• Replies 8 replies
  • Subscribers 72 subscribers
  • Views 1335 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

13 Year Old and Periods

Monkeej

Hi…my 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with autism just over a year ago. She had her first period in January and hadn’t had another one until this week. 
She’s hardly left her room all week and is adamant she can’t go to school whilst she has her period. She’ s really struggling with the feel of the blood, wearing sanitary towels aswell as the sight of the blood. Has anyone had a similar experience with their daughter who would be able to offer some advice/insight?

Parents

  • I couldn't deal with tampons and struggled with the texture of disposable sanitary pads. I trialled moon cups but I struggled to find one that suited me (there are a lot of different shapes, sizes, and stiffnesses) and if your daughter is struggling with the texture of blood they may be unsuitable. So far I have had the most success with reusable pads, they don't leak, they're a lot more absorbing than disposable ones, and they are a lot less sensorialy distressing, I also have dark grey ones so the sight of blood is a lot less obvious, especially if you change them frequently. Mine are largely machine washable with an extra rinse cycle on a low temp so there isn't the issue of hand washing and seeing the blood then either. I am told that period pants do a similar thing. They are expensive when you first buy them but because they are reusable I think it took 3-4 cycles for them to be the more economic option. 

    I have really awful PMS, particularly mentally, so my GP and I are currently trying to reduce and maybe remove my period through the use of the combined pill, so I'm getting periods a lot less. I suggest discussing this option with your GP if they are so upsetting that she can't go to school.

    Also, do talk to your daughter, see if she can explain exactly what the issue with her periods is, that way you can do more targeted problem solving. Hope some of this helped.

Reply

  • I couldn't deal with tampons and struggled with the texture of disposable sanitary pads. I trialled moon cups but I struggled to find one that suited me (there are a lot of different shapes, sizes, and stiffnesses) and if your daughter is struggling with the texture of blood they may be unsuitable. So far I have had the most success with reusable pads, they don't leak, they're a lot more absorbing than disposable ones, and they are a lot less sensorialy distressing, I also have dark grey ones so the sight of blood is a lot less obvious, especially if you change them frequently. Mine are largely machine washable with an extra rinse cycle on a low temp so there isn't the issue of hand washing and seeing the blood then either. I am told that period pants do a similar thing. They are expensive when you first buy them but because they are reusable I think it took 3-4 cycles for them to be the more economic option. 

    I have really awful PMS, particularly mentally, so my GP and I are currently trying to reduce and maybe remove my period through the use of the combined pill, so I'm getting periods a lot less. I suggest discussing this option with your GP if they are so upsetting that she can't go to school.

    Also, do talk to your daughter, see if she can explain exactly what the issue with her periods is, that way you can do more targeted problem solving. Hope some of this helped.

Children
No Data