Periods

I can only contribute what I know from personal experience here. My daughter began her periods very early on, while she was still 11 years old. I had begun to talk to her about what would happen in the future but it was still quite a shock for her.

However, it didn't cause as many problems as I thought. I had made sure that whenever I had my own period I did not hide what was happening. If she happened to walk in on me in the bathroom, I would explain what I was doing and why and the procedure was quite familiar to her. So when it was her turn, it took a couple of months for her to come to terms with it, but after that she was able to keep herself clean and change her sanitary towel by herself very well. Of course there have been a few mishaps along the way, but that happens to all of us!

She does experience quite a bit of pain however, and the trick here is to get in fast with the pain relief. I give her soluble paracetemol, which began as she used to have difficulty swallowing tablets, but now has the advantage of acting that little bit faster. Occasionally I have been called from school/college etc. to say that she is really suffering and then the best thing is to bring her home, sit her down with a hot water bottle and a cup of tea in front of the tv!

So I would recommend letting your daughter see the routine involved with personal hygiene during a period long before it is time for her to start her own - no, you don't yell from the bathroom 'hey, come and have a look at this!', but if the situation arises, don't hide it. I have found over the years that if an activity is familiar to my daughter, she is more than willing to do it by herself and emulate what she has seen. This is probably why she can work the DVD player better than I can.........