2nd pad spinoff thread - pads for young girls

Most of the brands make stuff that caters to the tween/teen crowd. I just bought small sized boxes of lots of different things for my DD to try and figure out what she liked best. I donated extras that she voted no on to the homeless shelter. She's a grown woman size-wise, though, so what works for her is probably not what works best for your DD.

ETA - it isn't just packaging, but smaller sized pads, tampons, etc. that fit a smaller frame better.

My daughter went straight to tampons as I did (ballet vs swimming). I actually feel quite strongly that everyone should have all options available to them and use whatever is most comfortable for THEM.

Ditto-very strong feelings that young girls should have choices and feel confident that they have made the right choice for THEM. 

Same as several others...provided DDs with multiple options and purchased what they asked me to. It's their body, not mine. 

My DD has no desire to even try tampons. It would be easier at times. When she was your DD’s age, she liked a pad that came in a really bright, multicolored box (lots of purple, I think). She now prefers the same Always that I use.

DD started when she was 11,5. She wears pads, but I have bought different kinds of tampons for her to try. So far her flow is very light, so pads seems to fit her needs. But I would like to tell you this, OP: it is her body, and her choice what she wants to use, not yours.

Dd’s use U by Kotex. One like wings, the other not. Both have used tampons from the start. They wear a mix based on activities and comfort, I think. Based on shopping patterns......

DD is 12, and started her period in July. She is tall-ish (5’ 5), but quite small (size 2). She uses the Always Overnight Pads day and night. :-D It was what I had in hand when she started, and she feels most comfortable with the extra protection. She has never had an accident. The only down side is they cost more, I guess. But, I only have one girl, and I don’t need period protection, so I guess we won’t fix what isn’t broke.

I have gently tried to nudge her towards tampons, but, she is completely not interested. My guess is she will change her mind when volleyball season is in full swing!

Good luck!
Erin

My tiny, soon to be 18 YO, uses these as well. 

I must admit that I find this idea of not giving the option for tampons right away problematic. 

Why not? What in the world is the possible reasoning? Help me understand. Is it old wive's tales? Is it your own hang ups? If so, why put these things on your daughter? 

She can use a tampon from day 1, if that's something she is comfortable with. 

To demystify the whole tampon thing, what I did was to get as many samples from as many different brands as I could. Any samples I could find on line, I ordered. Then, we took one of each, opened them. Let her see how the applicators worked. The most fun part came next. We put each one in a glass of water and watched how they expanded. It was actually fun to see how quickly the did or did not expand and what shapes they created. Understanding the shape of the vaginal vault and looking at the tampons fully expanded made dd come to the conclusion that there were only 2 brands she was interested in trying- Playtex Sport and Ob. She was not at all turned off my the lack of applicator and decided that ob were the best overall. Used one the very first day of her first period. No questions. She thought pads, even today's super thin ones, were too much like wearing a diaper. She was actually more uncomfortable with the concept of a pad than the concept of a tampon.  

So, as your friendly neighborhood online gynecological pal, I beg you, please do not put arbitrary rules and regulations on tampon usage. If she's old enough to menstruate, she's old enough to handle a tampon. 

You would think so, but my daughter doesn't like tampons, and refused to use them even though she wanted to go swimming and stuff. She also wears pads while playing volleyball. That's significantly easier to do than when things revolve around water.
Oh, and she went on her 50 mile backpacking trip on her period. That's pretty impressive to me.

Please give her the option. My mom refused to allow me to use tampons because she had body shame and modesty issues. I had a heavy flow and was physically active. I couldn't change pads frequently enough in school and ended up stressing hard over the fear of bleeding through my clothes every month.

I ended up sneaking and hiding tampon usage from her anyway and felt really bad, like I was doing something wrong. And anxious about being discovered and what the consequences would be.

As long as your daughter is able to understand the instructions and changes tampons often enough, why not give her the option?