periods (again, I know!)

[Guest guest]

I know that this has been discussed many times, but right now I'm kind

of at my wit's end with one of my daughters. She got her period for the

first time about 3 months ago, and was okay with it- we'd been

discussing it at home and in her classroom for a couple of years by that

point, so she wasn't freaked out by the blood or anything.

Her enthusiasm for it had waned by the next day. She has a lot of

sensory issues, many of them tactile, and she just cannot be comfortable

wearing a pad. She's walks with her legs spread very, very far apart

(so it's actually more of a waddle than a walk), and she finds it very

difficult to do anything at all. I've talked to her about it (she is

pretty verbal), and she just doesn't like the feeling of them (we've

tried different sizes and shapes...mini-pads aren't practical as she has

a heavy flow, so unless she's going to change them every 20 minutes for

the first couple of days they're not going to be practical). I had

initial reservations about using tampons with her because a) she's

physically very tiny, and I don't trust her ability to change it

regularly, and although her school is excellent about things like that,

every other weekend she's at her father's place, and I can't take the

chance that he will remind her to change it regularly. As it turns out

tampons are out of the question anyway- we've been having in-depth

discussions about them for the last few days, seen pictures and watched

videos, and touched them and seen what they look like, and it basically

boils down to it's going to be a cold day in hell before she's going to

let herself get near one. Needless to say I don't have a lot of

privacy in my house (especially in the bathroom lol) so she's seen me

with tampons before, and that doesn't seem to make a difference.

We were at her autism specialist 10 days ago (for her sister, actually),

and I'd asked him what we could do. He suggested a continuous low-dose

birth control pill so that she'd skip most of her periods, except for

every 3 months when she'd have to have one. I'd researched depo-provera

but I'm not too comfortable with that because of the calcium and

bone-loss issue...does anyone use birth control to help get rid of

periods for their daughters or themselves, and are you satisfied with

them and satisfied about their safety?

I just feel so badly for her because she's so uncomfortable.

Fortunately she doesn't have cramps or many mood swings, but aside from

letting her sit in a bathtub for 4 days out of the month (which she

would love!) I don't know what I can do to help her be more

comfortable. I'd appreciate it if anyone has any suggestions on how I

can help her.

Thanks,

Jen