I started tampons straight away because i was an active kid; dancing, swimming, running and footy, pads would have been a disaster! The tampax ones were quite thin from memory, and i used the applicator for a good year or so before going to normal ones...then i needed super ones
I used them for similar reasons to you PZ. I am also a very private person IRL so I would rather use tampons than have to have told any of my teachers (especially when it came to swimming) that I couldn't participate. Also, I hated missing out with my friends and we live in North Queensland so we used to swim everyday for almost 6 months of the year.
I would provide her with the options available too her and let her decide what to use and when she is ready... my step mother tried to get me to use tampons straight away which I wasn't happy with or comfortable with and it took me YEARS to finally gain the courage to use them, with a pad I always had the uncomfortable feeling that you could tell I was wearing them.
I didnt get mine till I was 15 or 16 and I started with pads and then used Tampax when I felt the need too (if I didnt want to get off of PE LOL was best excuse!!)
Tampx were easier and didnt have ICK factor as no blood on fingers and putting it there IYKWIM at younger age.
I used tampons pretty much straight away because I was always really paranoid about the pads and they are so uncomfortable.
I'd say that they're ready whenever they want to use them.
They're not likely to break the hymen and if they do is it really a big deal? Hymens seem to break in lots of ways.
a tip fpr your dd.. to help them slide in nicely.. try slight coating the outer with a tiny amount of vaseline.. yes it kind of makes it less absorbant and means more changing but initially it helped me learn how its meant to slide up...
I used tampons at 12 too when I got mine.... I had too because one day we went for a big family trek at a national park and I got them half way through the walk. Because they won't be regular she won't know when they are coming..... Maybe it would be easier especially if she is active and it certainly makes you feel like no one can tell as opposed to a bulky pad....
I was going to say rather than the vaseline you could spend a little extra and get the silk-ease carefree's - they do work and are much smoother to insert - IMO. Otherwise the applicators sound like a great idea.
FWIW i didn't break my hymen with tampons and not even the first time i DTD. Not entirely sure how that happened but it was 5 or 6 times before it broke LOL.
Also - with swimming and the beach etc - my yr 9&10 PE teacher always says it stop when you are in the water. I do believe this. She could use pads and have some wet wipes (baby wipes etc) handy to clean herself before hand and jump straight in the pool soon after.Might not work with heavy flow but it had worked for me in the past.
The other bonus for tampons being if she gets bad pain the water will be very helpful - like labour
I used pads for the first month, hated them, came home form school after whinging to mum about how revolting pads were and found a packet of carefree tampons on my bed! lol
Never looked back.
Only time I used pads was overnight or when I m/c...
Personally, not sure I understand the issue with her inserting tampons? As Jen said, her hymen may not be intact now, and using tampons doesn't make you any more 'impure' than not using them...
WRT to risk, it will leak before she is at risk, one leakage and I promise she won't forget again in a hurry
Make sure you sit down with her and go through the info in the pack, also probably a good idea to teach her how to retrieve it if she loses the string, the health risks etc and how to maintain cleanliness before and after inserting them.
Now is probably an excellent time for her to sit down with a mirror and have a look at herself, see where everything is and use it to practice inserting them. Gotta know the mechanics so she knows when they are in properly etc.
Start with the smallest size for her flow and I am sure she will be fine.
I used them from the start too. I got a free pack of applicator ones, but found them really weird, and then just moved on to the regular ones. Never looked back.
I got my first AF the day before my 13th birthday... I wasn't regular (still not!), but it lasted for two weeks!
I first started using tampons at around 15-16. I found pads smelly and icky and gross... I always felt that I kind of walked funny when wearing a pad, that everyone could see it, smell it and (excuse the TMI) to this day I still find that my menstrual blood sticks to me and doesn't absorb into the pad. Think lots of clots from day one.
When I first started, my hymen wasn't broken. Getting it in wasn't the problem - getting it OUT was! Eventually got over that trauma, and continued using them with no issues, it was just that first one.
If she's intent on using tampons, I'd definitely go with the tampax. They are much easier to get in, and certainly remove a lot of the ick factor. If she's desperate to swim, then it's probably best to let her try - she may find she doesn't like them and would be happier sitting out of the pool. A friend of mine went straight to tampax when she got her first period (I was always jealous!) and she had no problems. If she needs a bit of lube (definitely go the KY over the vaseline!) then with tampax it will go on the applicator and not the tampon itself (mostly) so it should have less impact on the absorbency.
My daughter got her AF a few weeks before starting high school this year. She started using tampons a day or 2 later. She is a tiny but tall girl and she is very active. It made sense for me to let her use tampons as I remember the hatred I had toward pads when I was at school - they were messy, uncomfortable and like BW, I worried about the smell.
DD uses mini tampons and she uses pads at night. For the first few days I was asking her as often as possible if she needed to change her tampon, but it was never an issue. I think DD found being more grown up a good thing and she has been fantastic with her period. DD also only uses tampons for through the day and uses pads at night. She is only just now getting her period on a monthly basis where as before they were coming every 2 months or so.
We have found talking to her about everything has helped so much. There is definitely no embarressment involved, unlike when I got my period! She tells DH when she needs supplies and he buys them for her.
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