To envy young girls their period pants when I remember the hammocks and belts ...?

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Isn't it great how much more choice there is, and how much more discreet products are now?

I hit Meno before mooncups and period pants were a thing, so they are totally next generation. I'd have loved them.

My mum gave me a ghastly belt with enormous cotton wool hammocks ('bunnies') and safety pins when I started, which I didn't realise were already obsolete - she'd had an early hysterectomy so wasn't aware of the stick on variety! 😂

My grandmother muttered about 'rags' having to be washed every month

Then I discovered Dr White's bricks with the sticky strips.

Then I went over to the Vespre brand which came ready bunched into that weird curvy shape towels take on after a bit of wear - I liked those.

It wasn't til I was 18 that I first tried tampons - I was already at uni and for some reason a bit nervous of them. All those toxic shock syndrome warnings in Jackie magazine. But there was a sense of 'If I can't use these am ever going to lose my virginity??'

I remember reading an article about an ancient Egyptian mummy of a young girl who'd been buried with a supply of what were quite clearly tampons ready to take into the next world. They're nothing new.

These days, done with all that, it's just the slimmiest slim little liners I can find.

But what's with the PERFUME??

I brought period pants for my daughter but misread the sizing so ended up with a pair that fit me. I tried them when WFH and could feel my period coming out every time I stood up which was horrible and was convinced I could smell it. Now I am worried my daughter smells when she is on but I think she has resorted to the Lilets I use.

God girls are so lucky these days!!

As a daughter of an older mum, she tried (and failed) with the following:

Pads with belts
No baths on your period as it makes you bleed more
No washing your hair on your period (no explanation)
Only married women can use tampons.

I ignored her on all of them.

Started my periods in 1971 (12) during Double Biology. I didn't tell anyone and by the time I got home I was sodden and bloody.

Thereafter a wearer of Dr White hammocks but no belt - just a piece of elastic. Changing during the school day was a challenge...cant forget the trauma of doing gym Ina lumpy pad and gym knickers. Was so pleased when the stick-ons came in.

Noone ever spoke about periods - all kinds of euphs for them like "having the painters in" and the slightly more vulgar "being on the blob".

A story from my mother - when she started to use Tampax she didn't realise she had to detach the cardboard bits and wondered why she felt somewhat uncomfortable...

So pleased for girls these days - modibodi etc sound fab. Far less hassle.

Im in my early 50, and remember the talk at school with massive pads and a belt.

I've never actually seen the belt thing in use at all.

Started periods in 1972.
My mum told me never to bath when I was "on", as a girl in her street did during the war, causing the blood to rush straight to her brain and sent her insane permanently.

The next day I had a bath.

@dementedma

Is there an equivalent for elderly ladies with severe incontinence. We get pads supplied for mum.but they are huge and uncomfortable. Anything reusable which can handle large quantities of liquid?

Period. say theirs are suitable:

period.co

@BrunoMars

I brought period pants for my daughter but misread the sizing so ended up with a pair that fit me. I tried them when WFH and could feel my period coming out every time I stood up which was horrible and was convinced I could smell it. Now I am worried my daughter smells when she is on but I think she has resorted to the Lilets I use.

You can feel it, in the same way that you can if you wear pads. That's one of the reasons I don't like them when I'm really heavy, but during lighter flow I can't feel it (again, same as with pads). I've never found there to be a smell.

In 1996 we got a period video at school that showed belts etc. Was a bit late as I'd already started for months and was wearing thin always with wings.

@TravellingWanabee

I remember my mum talking about the belt with horror!

With the period pants, how do you wash them, as in do you make your DDs rinse them themselves and then wash one on its own? Or save them up and wash them after a few days? Or in with the regular clothes?!

I've been wanting to ask this for ages (but thought people might think I was a period troll if I started a thread ), as my DD is 12 and I imagine not far off starting. But I've not had a period in 10 years, so the period pants weren't nearly as prevalent then...

Also, how do the swimming costumes work? Can it genuinely keep everything in the costume? (I always imagined that the baby swim nappies we used never actually contained the urine, so am imagining the swimming costumes to be similar!).

Dd rinses her own when she takes them off and then I just chuck them in with the next load of a similar colour, they go in with the regular clothes fine.

I prefer to let dd rinse them herself because then she can see whether there's any need for another pair or if she's finished. I supervised it for a bit to make sure she was doing it thoroughly enough. They say that the absorbent bit will last longer if washed at a lower temperature, but ours are doing fine at the regular 40° that nearly everything goes on here.

I don't really know how the swimming costumes work, but they do seem to. We haven't tried wearing one all day (e.g. beach holiday), but
for the length of time she's had them on and in and out of the water they've been fine.

Re incontinence, does your mum have an incontinence nurse? If not, Google locally or ask her GP.

Think I started with Dr Whites. Told to tear them and throw them down the loo. Went on to Always pretty quickly, but they were obviously more expensive: Mum would moan that I smelt in the morning but complain when I changed it twice before going to school.

We had the Tampax woman at school but I was not allowed tampons as they were not for 'good girls' (v religious mother, though when I questioned her more recently she said she really didn't think they could be used by teens). I first used tampons on a holiday to America when I was 20 and felt v naughty doing so!

Mum was always OTT about period and I hated mentioning them to her. She'd try and make me tell her when I was on so she was prepared when cleaning the bathroom bin. There were bags in all the upstairs bins so why she didn'tbjust empty them into the loo bin and save me the embarrassment I don't know. She also overreacted recently when she found my (clean and sterile) mooncup in a bathroom she had no reason to go in. It was a relief to meet DP who will shag me on my period and nothave a hissy fit!

Sanitary belts and hammocks I was always so worried that I'd bleed through the pads as there was nothing there to stop the blood going through to my knickers...

I remember we were shown a very strange film at school where a girl went into the chemist and from behind the counter a pack of Dr White's was produced and wrapped up in brown paper and string! Even in 1968 this was very strange indeed.

I'm well past needing any such items now but I find the concept of 'period pants' very off putting and a backward step to the days of washing rags. Personally I wouldn't want to be washing blood soaked pants.

@ancientgran lord yes! I was sent to the shop for a pack of STs. I had no clue what they were and mum refused to elaborate. She said I had to whisper to the female shop assistant. When she worked out what I wanted she said ‘shame on ‘er for sending the little ‘un’ ☹️

I was just thinking this today, how lucky we are to have period pants now compared to 25 years ago when I started having periods.

I’ve started using modi bodi and wuka super heavy ones and they’ve made it so much better to sleep over night. I have very heavy periods and there’s no more leaks, no more uncomfortable pads sliding about. I use reusable pads during the day but once they come to the end of their life I might go to pants fully.

Thanks for responses. Modibodi are expensive!! Mum gets big boxes of pads from the clinic but they're not ideal and its a lot of waste. Will check out the other brand listed. Apologies for hijack

As late as 2010, American troops in the Middle East were offered 12 Sindy futons with two safety pins all wrapped in brown paper for a dollar. One women’s wife organized Tampons for Our Troops. I sent out four packages of tampons, new pants, a couple of paperbacks, deck of cards, and assorted hard candy wrapped in cellophane addressed to Any Woman Soldier. I had one very nice thank you note. Men don’t want to think about those things, though many have been thankful when their girl’s period arrived.
I’m allergic to the new thin pads, so use obs and homemade washable cotton flannel.

I'm so glad times have changed too! My own Mum never once told me about periods. When I started at 12 I bought my own pads and tampons, never told my Mum I had started as I felt it must be so embarrassing as she'd never spoke to me about it. She found my stash and asked me, horrified, why I had bought "THOSE things!" meaning the tampons.
I never did get around to using them and still wear pads to this day, I seem to have a bit of a mental block when it comes to tampons and I'm sure this is why.
Needless to say both my own daughters have had every piece of information available, as well as books on puberty etc. I would be horrified if they felt they couldn't ask me anything!
It's strange where all these ideas of female bodies and functions being "dirty" comes from! And something a lot of women never get over.

@Mulhollandmagoo

Where can I find a good pair of period pants? most of the ones a find are quite low rise! I love huge comfy knickers!

To add to the recommendations made by other posters, I have some M&S period pants which are proper belly warmers! Put it this way, if I was wearing a normal pair of jeans, you’d see a good few inches of pants above the waistband of the jeans. I am short though so that might be part of it 😂 They have different styles, some higher waisted than others. Mine are huge and I love them.

Personally I wouldn't want to be washing blood soaked pants.

I let my washing machine do it for me!

It’s so much better for the environment to use period pants, washable pads and/or cups. I feel quite strongly that we should all do what we can to reduce waste. Reusables/washables/cups etc aren’t going to suit everyone, but I find my periods much less hassle using a cup and period pants.

I remember reading Are You There God its Me Margaret by Judy Blume talking about periods and belts with things hooked on them. I haven't had a period since 2007 when I was 28 so no nostalgia but I would loved period pants.

@cobblers123

Yes, I wore the belt and Dr Whites mattresses back about 1968, we all did at school. Absolutely horrible things and due to the material, it was quite easy for them to stick to you making them really uncomfortable.

It was also difficult carrying spares in your satchel when at school, usually wrapped up in a paper bag and wedged in with your books and other school stuff.

Also the hideous incinerators in the toilets that you could smell in the corridors if someone used it to burn a used towel.

Thank god those days have long gone

Oh the horrors, I actually feel queasy just remembering the smell of the incinerator, a classroom where I spent a lot of time was opposite the girls' loos. The other problem with the balt and mattress was that if you were wearing something fitted, eg with a straight skirt, they sometimes created a bump at either the front or back!

Very controversial but as much as I love the new stuff for environmental reasons I do kind of miss the old thick pads - I found them really comforting during my horrendous painful periods when I was young! The thinner pads were so much better/more practical but never gave you that same reassured feeling 😂. I’m sure I’m not old enough to be nostalgic over this…

I found a photo of one of those incinerators online when I googled it that I well remember at my secondary girls' school. Blimey, that was a blast from the past.

My introduction to periods was being handed a hideous salmon-pink sanitory belts and Dr Whites massive white blocks with loops. I remember always being aware that I was wearing them and the discomfort.

I also had to get to grips with horrendous period pains that left me crying and clutching a hot water bottle, eventually caused me to vomit. Only when in labour with my first child did I recognise the pain - apparently I went through the early stage of labour up to the part when you transition and throw up, every (bloody) month. Who knew?

My doctor, a traditional chap, reassured me that it would settle down once I had a child. I was 13. I changed to a larger practice with women GPs and was put on the pill, which helped to regulate and made the pain manageable.

Laiste LOL me too! Oh the shame of packaging...

This thread is actually quite sad, so many little girls being shamed by their own mothers