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Tips and tricks to help your tween
Monitoring monthly maintenance during your period.
Proud to Be a #KotexMom Series:
In my opinion one of the hardest part of dealing with your period is the monthly maintenance part. You have to make sure you always have pads, track your period on the calendar, etc etc. My daughter has often commented that my son is lucky because all he ever needs is soap and clean clothes. I try really hard not to let her dwell on the negative aspects and to reinforce that your period really is nothing more than just another hygiene task that you have to deal with in your daily life, like showering, remembering to put on deodorant or brushing your teeth. In my experience from being a teenager myself and being surrounded by them a lot there are a few things that you need to emphasize to your daughter to help her prepare for her period, track it and deal with accidents.
- PMS. Yes, the dreaded PMS. Don’t sugar coat it but help demystify some of the myths she may have heard or seen on tv. Kotex has a great quiz Myth vs Facts that your daughter can take. The truth is, explaining how PMS works may actually help your daughter learn to recognize the signs and have a better knowledge of when her period will make it’s presence known! Explain to her to be on the look out for food cravings, tender breasts, cramping, headaches, pimples and fatigue. I can not STRESS this enough though…make sure she knows that she will not always get all of those symptoms. I have seen girls freak out because they think they are going to turn into this crazy salt craving pimply monster. I have let my daughter know that there are easy cures to most of these ailments- ibuprofen, warm baths, heating pads, or nice cup of hot chocolate will help.
- Hygiene. This could be the MOST important thing you teach your daughter. Daily showers during your period (even just to rinse off) are a must, feminine products that are flow appropriated and changed frequently, and flushable wipes are also a must. They actually have travel size flushable wipes that we use all of the time for camp, trips etc so my daughter is used to carrying them. I think they are a life saver for many reasons but now that my daughter is older I see this a good way to keep her “fresh”.
- Feminine Products. Like I stated above, understanding how to distinguish between flow appropriate products is a very important thing for your daughter to learn. It’s one of the great things about the U by Kotex Tween products. There are varying levels of pads in the box that your daughter can choose from in teen appropriate sizes. Kotex has some great tips for first timers that your daughter can use as reference – First Timers. Make sure you also emphasize the extreme importance that she change her pad often.
- Accidents. It happens to all of us girls at one time or another. I have talked to my daughter about the importance of wearing non-staining color under wear and pants so it won’t be so obvious if the “oops factor” happens. Keeping an extra pair of underwear or even pants discreetly somewhere in her locker is another good idea. I have my own stash of “period only” underwear that are not ones that I care about and won’t care if they get ruined. I told my daughter to do the same.
- Monitoring. Again, show your daughter how to track her period by using any number of apps on her iPod or a simple little dollar store calendar to track her cycle. It helps I feel to get your daughter into the habit of knowing around the time her period will come. When I was younger I used the shiny colored stars teachers use to track mine in the calendar so no one knew what I was doing. (I used the red stars for the actual days of my cycle- original, I know!)
- Reinforce they are not alone. Most girls go through it, including you and that no question is dumb. I found this graphic on Kotex.com and I thought it was a great tip:
Remember how you felt when it happened, the confusion, the misconceptions and untruths you were subjected to and be proactive with your daughter. Being a girl can be pretty cool. Remind her of that!
For more great tips and tricks from other teens please visit:
http://www.ubykotex.com/real_answers/hello_period
Great ideas and material to help YOU talk to your daughter please visit:
http://www.kotex.com/NA/articles-info/my-daughters-period
I wrote this review while participating in a Brand Ambassador Campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of U by KotexTween and received products to facilitate my post and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
