Tampons painful after having first baby

Katie

My son is 18 months old and I still find tampons to be extremely painful to use. Anyone else have this issue. I’m petite my son was SGA (small for gestational age) but I still had an almost 3rd degree tare having my tiny full term baby. My period is super heavy so I prefer to wear a pad (I use reusable) and a cotton tampon to prevent leaks. Every time I insert or take out a tampon it’s pretty painful. Can anyone else relate?