Thinking about switching to cloth mamma pads & maybe a cup too

[chantald]

Like cloth diapers.. there are SO MANY different ones available.. I have sensory overload..

I have very heavy periods.. I soak through a super + tampon and a back up pad in an hour or less.. I tried BCPs to lessen it.. they made it lighter but now I have my period every 2 weeks for 2 weeks..

Someone suggested a cup and someone else suggested cloth pads..

I am thinking the Lunette cup..??

I would like to try cloth pads too.. either alone or with the cup.. I'm a bit phobic about leaks.. What can you all suggest that won't break the bank?

[ecoteat]

My PP period was heavier than it was pre-baby and then I went and got an IUD, which made it way worse, and at the same time I decided to stop using disposable pads, so I bought a Diva Cup and some cloth pads. It took me a good 6 months to get the hang of this (it was like being 12 and learning how to manage a period all over again!) but now I have a routine down that works really well for me.

I use the cup mostly and it fills pretty quickly on my heaviest days (as soon as every 2-3 hours some days). On slower days, I can go several hours without emptying my cup, but every time I pee I have to take it out and readjust. I don't think everyone does that though. Since my flow is so heavy, sometimes I do leak a little, so I always wear a cloth pad with it. I like oval-shaped AIO pads the best. If you sew, they are super easy to make, too. I bought 5 from Etsy and then copied them to make more.

Some people swear that cloth pads and cups lessen your flow, but I think it just makes it so much easier to manage. Now that I finally got my routine down, the heavy flow doesn't really bother me at all. Bleeding for a whole week is a drag (2 weeks at a time must be annoying!), but that's just the way it goes, I guess.

[Juvysen]

I have a diva cup... normally I can do 8-12 hours in it. I did have a couple cycles that were SUPER heavy (postpartum getting-back-to-normal adjustments I guess?) and I was still good for like 4 hours in the cup.

[chantald]

What Etsy shop did you buy them from?

I have a lunette cup on the way and a bunch of pads..

[Ola_]

I was also a Super Plus tampon user (with Super ones on the lighter days, ha!), although it sounds like yours is much heavier than mine. My menstrual cup has been really great (I have the DivaCup) and I hope you like yours too.

It was a bit of a learning curve for me to position it right and remove easily, but I like it much better. Somehow I get less menstrual cramping with the cup, which I read about but never believed until it happend to me! Don't insert it too high though (not like tampons), or you can poke your cervix which is pretty sensitive at that time of the month. I also like that the "dry and itchy" feeling that I had with tampons is gone. I've always had to remove the tampon/cup before bowel movements because I seem to shift them down and they get uncomfortable, and I love that with the cup I just rinse and re-insert. I always felt wasteful when I had to toss out a tampon because of that.

I'm not using cloth pads, so I can't give advice on that (I'm using natracare unbleached pantyliners right now) but I'm curious how you like them!

[Juvysen]

Oh, I have glad-rags pantiliners that I like a lot. Forgot to mention that.