By Nancy Redd
Helping a young girl know the right kind of product for their flow will help them be prepared so that they won’t waste product on light days and won’t ruin their clothes during a heavy flow.
You know what’s almost as annoying as not being prepared for a period at all? Being prepared but with the wrong kind of product, and this can be quite stressful for young girls. On light days, a tampon designed to catch a heavy flow can feel scratchy and uncomfortable, while wearing only a panty liner during a heavy flow can cause them to need to change it too frequently, constantly checking the back of their pants.
After figuring out when they can expect their period each month, which is easier with the Kotex period tracker, helping them learn their body’s menstrual flow pattern is the next step in helping them to stay prepared. Everybody is different: some women start with spotting before their period, followed by a few days of heavy flow and a final day of spotting. Other women find that their period starts off heavy, then it tapers down to a light trickle over the next few days. Their first few periods may be very light and short, and their cycle may change over the years, but them knowing the general gist of their pattern will always be helpful.
Let them know that when keeping track, they should describe their flow in one of three ways: heavy, medium, and light. The way they can determine their flow is by how often they need to change their product. On regular (medium) days, they should feel the need to change a pad or tampon with regular absorbency about every four hours. If four hours pass and they find that their pad or tampon is still mostly white, then that’s considered to be a light day. On these days, you can recommend that they switch over to a panty liner or a pad/tampon with light absorbency – especially if it hurts for them to take their tampon out because it’s dry.
If they check their product before four hours have passed and they feel like the pad or tampon (or both) needs to be changed sooner, then that’s considered a heavy day, and you can recommend that they use a super, super plus, or max absorbency pad or tampon. On the heaviest days, they can avoid accidents and overflow by wearing a pad or liner with their tampon, and perhaps sleeping in our Kotex® All Nighter pads with max protection, so that they don’t have to worry about staining the sheets.
Helping young girls learn how to go with their flow is guaranteed to give them a better experience of their period and for them to feel more in control of their cycle.
The advice provided in this material is general in nature and is not intended as medical advice. If you need medical advice, please consult your health care professional.
