the shopping more often so he gets them fairly frequently. I instruct him to get the same as the packet in the bathroom & he's always got it right so far!

SalemSaberhagen · 13/08/2015 22:18

I normally pick them up, but if I run short DP will get them for me. I don't understand why any man would get embarrassed by it!

HelloNewman · 13/08/2015 22:19

My dh boys my tampons probably more than I do. I am always forgetting and texting him to get some.

I think it is really peculiar to be uptight or embarrassed about this. My 17 year old son bought me a box of tampons recently and happily rang me from Boots to ask if it was 'super or super plus'.

Judydreamsofhorses · 13/08/2015 22:19

I buy my own usually, but my partner will happily pick up if I need him to - this only works if I text him a photo of the exact item I need though. I can remember my dad being really sheepish about having to occasionally get things for me if I was caught short, he would take the dog to the shop or garage and lurk about outside pretending to tie him up/settle him until he saw the coast was clear of other men who, heaven forbid, might spot a man buying tampons.

insanityscatching · 13/08/2015 22:21

Dh would get them if I needed them and has on the odd occasion. My df used to do all the shopping when I lived at home and so bought them for four daughters and dm without giving it a second thought. In the seventies I suppose it wasn't the norm though.

WaggleBee · 13/08/2015 22:26

Whoever is doing the shop or often DH on his way home.

Never understood what there is to be embarrassed about.

whois · 13/08/2015 22:33

I buy mine, mainly because I know what I want and have access to shops at lunchtime and on the way home from work more easily than DP.

I'm sure he would buy me is needed and shown what I needed.

Bean89 · 13/08/2015 22:38

DH buys me everything from anusol to canesten to tampons. It doesn't phase him at all, and Lord bless him I've needed a lot of embarrassing items since we met.

stardusty5 · 13/08/2015 22:47

To those asking why toiletries are different to other shopping, it depends where you go. We shop at Aldi but i prefer branded toiletries. These are often cheaper in Superdrug or B&M for instance so i would buy these on a different trip into the shopping centre maybe once a month. Personally i prefer to buy toiletries as i like to choose nice shower gels or new shampoos etc, and I tend to get whichever tampons are on offer. DH wouldn't care if i asked him to get me some though.

fourtothedozen · 13/08/2015 22:55

stardusty- I am the same. I like to choose my own shampoo and soap etc. I sniff them in the shop and pick the ones I like. Not usually expensive, but there is such a variety it feels like a little treat.
There are also such a variety of sanpro, and although my OH doesn't bat an eyelid at buying it I like to choose my own. I understand better than he does about the shape, length and absorbancy. Pads with wings are a major hazard, I always end up getting some pubic hair stuck down with them, pulling down my knickers makes my eyes water.

Also my teenage DD only started her periods a year ago, she is experimenting with different brands, and her needs are changing- now needing greater absorbancy, night time pads etc.
It's far easier for me to steer her thought the bewildering product choice as I have a much better and first hand experience of her needs than OH ever could.