I've been reading about getting your period for the first time and it says that it can take up to 12-18mths for it to become regular. Has anyone already been through this and can tell me what's normal for preteen cycles. Anything I should look out for? (other than excessive bleeding) We've had this talk since she was 7, because I got mine when I was 9. She seemed pretty shocked and a little freaked out. She quieted up and just kept saying she was fine and actually told me to stop asking her if she was ok..(paranoid mom alert!) The "scary" thing was that I offered for her to stay home from school today, because it was the first day and she said no. shock I know I shouldn't worry so much but I was not a well informed child when it came to this stuff and I'm trying to help her the best I can. Thanks in advance for any advice. ~Bunny

I recommend the book, "The Care of Keeping You", from the American Girl Library. You can find this at Barnes & Noble and Borders as well as the American Girl catalog. It talks about periods very matter of factly and addresses questions girls might have through their explanations. Seems like all of my daughter's friends have this book ( she's 10 and in 4th grade). It just so happens that we have a mother/daughter night coming up where the school nurse is going to give an informal talk on periods. I have no problem talking about periods. It's a normal process and amazing if you think about it ( minus the cramps, bloating, and leakage!). It's sex that's going to be the tough one! My advice: ease up, get a book, talk and discuss it together, and give her a pocket calendar so she can keep track of her periods. Have her put an x on the date (day 1) she got her period and for each day she bleeds, mark an x on the dates. From day 1, count 27 days and mark it. That way she can have an idea when she's due next and for how long she's likely to bleed. It's hard to see our daughters grow up, isn't it? Sometimes I wish I can keep them little! Good luck!

You seem to be doing the best thing you can and thats by being there if she needs you I got my period at age 12 I am 33 now but I remember crying my eyes out I knew it was coming but it was still a shock I had a regular period from then out not saying that all people do but mine was pretty regular I do remember that my cramps were horrible as a teenage so bad I cried my eyes out so make sure you keep midol or some other pain medication on hand I have an 11 year old boy so I will not have to go through that thank god like I said just let her know you are there if she needs to ask you anything ( I am with you on the paranoid mom thing) I wish you luck

Jen

Southjerseymom is right on it!!!My 11 yr old has that book and it is WONDERFUL!!It explains that and so much more...

Ralinda

Thanks so much for the responses! I spent all day yesterday worrying about her, I thought for sure I was going to get a call and have to go pick her up at school. I had the phone by me all day, no call. When I picked her up from school, I asked her how she felt and she said she felt fine, normal, no cramps, etc.. I did talk to her about the calendar thing, but I need to go and get that book! I had such bad periods as a kid and my mom was not good about it. Never took me to the doctor, and I never really knew why I was having them until I got to middle school and they explained it. I guess I'm throwing all the information I can at her to compensate for what I didn't have. I am going to relax, and let her come to me with her questions. It's so hard watching her grow up so fast!! Thanks again, ~Bunny

I agree the Care and Keeping of You is a wonderful book. My mom never told me anything about periods everything i learned was from this book or friends. I started a couple months before by 12th birthday. Good Luck!

I'm glad i found this post! My daughter just turned 10 two months ago..and today she got her first period. She was a little freaked out but calmed down very quickly..what upset her the most was that her teacher at school (grade 4) told the girls that they needed to write in their journals when they had their period. This is a language journal. There were tampons in the back of the class so i guess she wanted to find out who they belonged to. After very quickly telling her she did not have to do that (there's only 4 days left of school before summer) she settled down and we talked about it. We have talked about this in the past but she forgot a lot so we refreshed. What i'm dealing with is she's so young and she can only comperhend so much. I will be looking for books and what not..but at this age..she's having a hard time with the sanitary factors let alone everything else. I'm not making it too big of a deal..because after all it is natural..yet she asked very quickly why so young and then we talked about that. I'm just finding it hard to expain properly to her. After two hours she told me she was done for the month..and stuff like this and so we talked again. Sorry so long..but thanks for listening. Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm wondering about talking to the teacher as well because at the age of ten their is probably only a small few girls who have started their periods and i think that it's too much to expect them to write that in a journal. I'm 30 and i wouldn't write that in journal in a room full of my peers and i know without a doubt it's a natural part of life. As it is she will be struggling to handle this with the maturity of a young lady when the fact remains she's only 10 years old.

Hi there :)

Its great that you told your daughter about periods from a young age. I was about 10 or 11 when I got my periods and I was so glad my Mum had already explained it all to me. She gave me a book to read (I think it was called Every Woman) and it was easy to read. I remember thinking it wasn't very fair that girls had to 'bleed' each month and why couldn't boys go through it too lol!! My periods were a bit irregular to start with but after about a year, they became very regular. I also suffered with bad cramps but as I got older, they weren't as bad. A good friend of mine has an 11 year old daughter and she has already told her about periods (she hasn't started her periods yet) She takes a small package of sanitary pads and knickers to school with her every day (hidden in her bag). That is such a good idea, just in case her period starts at school, she is well prepared.

All that advice sounds great - I remember having nothing to hand when I had my first one.

My homework diary had pages with all the dates on - I just used to put a little * on the day it started as that was discreet, but still let me keep track.

I'm glad your daughter seems to have had an easy introduction to it all :)

xxx
Swift