Caught son using tampons

Answer 1

This question has several parts to it based on several things.

1) How old is he?

2) Whose tampons did he use?

3) Are there other things he relates to this or is it only sexually motivated?

4) How does the parent feel about this?

5) How did the parent catch him? (meaning was it the parent's business to know this - does the parent ask him about masturbation? About elimination?)

Age relates to perception. If a child of 2 - ~10 tries to use them, most likely it is experimentation (like finding that you can feel good by rubbing your privates.) Or "trying to be like mom." You certainly may want to talk to him about this and be sure he understands what they are intended for, i.e. if he's 2 to 6 keep it simple: "These are meant for girls for keeping themselves clean, boys don't need them." If he's old enough to know about girls having a vagina and a period, explain it to him as "these are used by girls when they have their period, to stay clean" or some variant.

If he's old enough to understand the difference in physical sexes (not just "boys and girls are different") then the discussion should relate to the later points. If he's using his mother or sister's tampons and the problem is them running out, a discussion of personal property and respect for other people's things is in order then further discussion. If he has his own, then then next stage deals with parent's and masturbation. Many straight men enjoy the stimulation of the prostate and anal-play both with or without a partner, so here comes personal feeling time. Some people believe anything besides "missionary" sex within the bonds of marriage is wrong, others believe masturbation (in it's many forms) is ok as long as it is within certain limits, others believe anything that doesn't hurt another person is ok.

Here the people who believe masturbation is bad have a chance to discuss with the child and explain how they think this is wrong and NOT scream and yell at the child but to explain that they expect such behaviors to not occur while the child is living in their home; anyone else can discuss that they want the child to be careful and keep masturbatory behaviors behind closed doors.

Here also is where the question of how the parent "caught" the child. Did the parent walk in on the child by accident? Did they figure it by the fact of the number of missing tampons? Were they digging in the boy's room and found the box? Were they found in the trash? Was it actually wrong of the parent to find this? The parent may find they have violated a trust that the child had and have a worse problem than just the cost of tampons. Treat the subject lightly and gently, sex is such a touchy subject, treading lightly will help the parent-child relationship.