The Dot Girl Blog has Moved!

We have moved the Dot Girl Blog!

Thank you for visiting the Dot Girl blog.  In order to bring you more timely news and a greater variety of information, new postings will only be found on the the Dot Girl Facebook page.  Our past blog postings will always be at this site for you to read and enjoy.

We will continue to focus on topics around raising tween girls and menstruation and look forward to hearing from you on Facebook in comments or through our ‘Contact Us‘ email page.  Happy 2016!

Below Your Belt: How to be Queen of Your Pelvic Region

Our partners at the Women’s Health Foundation have released their new book Below Your Belt: How to be Queen of Your Pelvic Region. Below Your Belt: How to be Queen of Your Pelvic Region  The book is specifically aimed at tween girls and addresses topics that aim to establish life long pelvic health.  Topics include bladder and bowel health, menstruation, pelvic hygiene and even menopause!  Dot Girl Products is honored to be included as a resource in the menstruation chapter.  Needless to say, we highly recommend this book!

Dot Girl supports the mission of pelvic education by distributing the ‘Potty Pledge‘ in all of our shipping booklets.  We encourage you to read more about Below Your Belt: How to be Queen of Your Pelvic Region.  Now also available as an eBook at Amazon.com.

Dot Girl Products and Period View Partner To Help Girls Manage Periods

Dot Girl Products is excited to announce our new partnership with Period View™ to help girls manage their periods. Period View™ is a sophisticated calendar-based tool designed to help women of all ages keep track of their menstrual periods, fertile days, ovulation and predict upcoming periods. Period View™ is under the umbrella of Women’s View, a collection of websites and applications focused on supporting and educating women on health and reproductive wellness.

Period View Logo

The Period View™ website includes a Teen Corner featuring advice and information designed for teens. The Dot Girl First Period Kit® will be available for purchase through the Teen Corner Products Page.

As part of our partnership Period View™ bloggers will be contributing articles to the Dot Girl blog on topics including “Are Girls Going Through Puberty Earlier?”, “Pads vs. Tampons”, “First Time Tampon Use”, and “The Best Movies About Your Period”.

The free Period View™ app, available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Portuguese, may be downloaded from the following stores:

Period View App

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/period-view/id715872992?mt=8

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fertilitycoucil.periodview

We are excited about this new partnership with Period View™ and the opportunity to help young women manage their periods with confidence.  We encourage you and your daughter to check out the free app and all of it’s features.

The Dot Girl Warm Pad – New and Improved!

By popular request, the Dot Girl Warm Pad™ can now be heated in a microwave or in boiling water making it easier to use.  No more pesky metal disks to click in order to heat up the pad or problems returning the previous pad to liquid form.  As before, the new pad may be used as a warm or cold pad, which ever helps alleviate cramps.  Instructions on how to use the new pad are listed below.  We can’t wait for you to try the new Dot Girl Warm Pad™ as part of The Dot Girl First Period Kit®!

The Dot Girl Warm Pad

HEAT THERAPY – Place the pad in boiling water for up to 5 minutes or until desired temperature has been reached. Or heat in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel for no longer than 20 – 30 seconds.
COLD THERAPY – Put the pad in the freezer for up to 2 hours before usage.
CAUTION – Pad can be cleaned with a mild soap, detergent or alcohol. Do not place any heavy objects on pad. Discard pad if punctured. Do not swallow beads. Do not use on infants. Heating pad beyond the time stated above is not recommended and could lead pad to burst.

Daddys Not Dumb, Just Clueless – a book for single dads

Daddys_Not_DumbDot Girl Products is honored to be included as a resource in the new book Daddys Not Dumb, Just Clueless: A Guide for Single Dads of Little Girls by Matthew Sanford.

Daddys Not Dumb, Just Clueless, is a book about topics a single father may encounter while raising girls from birth to the tween years. Mr. Sanford, himself a single father, decided to write the book about ten years ago and began to research tasks on which he believed men might be challenged on including topics that he was and is challenged on and needed to know more about.

Men, either as single parents or married men at home with their children, are often alone to deal with the topics covered in each chapter of the book, with no reference, or anyone one to call upon for help. With easy to understand, easy to read, step by step guides and a cheat sheet at the end of each chapter, the book is laid out logically to make it easy to reference material. There is also an appendix with repeated sections that can be torn out to be used on excursions – like clothes shopping at the local mall.

Look for references to The Dot Girl First Period Kit and what to look for before a girl starts her period in the puberty section of the book.

Daddys Not Dumb, Just Clueless is available on Amazon.com in both a Kindle and paperback edition.

Come Join Us at Kidfest! in Portland, Oregon

We are excited to be participating at Kidfest! at the Portland Expo Center the weekend of January 24th.  We would love for you to join us.  Below is information about the event including how to purchase tickets.  Kidfest! promises fun to the whole family.  If you attend, please stop by and say hello!

Kidfest! Portland, Oregon

Her Highness Builds Robots: Princesses for the 21st Century

Have you ever noticed that Kickstarter is a great place to find great products?  I have and I go searching every once in a while to find out what’s new.  This time around though, I found out about a Kickstarter campaign through my son, Dylan.  A college friend of his, Laura, and her sister Beth are running a campaign to fund their new coloring book Her Highness Builds Robots: Princesses for the 21st Century.  If you have a young daughter you want to be part of this project, trust me on this.  Watch the campaign video and find out why.  Then go and donate to receive your copy of this clever book to help your daughter realize the sky is the limit for her dreams.

Instagram, Early Puberty, and the Truths Needed to Raise a Tween Girl

There have been several great articles in the news over this past week centered around tween girls.  We thought we would share them all in one big post.  A little variety for everyone.

The first article, and closest one to our heart as it deals with periods and puberty, is from NPR News.  The book A New Puberty is reviewed via an interview with the authors Julianna Deardorff and Louise Greenspan, two California based researchers.  Pay particular attention to the comments if you are grappling with this issue as several parents have shared their experiences with their daughter and early puberty.

An eye opening article for any parent whose daughter uses Instagram is The Secret Language of Girls on Instagram by Rachel SImmons. Read how this popular social media tool can be a blow to a young girl’s self-image in the constant competition for ‘likes’.

And lastly, enjoy this very heartfelt article from Galit Breen – 14 Essential Truths About Raising a Tween Girl.  Ms. Breen offers what she considers the best wisdom on how to love and nurture the tween girl in your life.