10 yr old started period today.. questions..

[dol89]

Hi, my daughter turnt 10 literally 6 days ago. She came home from school today and told me she had blood when she wiped.. when we got home I confirmed she started her period.
I am absolutely distraught, she is so little. She's my first and only baby and I've never had to do this before so I have a few questions for parents with children that have recently gone through this.
It's been a long time since I started so I can't remember.

Will this be a proper period?
Will it ease in slowly?
Will she have a period every month now or will it go and come back later on?

Anything else you think would help would be appreciated, I'm so upset 😭

Bless her. I would just email her teacher- she might want to go to the toilet at short notice without needing to say why.

In a way, it might be easier for her now to get used to managing it at primary school before secondary, and her periods may become more regular before she changes schools. Secondary schools can be a nightmare about letting them go to the toilet in lessons and so on, and locking the toilets in lesson time.

Please don't assume they will necessarily be light- mine came in very heavy from the start. Always better to be prepared for the worst!

@toothypeggys sorry you had such a terrible time 💐💐

I can understand why you'd be sad for your daughter about this. Periods are a pain, and women menstruate for over 30 years. I can see why you'd hope for her sake to have a few more years of childhood before having to deal with it.

I can understand how you feel. It is unusual for a ten year old to get their period if they have not started developing in any other way. Usually there would be signs of discharge, pubic hair and breasts budding. If she hasn't had any of these then it may just be a one off.

Such an interesting thread with lots to think about. My eldest is 10 so I am picking up lots of tips. I have talked to her about the various options but like others have given the strong steer that tampons are an option once she’s older, not for now. This is partly because the idea makes her feel uncomfortable and confused. I wanted to out in a plug for Milli Hill’s book about periods. It gives the info they need in an age appropriate way.

She's so little! When you're in secondary school there's lots of access to sanitary wear and support from teaching staff if things don't go quite right.

Unsure if year 5 teaching assistance are all as supportive if she leaks into her clothes, needs spares, wants to contact you to come home because she's in pain etc.

I think sitting down with her and having a discussion on how she wants to navigate this during school time including swimming lessons etc.

If she's a fairly confident girl who isn't all that worried about sharing the information with teaching staff then perhaps do some sort of plan with school. If she is a child who is shy and discrete then you will need to work with her on who she is comfy disclosing this to.

It is becoming more and more common and there's research to suggest this is due to being exposed to sexual content including relationship lessons in school and also the change in diets that we have in comparison to two generations ago.

Sorry what? "being exposed to sexual content including relationship lessons in school" makes girls menstruate earlier?

So sex education is making girls go through puberty? Like they are manifesting it?

I was 11. None of my friends believed me they said I was lying 😂. It was fine. Nothing to stress about x

@Itsaloadofbollocksbut ah I see, I didn't realise they had unisex changing rooms, our local one has womenswear and menswear on separate floors, I do remember seeing something about m try

Don’t assume they are single sex. Staff have been told men in the women’s underwear changing rooms is just fine and dandy.

(There’s apparently now a fetish where men use those changing rooms to “pleasure themselves” into a pair of frillies and then put them back on the rack awaiting an unsuspecting woman to pick them up. 🤮)

As an adult who uses period pants, I really do recommend them. I still sometimes use pads on top of I'm particularly heavy, but usually don't need to and they are so much more convenient.

@Westillaremadeofgreed can you explain how these work please? Are they just pants you wash or do you put a pad in? Sorry just never used before.

You dont need a pad with period pants OP, they have a few discreet layers of special material built into the pants that feel super secure and comfy. You just bleed into the pants then rinse and wash them as normal.

I can’t wear tampons (27years old) as they give me thrush every single time I use them. So I use period pants now as they’re so much comfier than pads, feel much more discreet, look much more discreet and they feel much ‘drier’ as you bleed throughout the day you never get that horrible sweaty time to change the pad feeling from them. They’re magical!

If she hasn't developed anywhere else, I'd think that was a little unusual OP and get her seen. Periods are usually last.
X

I use them too. They are just like normal underwear with a thick layer where the pad would go. They have different ones for light bleeds all the way to strong. I think it will be much easier than pads. Mine hold the entire morning even when i bleed a lot, so your DD wouldnt even have to change at all in school.
I usually rinse them a bit first, then throw them in the washing machine.
I have quite a few, because they do take a while to dry. I need 2-3 per day, but that depends on how much bleeding there is. My periods arent extremely strong.

I started mine at ten, very unusual back then. I don't think I had them every month for a year or more and they were definitely lighter than they became later on.

@Saytheyhear did I actually just read that? You believe that RSE is causing earlier periods?

@ManchesterLu I can’t answer that without being graphic but I think it makes sense to most sensible people that a tampon is not suitable for an 8 year old.
At that age I was still making sure her teeth were brushed properly and doing her hair in the morning. 8 is very young.

Pads work for lots of people. I don’t find them uncomfortable at all. I can’t use tampons and never have been able to. It’s those I find extremely uncomfortable.
I also don’t mind that it is ‘happening’. I’ve also been menstruating from a very young age and have never felt like I didn’t want to see it.

I explained how my daughter uses them upthread (and has done since she was 10)…….

she adds a reusable pad in the morning and takes it out at lunchtime so has the “fresh” pad of the pants in the afternoon and doesn’t need to be changing them at school.

Mine also does exactly this. Although not a reusable pad.

It’s worth switching.

To be fair, for many women periods are something to fear. If you had excruciatingly painful and heavy periods that severely impacted your quality of life (as many women do), there’d be something wrong with you if you weren’t concerned that your 10 year old daughter will possibly go through the same thing. Of course, you have to hide that fear, but it’s still perfectly normal to have it.

Those who wear period pants

Why are the pads washable /reusable

Is it for the environment /cost

Or any reason why can't use a normal pad and then put in the bin

Rather then a child /teen bring them home /other children possibly see and they have to answer questions etx

The only thing is that if school are strict about toilet breaks it would be useful for them to have an awareness that she actually needs to go. If they refuse, unaware of the situation, it could be highly uncomfortable and embarrassing for OPs daughter.