What sanitary protection do your daughters use?

[Madmog]

Think I need to start preparing for the time my daughter starts her periods. I've been looking at pads but there's so many to choose from - I use tampons so have no idea! I

I was looking at Lil-lets teenage range but not sure they'd be adequate, so it would be useful to know what suits young girls these days. People say they often start light, but mine were really heavy so probably going to buy 2/3 choices to cover everything.

I would ask her if she has any preferences and if she shrivels with embarrassment not, get a couple of the major brands. She may alse be ok with tampons from the outset - or need to get ok with them, if she does swimming/dance/gym type activities. DD managed them straight off at 12.

I would suggest you buy a pack from each brand (check them out when on offer) and stock up on different types. My DD is thirteen and certainly the teenage range aren't adequate. Perhaps if girls start periods at 9 or so they are. She started having one every couple of months and it was manageable, they are now quite heavy for first few days and last over a week (poor thing).

Always have plenty in stock as well as for the first few months they tend to be erratic.

There is a nice thick pad for night times which DD prefers, I think Bodyform in a dark blue pack.

I also bought a few packs of regular Tampax because the sooner you move on to tampons the better IMO. She hasn't mastered it yet but I tell her to keep trying.

I bought a wide selection of towels and tampons and she experimented until she found the ones she liked. The teen range are a marketing ploy, and don't work- bypass them altogether.

I also bought lots of cheap pants at first so dd could throw them away without regret if necessary.

She is adamant she wants to use towels (will discuss tampons with her when she's actually started). Does anyone feel the winged ones are better or do they leak at the sides?

I used to prefer winged ones as they didn't move about. And used to wear two pairs of knickers - felt more secure

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll get some for different flows just in case, and try some with wings as well. Can anyone recommend Always or Bodyform, or are shop brands okay these days?

Make sure you buy a load of black pants / knickers from M&S for your DD so that if there are any leaks she won't be embarrassed about marking her good pants/ knickers that come in sets.

A cold water rinse gets blood out quickly, whereas hot water sets the stain and not even Vanish can get it out (sorry if that sounds like teaching your granny to suck eggs, but her periods will be less predictable when they start)

All you can do is stock up and let her experiment.

I used tampons from day 1, hate pads

dd is 10 now but started at 9.

so many different pads. finally settled on Morrisons own, in a purple pack. nicely padded, good absorbtion. wings are handy but placing them on pants properly was a bit difficuly for her, especially in a rush at school.

she has heavy periods, nothing light about them. i found the basic black pants are a godsend, and found fab packs size 8-10 in Primark. hth

I bought a large selection of brands for my dd to try. She prefers 'bodyform' with wings, normal, in a pink packet. The lillets ones are ok for lighter days.