You do not have to be married or engaged to benefit from keeping track of your menstrual cycle!  While FiatNFP is primarily dedicated to teaching women how to identify fertility each cycle, the benefits of charting your menstrual cycles extend well beyond NFP.

For most young women or teenagers, identifying fertility each cycle is not necessary.  Instead, the focus is placed on charting periods.  Young women should pay close attention to any variation in frequency of menstrual cycles, bleeding patterns throughout the month, etc.

When charting your cycles, try to write down:

• Beginning and end of bleeding – is your period longer or shorter than normal?
• Flow – document how heavy flow is each day (spotting, light, moderate, or heavy flow)
• Abnormal bleeding – are you bleeding or spotting at all in-between periods?
• Length from the start day of one period to the start of the next – are your cycles shorter than 25 days or longer than 42 days? Regular/consistent or irregular/inconsistent in length?
• Pain – do you experience tremendous pain, nausea, vomiting with flow?
• Mood swings and other signs

The menstrual cycle is considered by many physicians to be an important vital sign - a clinical measurement that provides information about the state of a patient’s essential bodily functions.  Typical vital signs include heart rate, blood pressure, etc.  Abnormalities in vital signs point to abnormalities elsewhere!

So too, irregularities in bleeding patterns and timing of your periods can be a sign of problems in other systems of your body!  Charting your cycles can help your physician identify areas of concern and determine if further workup with laboratory and/or diagnostic testing is necessary.  Many medical conditions can cause abnormal uterine bleeding and ALL WOMEN who are having periods should keep track of them to help with earlier identification of these conditions.

Charting your cycles can be overwhelming in the beginning.  If it feels like too much, start simple!  At a minimum, teenage women should keep track of the first day of each menstrual period.  Some irregularity in cycles can be normal but, contact your physician if you see longer than 90 days between periods.

Women who are charting fertile signs should also be diligent with charting!  Abnormalities in cycle length, luteal phase length (time between ovulation and menses), mid-cycle bleeding patterns, cervical mucus observations, and menstrual cycle abnormalities can provide clues for hormonal imbalances and other areas of medical concern.

We live in a digital age and there are many apps that can assist with menstrual cycle charting.  If you have any questions regarding apps I would recommend for your charting needs, feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you prefer to chart your cycles on paper, you can find free paper charts here.