My girls were 12 and using tampoons as we are members of a pool and they spend the majority of their time there. My one two ODDTwin13 almost 14 has no issue using one, her twin on the other hand has some issues.

It does not break their hymen that is a myth...if she can handle using it let her, if not use pads. depends on the kids

I tried pads when I started & they were awful. They were messy & they felt disgusting. They made me feel like I was wearing a diaper.

When a young girl starts her period, she's already nervous about people being able to tell. Feeling that extra bulk in my pants only made that part worse for me.

I think you should consider her preference. Have her try both & let her decide. IMO, a lot of it has to do with a personal preference in comfort.

As far as breaking the hymen, that can happen riding a bike. I hardly see that as reason to count them out as an option for her.

I think you are fighting a losing battle here. My mother went down the same road that you are, with the pads only. however all my friends at school were using tampons. I specifically remember the day that I "taught myself" to use a tampon. I was 13 and I was at a friends house, who had a hot tub. Everyone was getting in, I had my period. I was NOT about to tell everyone that I couldn't get in the hottub because it was that time of the month, so I went to her bathroom, found her tampons, read the directions and the rest is history.

However, I have always wished that my mother would have been the one to teach me. I used to panic about the "TSS" warning that I read on the directions, again because nobody told me and I wasn't one to ask.

This of course was just MY experience and this is my opinion.

My daughter was 10 when she started her period. 11 when she started using tampons. It took her 2 boxes of Junior ones before she got it, but she figured it out with the directions and her younger cousin giving her support.

...and this is where I add... I'm soooo glad I have a son!!!

My dd15 started when she was 11. She probably just started using tampons last year. She wanted to earlier and "tried" but couldnt quite figure it out I guess. I certainly have no issues with her wearing tampons-she is also active in cheer, gymnastics, and swimming.

My youngest dd is getting ready to turn 11. Hasnt started yet. I dont know if I like the idea of them wearing tampons right out of the gate. But within a year or so of starting seems ok to me-so its not really an age thing for me just rather a need to get comfortable and used to the idea of having a period before moving on to tampons which, IMO, are not as user friendly (initially anyway).

My mom gave me the same "You're a virgin and you can't use tampons until you're married" story.

I was very, very small (under 100 lbs) in HS. I was very active, played softball and a cheerleader. Having to wear the equivalent of a surfboard glued to my underpants once a month sucked. A lot. Back then, they didn't have all of the options with shapes and sizes. They just had the one large size. They were bigger than my shoes.

Did I mention we had a lot of white in our school colors?

Finally at 15, I bought my own tampons and taught myself how to use them. Hid them from Mom for nearly 2 years before she discovered them.

Didn't listen to my reasoning, instead she got angry, accused me of being a slut and didn't speak to me for 3 days.

Gotta love my Mom.

My SD14 wouldn't use tampons. I made both products available, in a variety of shapes and absorbency, and left it to her to choose.

When I was a teenager I used this kind of tampon that was on a stick, kinda like the OB ones (small), except they were on a stick, like a sucker, with the tampon end in a wrapper. Well, my younger boy cousins were visiting, and somehow they got into my closet (I wasn't home) and they of course thought they were suckers, and took them to my mom and aunt and asked if they could have one of Hanny's suckers! I guess it took my mom and my aunt sometime to figure out what it was...then they died laughing...and were still laughing when I got home. I think they would be a lot easier for younger to use this kind, but haven't seen them for years.

I was so lucky.

I probably had the only mother on the planet in the '50s who wanted me to start using tampons right away.

Just make sure she is ready for the responsibility of changing them regularly, etc. sd started when she was 10. Wore pads for a year and a half before she started stealing her moms (super duper plunger huge) tampons. Dumb kid. We had told her no because we had issues with her changing pads regularly. After explaining to dh the risk involved if she "forgot" to change her tampon, infertility, illness, and even death...then the tampon recall happened he was opposed too. But she just kept stealing bms or her friends. I educated her as best I could, and told her at this point if she just got lazy about it, I was going to put her money to any doctors bills, since its a choice she is forcing on everyone. She still isn't good about them, but I'm backing way off on this kid. Just try to educate her, and good luck!

My SD started when she was 10. It actually happened with us, though BM had prepared her for it. I took her to the store and bought her pads.

Last year (when she was 12) she asked to get tampons. I didn't think anything of it, just bought her some (I can't use them, they are just too uncomfortable for me). About a month later DH gets a screaming phone call from BM that I'm promoting SD having sex by allowing her to use tampons??? I was dumbfounded. DH was dumbfounded. Wasn't aware that allowing tampon usage was the gateway drug to sex. *shakes head*

Id probably stick with pads until the teenaged years. Also, they don't usually break hymens I don't think. I started using them at 14 and, a little later in life, when I lost my virginity, it was still there.

Unless she has a really strange or overdeveloped hymen, it's unlikely it would be broken by a tampon. I suppose we are simply uncomfortable with the fact that usually, the only thing that's supposed to go up there (biologically) is of a sexual nature.

Heavy physical activity and even something like horseback riding can "break" the hymen.

I used tampons when I reached 16 (the sport kinds, since they are smaller) because I started to do more exercises and pads were not... comfortable for that. I still bled during my "first" five years later so I guess it was still intact?

I broke my hymen riding a boys bike and having a massive crash where I smacked my pelvis so hard I really thought I would never have kids - my goodness did that hurt. Scared the living daylights out of me. I was in the 5th grade. I ran home screaming because there was the slightest amount of blood in my underpants and I nearly lost it. Thankfully my Mom was super awesome and just told me the facts, got me some clothes, got me to clean up and told me to get back on the bike and show the boys who could jump the highest off our homemade ramp. I threatened to punch any boy who made the slightest remark about my accident - my brothers included.

Two years later I started my period during 7th grade orientation wearing a pair of peach colored shorts.

A friends mom told me that girls who used tampons had babies before they graduated high school because the boys knew they were easy. My second stepdad told me that only girls who wanted to get STDS used tampons.

Pads or tampons seemed to be the least of my humiliation. Thankfully my mom gave me all the facts and so did girl scouts. I think it's a personal choice, but definitely one that mom or another trusted adult should give all the unbiased facts about.

In the world today, tampons do seem to be a logical choice at least while awake and active, but it's definitely a personal decision between girl and her trusted advisor. IMHO