Feminine Protection Usage

I started out with pads. My mom never used tampons (or very rarely) so that was the only option available when I started at the age of 12. However, getting my period turned out to be a very humiliating and painful (bad cramps) experience for me overall and after I had my first one, it was something I didn't like to talk about with my mom. I didn't want her or anyone else to know when I was having my period so I never asked her to buy any pads or tampons for me (even though I wanted to try tampons very badly), and I was too shy to buy them myself.

To make a long story short, through my teenage years up until I was about 20 I mostly used makeshift cloth pads (from old clothing). Sounds pretty lame, I know, but it worked well enough for me & I was doing my own laundry since I was 14, so mom never knew. It wasn't until my early twenties that I finally starting buying disposable pads (I strongly prefered the thin ones, without wings) and then tampons, of which I preferred non-applicator (easier to stash & less wasteful)

Anyhow, my disposable pad & tampon phase didn't last long. I discovered menstrual cups when I was about 23 years old, and when I got one ('The Keeper'), I was VERY quick to convert. Wow, I loved that thing! Still do. And I went from hating having my periods to hardly minding them at all. Ten years later, I have well educated myself about the workings of the female fertility cycle and all the options for feminine protection. I still use The Keeper, as well as a small MeLuna Cup for my lighter days, and am a strong advocate of using reusable menstrual products. If I do need to use a pad, I have a stash of washable ones, nicely made this time, with the snaps and everything, not folded up pieces of cloth, haaa.

I started off with pads when I first got my period. Then when I got my period at ski camp I didn't have anything with me and therefore had to ask someone for a tampon. I used tampons till May 2009, that is when my friend introduced me to the Diva cup. It was a learning curve for sure but now I love it.

I got my period when I was 10 and I was too scared to use a tampon so I used pads. Until I was staying after school for something and started my period and asked my friend that had already started hers if she had anything and all she had was a tampon. It took me like ten mins to put it in but I soon relized that they were more comfy so that's all I use now!

started with pads at 12. switched to tampons 15 - 35. just discovered the diva cup and will never go back to anything else!!!

I first got my period at 11, I used a pad but didn't really like it, having no close female relatives around at the time i didn't learn about tampons until later (my mom strictly used pads), I asked my mom to buy me some tampons, but she refused so i was FORCED to wear pads, lucky for me my periods weren't regular. I didn't start using tampons until i was around 17 and bought my own (I swam a LOT during the summer), problem was on the "beginner's" pack, they didn't properly explain how to use a tampon, so I ended up putting it in with the cardboard still on (ouch). I felt frustated. My mom was never the type to talk about periods or sex etc. I finally figured it out when i was around 19, now 21 (my SO thought it was funny, his mom gave him TMI about stuff like that, i was tramuatized) and have been a almost strict tampon user since, only using pads at night. I haven't tried the menstrual cup, though i'm curious. I'll explain WAY more to my daughter then my mom did to me.

I have always used pads. I use Stayfree super with wings most of the time since I have a heavy flow. Stayfree is my favorite pad. I still use the same pad that I started with but I switched a few times just to try something different. I will always use pads because I don't want to use tampons.