Too young for NFP?

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DVIN_CKS

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Does anyone think it wise to educate their teenage daughters with the knowledge of NFP and how to chart their ovulation cycle? Seems to me this would be a wonderful thing to teach a young woman. Wish I would have had a chance to learn such a thing at that age.
 
I agree, for men too. They’re already going to be hearing about contraception at that age, may as well get the truth in there too.

Josh
 
I agree, and have been talking to my daughter, and making her aware of her cycle. I would love her to be proficient Before marriage, I believe she would be less likely to fall back on artificial means if she is comfortable with NFP
 
ITA!

I’m teaching her not just to inform her about NFP, but to allow her an opportunity to “get in touch” with her body, and its cycles.

There have been a number of women on this board who have commented that they were able to note physical ailments a lot quicker because they understood their cycle and were able to p(name removed by moderator)oint irregularities which led them to seek medical attention sooner.

Also, I’m hopefully instructing my daughter with an understanding about how she is a part of the creative process, and enstilling in her a sense of responsibility for that gift. Hopefully she will take that sense of responsibility with her as she flies from my nest and makes her own. Hopefully she will stand up for the creative process in instances where she is urged to do something contrary to it.

If my daughter is old enough to have her period, she is old enough to keep track of her cycle.👍
 
From the opinion of a teenager, I think it is a good idea to teach about NFP at this age because all we hear in sex ed is “if you’re going to do it, use a condom!” Last year our priest had someone come and talk to the high schoolers in our parish. Its good to know because some parents won’t teach their children about sex and the only thing they hear is from the school.
 
If I am ever blessed with a daughter, I will begin helping her learn about NFP when she starts to menstruate.

Why shouldn’t a young woman understand exactly what is happening to her body and why? I wish I had learned it way before I did at age 27.

I would use it as a tool to help her understand how our bodies are designed to produce new life and not just for sexual pleasure like secular society would have us believe.

Malia
 
You should know that it often takes a few years before the menstrual cycle becomes established and ovulatory cycles begin. So a young teen may not have the synptoms a woman in her 20’s or 30’s has. 🤓
 
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Veronica1952:
You should know that it often takes a few years before the menstrual cycle becomes established and ovulatory cycles begin. So a young teen may not have the synptoms a woman in her 20’s or 30’s has. 🤓
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Definitely worth noting. But that is why NFP is so great… you know if you are ovulating or not. You know if there is a problem or if your cycles are just irregular.

I was put on the Pill at age 14 to “correct” my very heavy, painful menstruation. Maybe if I had known about charting, and was able to find a doc who was willing to look for the cause of the problem instead of just covering it up, I would not have been on the Pill for 14 years.

It took well over a year of being off of it to see a “normal” chart. I don’t want my future daughter to feel reliant on a contraceptive to keep her cycles regular.

Malia
 
DVIN CKS:
Does anyone think it wise to educate their teenage daughters with the knowledge of NFP and how to chart their ovulation cycle? Seems to me this would be a wonderful thing to teach a young woman. Wish I would have had a chance to learn such a thing at that age.
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We all learned about this in sixth grade. Mom made us keep track and taught us about some of the simple parts of NFP. We are still learning, but know the main parts…
 
Why isn’t this kind of thing taught in Catholic High Schools? I think that would be a great idea! Maybe not a full-out NFP instruction class but at least bring the topic up so students know the truth regarding this topic. Throughout high school, I don’t recall ever learning the Church’s stance on contraception in theology class.
 
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lissabears:
Why isn’t this kind of thing taught in Catholic High Schools? I think that would be a great idea! Maybe not a full-out NFP instruction class but at least bring the topic up so students know the truth regarding this topic. Throughout high school, I don’t recall ever learning the Church’s stance on contraception in theology class.
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Me either! I think it would be great to have that be part of the curiculum.
I don’t have children yet but someday soon I want bunches. If I have daughters I plan on teaching them about being aware of their cycles and charting and all. Perhaps if they have a good background in that, they won’t be tempted to go with ABC.
 
Read Kimberly Hahn’s book “Life-Giving Love”. She has said that although it is good to teach NFP, we need to be careful not to give a young woman over-confidence in her knowledge of her body so that she doesn’t use it for contraceptive means…aka… sex before marriage because she “knows” she’s not ovulating now. Other than that, I’ll be proud to teach my daughter one day the beauty of her body made by God!

-Amy
 
I really wonder how effective NFP is. I got pregnant using NFP. This was in my 20’s, instead of the ovulation mucus you get, I had bleeding. Its only when the bleeding suddenly stopped that I realized I wasn’t getting my normal period and something was up.
 
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Amie:
Read Kimberly Hahn’s book “Life-Giving Love”. She has said that although it is good to teach NFP, we need to be careful not to give a young woman over-confidence in her knowledge of her body so that she doesn’t use it for contraceptive means…aka… sex before marriage because she “knows” she’s not ovulating now. Other than that, I’ll be proud to teach my daughter one day the beauty of her body made by God!

-Amy
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Good point. Maybe when teaching it, we need to make sure that they still are clear about the chastity before marraige!
 
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Fashina86:
Good point. Maybe when teaching it, we need to make sure that they still are clear about the chastity before marraige!
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Very important indeed. And an uphill battle it is with all the shady sexual advertising and society’s permissive attitude toward pre-marital sex.

Eamon
 
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Veronica1952:
I really wonder how effective NFP is. I got pregnant using NFP. This was in my 20’s, instead of the ovulation mucus you get, I had bleeding. Its only when the bleeding suddenly stopped that I realized I wasn’t getting my normal period and something was up.
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Veronica,

This sounds like a “break-through bleeding” episode that you experienced. It is not uncommon, and is actually a very fertile time in the cycle when it usually happens. It occurs when the lining of the uterus builds up so much that the top layer cannot sustain itself.

The best way to anticipate this possibility is use a temperature cross-check when tracking your fertility signs. This is used in any of the Sypto-Thermal methods, like the one taught by the Couple to Couple League (www.ccli.org)).

Modern NFP is quite effective, with studies rating its effectiveness at 99% for perfect use, and 94-96% for imperfect use.
 
Yes, I do think it is a good idea … issues can be found and instead of saying “oh, everyone is irregular in the beginning,” a young woman can learn what is regular for her and note deviation from her norm. (Oh, and bleeding is considered a potentially fertile time, because the blood can obscure the other signs.) Of course, the other half of the sexual education (chastity) can’t be neglected.
 
if i do have a girl i think it would be a great thing to do starting at 16. i wouldn’t want to deal with it until then. i think 16 would be emotionally ready and it could be a rite of passage before leaving for college
 
I don’t have daughters but our church had a talk for the teens on abstinance and it included NFP. I asked my 15-year-old son if he had heard of NFP before that and he said he had. They didn’t teach details of NFP but they taught that contraceptive use was wrong. The whole message was very Catholic and it gave the impression that NFP is something everyone should learn before marriage. They need to hear that message repeatedly.

Now I have a question. Being the mother of sons, how do I go about teaching my kids about NFP? We used the “rhythm method” to avoid pregnancy and our first son was born less than a year later. We used NFP (What I read about taking temperature and watching for mucus, etc. Never formal training) to get pregnant with our second son and it eventually worked. However, we were 100% successful in avoiding other pregnancies using contraception and eventually a vasectomy before we understood the grave sin of contraception.

I’m not sure my husband even fully understands the church’s teachings as he wasn’t Catholic when he was sterilized and we aren’t required to have it reversed. He questions the teaching and seems to want to know why contraceptive use is wrong. I’m not very good at explaining to him. Any suggestions for those of us who are the only women in the family and don’t really feel comfortable discussing this?
 
As soon as a young girl can menstruate she is emotionally mature enough to chart. Even at 9 or 10. As a 13-year-old I would have been so happy to understand charting. It is her body that is going through these changes. I would be in a much better place health-wise if I had charted as a young teen.

I would agree that how charting interacts in marriage is something to address on a case by case basis for emotional maturity.

Teenage girls really do worry about their cycles. Giving them the education that it is not necessarily a “monthly” cycle and why, will ease her mind. I now know that my 40 day cycles can be normal for me. As a teen I honestly thought there was something sinful about me because I wasn’t like clock work. I know this sounds crazy but no one else I knew was so irregular. I later found out that many of my other friends were on the pill to “regulate” their cycles. ( I now call that “averaging” your cycles.)

Charting at a young age is good for planning your weekends, your overnight trips with the choir, and taking good care of yourself. I don’t think I would have been sick from school so often if I had been able to chart. Now I can take pain relivers and rest more near my sometimes painful ovulation days. Before charting I just thought I was weird.
 
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