What do your DDs do as far as menstrual products go?

[KaylaBeanie]

Pretty self explanatory. I'm assuming most mamas here use cloth pads/menstrual cups/sea sponges/etc for protection, so do your preteen/teen DDs use the same? I ask because I just switched to the diva cup and cloth, and don't foresee myself ever going back to sposies. I'd imagine when I have daughters someday, since they'll have me as their number one female role model, will see "alternative" methods like the diva/cloth as normal. But what did you do? Hand them some cloth as their only option? Give them the choice between the different types of reusable products? Or just let them pick whatever they wanted, even if that meant sposie products? Also, if it's relevant, how old were your DDs when they started their periods?

Thanks ladies! I'm really the only one in my family who will even consider using reusables so I'm just trying to surround myself with supportive people and get my questions answered! On the bright side, one of my best friends is ordering her diva tonight and we're spending a whole day in two weeks making overnight cloth pads and a few liners...I'm too short on cash to buy more than the two liners I have right now unless I know I'll be using them regularly.

[gmvh]

This doesn't answer your question at all, but my four year old daughter has declared she wants pink pads when she gets older. I can arrange that. We'll see how she feels about that when she's older but at this point she has no idea anything else exists.

[Dakota's Mom]

My DD was using cloth long before her mama was. But then my DD is waiting for her DD to start her cycle in a couple more years so she's not exactly a teen. She recently turned 30. But since she was brave enough to do it, I have started as well and I love it.

Kathi

[spitbath]

i taught a workshop about radical menstrual 'politics' and intend on teaching my daughter her choices within the reusable stuff. disposables will be talked about, but also discussed as poorer alternatives to the 'radical' ones.

[Magelet]

I can't imagine it being an issue. I plan on CDing, and switching to family cloth soon, and I barely use any paper towels, and using less and less. I imagine, it will be partly "some people are really wasteful and use scratchy things you throw away that cost huge amounts of money, but cloth pads or a keeper are better for the enviroment, more comfortable, help you celebrate how special your cycle is, and thats what mommy can afford", partly what we raise her with: very few disposable items of any sort, and partly rational discussion throughout her life.

She will, of course, get "her own" pads (the idea of sharing seems weird, though I imagine its not actually that weird, no different from sharing family cloth but anyways).

If she really wanted sposies.... I might contrive to buy the biggest, scratchiest brand around, and let her try them.... and then let HER compare them to the soft luxurious flannel new colorful fun pads that don't make you feel like you're wearing a diaper.

I think that it will be a gift as a part of some welcome to menstruation ceremony: enough cloth pads to last her (well probably for good lol, since they don't really wear out, but enough for each cycle), a little beautiful container of crampbark tea, and something else fun to celebrate being a woman, as well as hopefully getting together with any women friends of hers or mine, aunts, g-mas, etc, and telling stories, and sort of... well wishing and welcoming her into womanhood.

oh, and I was 11 when I got mine.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by gmvh

This doesn't answer your question at all, but my four year old daughter has declared she wants pink pads when she gets older. I can arrange that. We'll see how she feels about that when she's older but at this point she has no idea anything else exists.

My 14yo daughter wants pink pads too- and I bought them for her! She has some with stripes and some with butterflies and some with polka dots....

We've been having open discussions about mentruation and assorted menstrual products for years. She started out with disposable pads. Then she tried a few different kinds of disposable tampons. She's settled into using tampons during the day (with pantyliners for backup) and pads overnight. She figures tampons are more environmentally friendly because they're smaller, plus she prefers internal protection.

Last month she asked for cloth pads, and I bought her a "starter set" of 3 pads (heavy, mediium, and pantyliner)- and she discovered that 2 medium pads would be sufficient for overnights (but since she has the heavy pad she'll use it) but she needs more pantyliners. So I purchased 5 more pantyliners (that arrived at the tail end of her cycle) and now she should be set.

I bought her a menstrual cup, but she hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet- she keeps on trying to get it in but she hasn't been sucessful yet. She's hoping she'll get it figured out before going to school next year. If not, she'll probably use disposables for school, as they are more discreet, smaller, don't have the potential to stink up your purse by the end of the day, etc. Teen girls tend to be more concerned with those kinds of issues than adult women, and if DD wants to use disposables for school and only use cloth at home, I don't mind buying them for her.

I plan to buy or make some cloth pads for DD2- I'm willing to buy them before she needs them, unless she'd prefer to wait and see what she actually likes when the time comes. I'm thinking 6 medium pads and 6 pantyliners should cover her needs completely, considering that I do laundry nearly every day.

I will always keep disposables in the house- both pads and tampons- for guests and for "laundry emergencies." Plus I keep extras in my purse JIC one of us needs one when we're away from home. Disposables really are more practical to keep in my purse, always available yet "out of circulation".

Personally, I would have no problem with a huge stash of cloth pads that get used by whomever needs it at the time, but neither of my DDs are comfortable with that. So, we'll all have different kinds of pads and we'll know whose are whose (even though they'll all get washed together and mixed with whatever laundry is coming up next.)

[~Denise~]

As someone who has always hated pads, I'd try to introduce her to some pretty cups. LadyCup makes them in I think six different colors (pink, blue, lilac, orange, green, yellow) plus the plain clear ones. The Miacup is bright purple, and Lunette makes a blue cup (the Selene). They're great for sports, and it's nice to be able to go the entire school day without needing to even think about your period (unless she has major heavy flow, that is).

[UptownZoo]

My 13yo DD uses cloth pads for overnight when she's here at home. During the day she wears tampons and when she's at her dad's, she uses disposable pads at night. She'd like to wear cloth pads every night, but doesn't want to deal with carrying them back and forth. Plus, her dad does laundry at a laundromat and she finds the notion of her pads being washed in a public machine disturbing.

I imagine that by adulthood, she'll be using all reusable products, but for now she appreciates how discrete the disposable stuff is.

[Piglet68]

My DD is only 6 but has only ever seen me use pads/Diva Cup so to her that is "normal". One day she saw an ad for tampons and asked what they were so I explained they were disposable menstrual products and told her why I don't use them. She picked up on my sentiment and she is very concerned about the environment already at this age (nature lover!), so...

She knows that when she gets her period I will get her her very own set of "Mama pads" (as she calls them) and she can pick out the colours, etc. She doesn't go to school so that won't be an issue. The only thing is I'm not sure how readily she'll take to the Diva Cup - it takes practice and teens don't seem to be as comfortable with their bodies and body fluids the way those of us who've had babies are, lol. Still, I hope I'm raising her with respect for her body so that won't be as much of an issue.

Enjoying reading about those who have teens already...

[KaylaBeanie]

I realized I never responded to my own post

After a few cycles of reusable products, I know I'll never be going back to sposies, so any future DDs of mine will only see cloth and cups...I hope to be the mom with the kids who wonder what bottles are for and call tampons white mice Though any kid of mine will be a : from the second they're conceived!