Help your child know what to do when their first period starts
If your child is an ADHDer, knowing what to do is only part of the preparation.
They may understand periods perfectly well and still forget the kit, lose track of the steps, get distracted halfway through, or know how to ask for help but struggle to do it in the moment.
Period Ready is a parent-and-child course you work through together. Short videos, a guided workbook and practical activities help your child see, practise and repeat what to do before they need it.
Created by an autistic ADHDer, sex educator and parent of neurodivergent kids, Period Ready is designed to make the practical parts of period care easier to access, without shame or expecting your child to simply “try harder”.
Knowing isn’t always the same as doing.
Watch. Talk. Practise. Prepare.
- Practise using a pad before they need one
- Put together a period kit for school and other places
- Rehearse what to do if their period starts when you’re not there
- Practise a backup plan for when something is forgotten
- Know who they can ask for help, and practise how to ask
How Period Ready works
Period Ready is designed for you and your child to work through together.
There are two age pathways, 7 to 10 and 11 to 14, and you get access to both.
You’ll work through seven short modules. Each has a video and a workbook activity to help you talk about, look at or practise something together.
You don’t have to work out the preparation yourself. Period Ready gives you a guided structure, so you know what to talk about, what to practise and what to organise next.
The short format means you can focus on one thing at a time, pause when attention has gone, and come back later.
Some ADHDers understand something straight away but still need reminders, repetition or information outside their head.
That’s part of the preparation.
Why Period Ready works differently for ADHDers
An ADHDer can know exactly what a period is and still struggle with what happens next.
They might know how to use a pad, but forget the kit.
Know the routine, but lose track halfway through.
Know who to ask for help, but find it hard to start that conversation in the moment.
That isn’t because they don’t care or aren’t trying hard enough.
Period care can place demands on attention, working memory, planning, task initiation, sequencing, time awareness and follow-through.
So Period Ready doesn’t just explain periods and expect your child to remember everything later.
It helps make the practical steps familiar before they need them.
Your child gets to practise products, build a kit, rehearse what to do at school and work through backup plans.
And if something gets forgotten, the answer isn’t shame.
It’s: what would make this easier to remember, restart or do next time?
ADHD support isn’t about making your child try harder. It’s about making the task easier to access.
Made for different kids and different families
ADHD can affect period preparation in different ways.
Inattentiveness can mean missing a cue or losing track of what they were doing. Impulsivity can mean rushing a step. Executive function can affect planning, starting, sequencing, remembering supplies and following through.
And capacity can change with tiredness, hormones, stress, sensory load, pain, school demands and whatever else is competing for attention.
So one day your child might remember every step. Another day they might need more support.
That inconsistency isn’t laziness or lack of care.
Period Ready gives you room to work with the child in front of you rather than expecting the same plan to work perfectly every day.
Sensory needs can matter too. Pads, period pants, blood, wetness, smells, bathrooms or clothing may all affect what feels manageable.
Because everyone is different, and that’s okay.
Period Ready is also inclusive of different family structures, transgender and non-binary children, while still giving children clear, accurate, science-based information about periods and bodies.
Somewhere reliable to come back to
Period Ready isn’t only a course you complete once.
After you’ve worked through the preparation together, your child can come back when they need a reminder, want to see something again or have a new question.
They can:
- Rewatch the course videos
- Return to their workbook and printables
- Watch practical how-to videos
- Use the Period Help Desk to ask period questions
- Send Cath a question and watch the answer videos she adds
For ADHDers, repetition can be part of access.
Your child might understand something today and need to look it up again next week.
Forgetting isn’t failure. Sometimes the support is simply having the information there when they need it again.
What “prepared” can look like
Your child is at school. They go to the bathroom and notice blood.
They know it could be their period. They’ve practised using a pad. They know where their kit is and who they can ask for help.
But maybe the kit isn’t there.
Maybe they forgot to restock it.
That doesn’t mean the preparation has failed.
They’ve already practised what to do next.
The goal isn’t for your child to remember every step perfectly.
It’s for them to have something familiar to fall back on and a way forward when the plan doesn’t go exactly right.
Prepared doesn’t mean perfect. It means there’s a next step.
Preparation doesn’t have to mean one big period talk
You don’t have to explain everything at once.
Watch a short video. Use the workbook to talk about it. Practise one thing. Stop there if attention has gone or that’s enough for today.
Some ADHDers do better with short bursts, movement, side-by-side conversations or returning to the same idea later.
Your child doesn’t need to sit still, focus perfectly or finish everything in one go for the learning to count.
There’s no prize for getting through it quickly.
What you get inside Period Ready
Seven guided modules, with short videos and a workbook, help your child:
- Understand what periods are and why they happen
- Learn about changes before a first period
- Explore period products and practise using a pad
- Decide what they’ll need in their period kit
- Rehearse what to do if their period starts away from home
- Practise backup plans
- Work out who they can ask for help and what they could say
There are worksheets, checklists and practical activities along the way, so you’re not left wondering what to talk about or practise next.
You follow the program. Period Ready guides you through the preparation.
There’s support for you too
Inside the Parent Hub, you’ll find guidance to help you set everything up and support your child as you go.
There’s also dedicated neurodivergent support to help you think about things such as:
- working memory and executive function
- routines, reminders and visible supplies
- sensory needs
- body signals
- impulsivity and rushing
- asking for help
- backup plans for when the usual plan falls apart
The aim isn’t to make your child more organised, more compliant or better at “trying harder”.
It’s to make the task easier to access and easier to restart.
Support should reduce shame, not add to it.
And you don’t need to be a period expert. Period Ready gives you somewhere reliable to find answers when you need them.
Why I created Period Ready
I’m Cath Hakanson, a sexual health nurse, sex educator and mum. I’ve spent more than 30 years working in sexual health and helping parents teach sex education in clear, practical ways.
I’m also an autistic ADHDer, and I’ve raised two neurodivergent kids.
So I know firsthand that understanding something and being able to do it in the moment are not always the same thing.
You can know what you meant to remember and still forget it.
You can understand the routine and still struggle to start it.
You can know the steps and lose track halfway through.
That doesn’t mean you weren’t listening or didn’t care.
It means the support needs to work with the brain you actually have.
That’s a big part of why I created Period Ready the way I did.
I wanted children to have accurate period information, but also the chance to see, practise, repeat and come back to the practical steps.
And I wanted parents to have a guided structure to follow rather than having to invent every conversation and routine themselves.
My own lived experience matters, but this work is also shaped by what I’ve learned from ADHDers, neurodivergent families and decades of working with children and parents.
Because knowing what to do matters. Being able to access that knowledge when you need it matters too.
What families are saying
“I had been dreading this conversation because I didn’t know how to start it without making it awkward. Period Ready made it so much easier. We actually worked through it together over a weekend and it felt really guided and manageable. My daughter even enjoyed parts of it, which I never expected.”
“I thought my daughter might feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, but she was actually calm and really engaged. Practising things like using a pad and putting together a period kit made it feel normal instead of awkward. The rehearsal part made such a difference compared to just talking about it.”
Get Period Ready together
Your child doesn’t need perfect memory or a perfect routine to be ready for periods.
They need accurate information, practical preparation and support that makes the steps easier to access and restart.
Period Ready includes
- Both age pathways: 7 to 10 and 11 to 14
- Seven guided modules
- Guided workbook and practical activities
- Period product practice
- First-period preparation and rehearsal
- Practical how-to videos
- Printables and checklists
- Period Help Desk
- Ask Cath + answer videos
- Parent Hub
- Neurodivergent support
- Lifetime family access
Is Period Ready right for your child?
Period Ready can be especially useful if your child:
- understands periods but may forget some of the practical steps
- misplaces or forgets supplies
- loses track of time
- struggles to start or finish routines
- gets distracted halfway through a task
- rushes when they’re under pressure
- benefits from reminders, checklists or visible supplies
- does better when they’ve practised something first
- can manage something one day and need more help the next
- finds asking for help harder in the moment
- needs backup plans for when the usual plan falls apart
Your child doesn’t need to fit every point on this list.
What Period Ready isn’t
Period Ready isn’t about making your child perfectly organised or independent.
It doesn’t assume that knowing what to do means they’ll remember and follow every step every time.
The preparation is designed for you to do together, with practical support for the moments when memory, attention or executive function make things harder.
Frequently asked questions
Is Period Ready suitable for ADHDers?
Yes. Period Ready gives children clear, accurate period information while allowing for repetition, rehearsal and practical support.
The Parent Hub also includes extra neurodivergent support around executive function, routines, sensory needs, body signals and help-seeking.
What if my child understands periods but keeps forgetting what to do?
Knowing what to do and remembering all the steps when you need them are different things.
Period Ready gives your child opportunities to practise beforehand and helps you think about reminders, visible supplies and backup plans.
Forgetting doesn’t mean they weren’t listening or don’t care.
What if routines never seem to stick?
The goal isn’t one perfect routine that works forever.
It’s a workable plan that can be restarted when attention, energy, stress or other demands change.
What if my child forgets their period supplies?
Backup plans are part of the preparation.
Your child can practise what to do if the kit isn’t there, they’ve run out or they forgot to restock.
The aim isn’t to make forgetting impossible. It’s to make forgetting easier to recover from.
What if reminders turn into arguments?
Reminders can quickly feel like criticism.
The Parent Hub helps you think about supports that reduce reliance on memory, such as changing where supplies live, using external reminders or finding prompts that actually help.
Support should make the task easier, not add more shame.
What if my child has sensory worries about periods?
Period Ready gives you opportunities to explore products before they’re needed, and the Parent Hub helps you think through sensory needs around pads, period pants, blood, wetness, smells, bathrooms or clothing.
Do I need to know much about periods myself?
No. You don’t need to be the expert.
The videos, workbook and Parent Hub guide you, and if a question comes up that you don’t know, you can look for the answer inside Period Ready.
Can my child use Period Ready to look things up themselves?
Yes.
They can return to videos, printables, practical resources, the Period Help Desk and Ask Cath for clear, age-appropriate information when they need it.
What if my child has already started their period?
Period Ready can still be useful if their period has recently started and they’re learning how to manage it.
They can practise products, work through school and away-from-home situations, build their kit and return to Period Ready when questions come up.
Is it only for girls?
No.
Period Ready is for children who have periods or may have periods. It’s inclusive of transgender and non-binary children and different family structures, while still giving children clear, accurate, science-based information about bodies and periods.
Does Period Ready talk about sex?
The child course focuses on periods and the information children need to understand them.
There is additional parent-only information about sex and reproduction so you have support if those questions come up.
What if I have more than one child?
Your purchase includes lifetime family access, so you can use Period Ready with siblings too.
You receive both age pathways and can choose the one that best fits each child.
What do we need before we start?
You can access Period Ready online from your phone, tablet or computer.
You’ll need the workbook, plus a few basic supplies for the practical activities.
The Parent Hub helps you get everything organised before you begin.
Try Period Ready for 30 days
You can work through Period Ready with your child and see whether it works for your family.
If you decide it isn’t right for you, just let me know within 30 days and I’ll refund your purchase.