Over the last couple months I’ve talked about my tween and what we have done to arm her for her period. Of course NO two tweens or women are the same, so this is why we have to prepare and arm them before it happens. As a mother of a daughter, I think back to that dreaded time in my life and how NOT prepared I was. This of course caused me a lot of extra anxiety and stress. None of this is what I want for my daughter. We’ve had so many talks about it and she’s even come to me with questions after the fact. For that I feel I have armed her with the information she needs.
Explaining monthly maintenance is something that was a little challenging for me. It sounds so simple, but realistically it is a little tougher since my tween hasn’t gotten her first period yet. The approach I decided to take was a little different. I keep record of all of my symptoms, cycles and flows on an app on my phone. My daughter also has this app available to her. I decided to go through my calendar with her. She was very open and asked questions, which I answered. I truly don’t feel like this was a bad experience for us. She was receptive and she seemed excited that keeping track of things let her know about when her period may start. Since we will have to wait for her first one to start charting, she will have a wait. Explaining some of the warning signs, which include: mood changes, acne, cramping, tender breasts, back pain, bloating, cravings, headaches and more has definitely helped and I think she will be much more prepared. If she starts getting symptoms, she knows that it is a possibility that her period is coming.
Another hot topic we discussed was hygiene. She does shower daily and we have gotten her deodorant and started getting her on a healthy hygiene pattern, however, when her period starts that is a completely different type of hygiene. I’ve stocked her up with personal hygiene items that she can use and also spare clothing at school in case she needs them. If she has a heavy flow, like I do, she’s going to need to change her pads more frequently. If her flow is lighter, she can probably going to be able to hold off a little longer before she needs to change. Also since flow can change from period to period she’s going to need to watch and be prepared! How have you prepared your teen for her first period? Or other things surrounding her period if she’s already gotten past the first period?
GIVEAWAY! Enter to Win: Mom Central is giving away U by Kotex Tween Pads and Liners to 50 lucky winners! Go here to comment (and enter to win)! Ends November 2, 2012
In case you missed the discussion, here are my other posts on this topic:
Get information on U By Kotex Tween
Beginning The Period Discussions
Preparing For The Talk-able Moments
Back To School
FTC Disclosure: I wrote this post while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of U By Kotex Tween and received a promotional item to thank me for my time. All views and opinions with regard to the products or company itself are my own and were not influenced, nor reviewed, by the company prior to posting.
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[...] In case you missed the discussion, here are my other posts on this topic: Get information on U By Kotex Tween Beginning The Period Discussions Preparing For The Talk-able Moments Back To School How Do I Know When? [...]