Periods and Ballet Class

[Ann-Marita]

What do young teens do for their periods during ballet class? Underwear isn't usually allowed.

I'm talking about teens that are not ready for tampons. The peel-n-stick pad won't work with tights. Or maybe they just don't use the "wings" that are supposed to wrap around underwear?

I tried to remember back when I was a young teen and in dance class (back in dinosaur days), and I had one of those old-fashioned belts that the pads' ends attached to. I don't think they sell those any more, or the pads with the long ends.

I'll probably encourage my dd to use cloth pads - I do myself. But even so, those pads wrap around the underwear and I just don't see them staying in place well with tights.

Thanks.

[tinuviel_k]

Is there any way you could discreetly talk to the instructor of the class and get her opinion on the matter? I bet they would know exactly how to deal with the tricky issues of menstruation and leotards: they've probably had to address it a hundred times!

[suabel]

I agree; this had to have come up before. Also, I wouldn't completely assume that tampons are out. My 13-year-old (who started menstruating four months ago) started using tampons this cycle. She's a competitive swimmer, so we have a similar situation. She asked and I bought some slender ones and she figured it out herself. I'm not saying that all young teens will feel comfortable with them, but my dd found that it wasn't a huge ordeal for her.

[AbbieB]

You know, it really ticks me off that tampons are pushed as the best, necessary, modern, only option. (Nobody here said that, it's just an attitude that seems to come up in every group I have ever been in a conversation about periods with. :

I can completely understand why someone would not want to use them. I think they are uncomfortable.

I started using them when I was 13, I was on the swim team. But to be honest, I only used them on heavy days. The other days I would just put my suit on and get in the pool right away. Then I would go straight to the change room and get dressed when I was done.

For a dance class I think it is silly that young women can not wear underwear for class for just this reason. Does the class allow shorts or a skirt? You know, the little tiny kind that go over a leotard? I saw the older girls at my DD's gymnastics club wearing these all the time.

My other thought is that a pad may work just fine with tights. I would go for the super thin kind so that does not seem obvious. Your DD could try it out at home to see if would work.

[lab]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

The other days I would just put my suit on and get in the pool right away. Then I would go straight to the change room and get dressed when I was done.

So you were bleeding into the pool? GAH!

[mommyinIL1976]

Originally Posted by AbbieB

The other days I would just put my suit on and get in the pool right away. Then I would go straight to the change room and get dressed when I was done.

Ugh....this scares me!

[MeepyCat]

Boo to your DD's ballet class for banning underwear. I mean, it *is* bulky and obvious under a leo, but fer the love of little green apples... Can a kid not wear little shorts over her leo, or with a body skimming top and the undies of her choice for a few days?

If you can discretely ask the teacher for suggestions, I would. I don't think tampons are that big a deal (but yes, get the "junior" kind with the smooth applicators), but I think your daughter will best be able to enjoy and absorb her dance class if she's comfortable.

[Jane]

What about a thong? You can stick maxipads to them just fine.

[Teensy]

I actually got my first period on the morning of a ballet performance in which I was to wear a thin white leotard. I starting using tampons right then and there!

But, a wingless pad would stick to the tights worn under the leotard (I assume tights are worn). If ballet skirts are allowed, then that would help with coverage also.

It stinks at the time to be a young girl dealing with this situation, but most (not all, but I don't recommend starving oneself to avoid menstruation) every dancer has to deal with it on a monthly basis.

I would have loved a Diva cup had I known about them - talk about discret, I could have even avoided the whole "take your purse with you to the bathroom, it's that time of the month signal" that I hated in high school.

[The4OfUs]

I danced for years, and wore wingless pads stuck to my tights for about a year after I started my period, then started with jr/slender tampons when I was about 14, and would just wear them for the class and then go back to pads when I was done with class...class was only an hour, so it wasn't a big deal...by 15 I was in tampons full time because I HATE pads...cloth, disposable, I HATE that 'dripping' sensation (TMI!). And frankly, a pad mushing around when trying to dance was very uncomfortable IMO, so I totally get why they discourage it.

I'm going to teach my daughter about cups, I HEART my Mooncup UK, and I've heard that there are ones that will fit even young girls. Hopefully she'll be interested.

[alegna]

FWIW in serious ballet classes underwear, shorts, skirts etc are all really no nos.

-Angela

[The4OfUs]

Yeah, we were allowed warmup shorts (the knit ones) and legwarmers during warmups, but once barre began it was just shoes, tights, leotard, hair up off the neck, no jewelry.

[Ann-Marita]

Well, one teacher I asked said that at her school (where she took when she was younger), girls were basically forced to use tampons! Nothing else would be allowed, and a female teacher would take the girl to the bathroom to assist. The only alternative was to sit out.

Yikes! That seems entirely too invasive in a very personal choice. Thank goodness DD isn't taking dance at THAT school.

I have found a possible solution. A sort of dance belt/menstrual belt hybrid. Elastic around the hips, and a nice strip of cloth that goes from front to back and the pad can be attached to that. OR that strip of cloth can actually incorporate a cloth pad. This is worn under tights.

I'm particularly interested in this because I have never found tampons to be comfortable. I have a tipped uterus, and I guess that changes the position of my cervix inside my vagina, which makes tampons feel terrible. And genetics being what it is, dd probably has a higher-than-average chance of having a tipped uterus, too.

I just want dd to be able to choose whatever she is comfortable with, and not be forced into using anything.

[Mama Dragon]

I always wondered this, I was in gymnastics but grew too tall to keep going before I started menstruating, so there was never an issue. DD wasn't interested, but I would be she'd tell any teacher whatfor if they tried to force her into using something she didn't want to, or not let her wear underwear and shorts for the couple days a month she needed to. Probably good she wasn't interested

I'm never swimming in a public pool after this thread though. Was on swim team too, but again, I had to quit before I started menstruating...I cannot imagine bleeding even a tiny amount into the water. Or swimming behind someone that was, ewwww.

[HappyMommy2]

What is "too young" for tampons? If she wants to use them - why not? I used them with my 2nd period. So much cleaner than pads. I understand it is a personal preference, but I don't understand how her age is relevant?

If it is a comfort thing like the poster above (I have a tipped uterus too) she can try the little ones. I still use the "slender" ones that are kind of hard to find.

[momtokea]

Originally Posted by Ann-Marita

Well, one teacher I asked said that at her school (where she took when she was younger), girls were basically forced to use tampons! Nothing else would be allowed, and a female teacher would take the girl to the bathroom to assist. The only alternative was to sit out.

Yikes! That seems entirely too invasive in a very personal choice. Thank goodness DD isn't taking dance at THAT school.

Wow. I would not be comfortable with that. That's creepy. Is that even legal??

[BirthIsAwesome]

I took ballet and pointe for 5 years after I started menstruating. What worked for me was extra-thin, extra-narrow pads in my tights, with leotard over. This worked fine, even for my 2-hour classes.

Now, this ballet teacher was old-school, she danced on Broadway back in the late 40's and her mother was a principal ballerina back in the 20's/30's. She's at least 85. Anyway she demanded that we wear tiny wrap-around skirts that just covered our butt and the top of our thighs, for modesty reasons *grin* Which made it nice and easy to disguise the pad in my tights.

At any rate, if her teacher absolutely won't allow something like that, then tampons sound like her only solution sad but true. The belt/pad combo would be VERY obvious and lumpy...I wouldn't recommend it. Ballerinas can be mercilessly cruel to classmates, unfortunately.

Have her try a very slender tampon on a non-ballet day, so she can see if she is comfy enough to dance in it. I always found tampons quite uncomfortable, so even when I first tried a tampon when I was 16, I didn't wear them to ballet, because they hurt when I bent to the ground or did large leaps, like Grande Jette's.

Anyway, sorry for that novel I just wrote I can't seem to reply briefly to anything, lol. Hope that helps

[knittinanny]

I was a dancer throughout all of my teenage years. I used sea sponges in dance class. We weren't allowed to wear underwear/skirts/whatever. I can't use tampons or mooncups comfortably, but sponges are a-ok.

[dancindoula]

I'm a dancer and ballet teacher so even now I have to deal with that question. As an adult, tampons/instead cups are my friends. When I was your dd's age and still figuring myself out I liked to use the really long thin pads without wings (they do make those) - I'd just stick them to my tights and pull the leotard over the top. Never had any accidents, but like pp said it felt bunchy to dance in so I soon switched to tampons just for class. The thin ones didn't actually show either (though in my teenaged insecurity I felt VERY conspicuous!) and once we finished barre we were allowed to put on our skirts, so that helped too.

I like the idea of the sea sponges or sea pearls though, wish I'd known about it then!

[Jane]

I know very little about dance - what's the reason for the no-panties rule? And what's the difference between "barre" and other parts of class?