12 year old and period on holiday

[SquirrelRed]

Hi, My 12 year old has just started her periods last week. We are due to go holiday in May but I am worried about her getting her period while we are away.
She would want to be in the pool all day every day and there wouldn't be much else for her to do.
I don't think there's any chance she will use tampons by then, and there's not an awful amount of time between now and then for us to track/predict when her period will be.
Any advice on how I can best manage this so she can still have an enjoyable holiday please?

In regards to the medication the dr refused to prescribe it for my daughter said that the side effects aren’t worth it,

My daughter uses the modi body swimsuit and says it’s amazing.

I agree with you about keeping things positive but their really do ruin holidays for me. And any special occasions, actually my life for 3 days a month.

I also used tampons from day zero, primarily because I was at home and the shops were shut and it was the only available option. I would say it's worth suggesting, alongside period pants and swimwear etc.

My DD is a neurodiverse, sensory issues, paranoid bundle of nerves. She has used period swimwear fine on holiday so I think if she can relax in them then most people can!

We got a pair of the shorts style bottoms in black and then also bought a black normal tankini and she just wore the top all the time and either normal bottoms or period bottoms depending on what she needed.

Some people buy high leg period bikini bottoms and wear them under a normal swimsuit, I know of teen girls who swim competitively who have done this.

You might want to get her a toweling poncho so of she needs to she can slip them off and change them on the beach if she's a little heavier flow or just not comfortable.

"There's nothing you can't do on your period"

That's not true for everyone, so I wouldn't say it.

Just a warning - I metabolise this weird and essentially bleed constantly while on it. Four times and once I bled for three weeks. It doesn’t let up and I feel awful on it. Please be careful when taking this

Re the medication….my DD had her first period the month before we were due to go on our annual hol last year. Obviously we didn’t really know when her next one would be so we had to guess. Her period came earlier than expected so we started the tablets in the hope it would work (wasn’t really expecting it to) but it did. Hopefully by May she will be in some sort of routine with it.
we also used the modibodi bikini bottoms which she found comfortable

My DD started her period at 12 too, she tried period pants once and hated them so she moved straight to tampons on her first period, I bought her some lubricant and a box if applicator tampons and told her to read the instructions. She has been fine.

We don't have the sort of relationship where she discusses these things with me as she is a very private person but she did say the lubricant helped.

The only challenge was finding a lubricant in packaging appropriate for a 12 year old.

There's no way in hell I'd be giving a young child a pill strong enough to delay her period (and I say this as someone who was on the pill for 15 years). Goodness only knows what it does to your balance of the rest of your hormones. Period swimwear or giving her some extra TLC and trips out if shes not able to swim

Please do not start fucking with your 12 year olds hormones. Period swim wear will be just fine.

I just never understand the resistance to tampons, so weird.

Plastic applicators are also easier than cardboard ones.
Having said that, not everyone can get on with tampons so easily at that age.

They're difficult to learn to use for some girls.

As well as period swimwear, you could buy period pants. She could wear these under swim shorts, with a bikini top. She could change the pants frequently, so that should give her security.

Also they can't be used in anticipation of a period so if OP's DD thinks she will come on during the holiday, but hasn't yet, she can't use them.

For pp suggesting the moon cup, I'd argue that's even more difficult to use as is the disc.

Yeah… messing with a 12 year olds hormones so they can go swimming is not a good idea.

And really easy for others. I was using them at 12, mum didn’t know and nobody had to teach me how to use one. That was what the internet was for!

Yes but she can pack them easily and use as needed. I grew up in another country and find the attitude in the UK very weird they are really easy to use once you get the hang of it. But there was a lot of swimming where I grew up and nobody ever missed out because of their period so maybe it was more normalised.

Ha. There was no internet when I was that age. Also I suppose some negative ideas about pre teens and early teens using an internal method.

" they are really easy to use once you get the hang of it."

Yes, but how long it takes you to get the hang of it varies. I'm almost at the end of having to use them now and they still go wrong a lot of the time. I still prefer them to pads of course.

I would also want to avoid medication for a 12 yo whose periods are still settling.

Period swimwear is the best bet as others have said. I got it for dd when she was younger and it is great.

Swimming is about the best thing possible for period cramps, I think, so I would really want to encourage this. Also, for me being in water tends to stem the flow of blood a bit too, although I don’t think that’s the same for everyone.

For those saying they can’t see why not use tampons, I couldn’t use them at all when I was a teen - not at all until I was sexually active, and I couldn’t use them easily until after I’d had a baby. Some people just can’t I think.

It was incredibly painful to try to use a tampon for me when I was a teenager so wouldn’t recommend.

contraceptive pill. You can start a cycle 3 weeks after the April’s period is over. It’ll delay it for as long as she keeps taking the pill. As soon as she stops, period will come by day 3 afterwards.

I'm not sure how confident I'd be using period swimwear. I'd constantly be panicking that it wasn't working! But to be honest I've never used it, so what do I know?! I started using tampons at 13 or 14, but unlike other suggestions here, I could only use the non applicator ones at the time. Maybe get both applicator and non applicator and see if she's willing to give it a go. Just remind her, no one gets it right first time, it takes practice. Have a great hollibobs!

I'd introduce her to tampons. I used them straight away when I started my periods.

Get some period swimwear too.