how do I know that I am ready for the tampons and stop using regular pads?
When I first got my period it was light for the first while, but once it started getting heavy that's when I started using tampons. Or if you're going to the beach or something like that, you don't want to be wearing a pad.
There is a pack of tampons that says "teens" on them which are great to start with, it has all the instructions and everything just for those starting out.
Try tampon and pads to see what makes you feel comfortable,me personally I prefer pads cause tampons hur t if you leave them in to long for me some women are different,