How to Teach Your Teen About Feminine Hygiene Products

Teenage girls need to know the difference between a tampon and pad.

Approaching any topic relating to puberty with your teenage daughter may seem like daunting task. Teenage daughters can become specialists in eye rolls and heavy sighs when it is time to sit down with their mother for discussion. Arm yourself with the necessary information and list of topics to discuss beforehand so that the feminine hygiene talk can go as smoothly as possible

Things You'll Need

• Feminine Hygiene Pamphlets
• Feminine Pads
• Tampons

Instructions

Gather Information and Products

1. Request pamphlets from your family doctor, pediatrician or gynecologist on feminine hygiene and feminine hygiene products.

2. Print resources from the Internet, such as "Period Products For the Female Adolescent" from Moravian College in Pennsylvania and "Feeling Fresh" from Nemours TeenHealth website.

3. Visit the websites of feminine hygiene products manufacturers for sanitary napkins and tampons to request samples.

4. Purchase trial-sized packages of sanitary napkins, tampons and odor control products such as vaginal sprays for visual aids if you are unable to obtain free samples.

5. Lay the reading material and samples out onto a table so that your teenage daughter is able to see all of it.

Review the Facts

1. Ask your daughter to join you at the table so that you can have a mother-to-daughter talk about the products girls and women use, as they get older.

2. Read the pamphlets or print-outs to your teenaged daughter to explain the purpose and importance of feminine hygiene.

3. Using the pamphlets and print-outs as a guide, explain the function of the various feminine hygiene products and the meaning of the labels such as "light flow" or "overnight use."

4. Explain the consequences of not maintaining excellent feminine hygiene to your daughter using the information. Mention the unlikelihood but possibility of Toxic Shock Syndrome, which caused by leaving in a tampon for longer than a few hours. Impress on her the importance of seeking the care of a doctor to remedy the problems instead of hiding them with the odor-control products.

5. Ask your daughter if she has any questions or is confused by anything you have told her. Make an appointment to visit your child's health care provider so that they can further answer any questions your daughter has if you are unable to do so.

Tips & Warnings

• You may find the processes of teaching your daughter about feminine hygiene products to be more comfortable if you do it before she has begun menstruating. Additionally, providing your daughter with a book of her own to read on puberty and menstruation, such as "What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing Up Guide for Parents and Daughters" or the "Girl's Guide to Becoming a Teen" can help.

References

• University of Connecticut: Student Health Services: Feminine Hygiene
• Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital: A Resource Guide for Pre-Teens & Their Families

Resources

• Moravian College: Students: Good Hygiene: Period Products For the Female Adolescent
• Nemours Foundation: TeenHealth®: Teens: Sexual Health: For Girls: Feeling Fresh
• LibraryThing: What's Happening to My Body?