- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Washington Babies
Moms of girls... A question?
Em is always touching herself and I'm trying to teach her that she should only touch herself when she's in the privacy of her room, or something. She then showed me that she likes to stand like Daddy (when he pees) and I explained that he has a wiener and that's why he stands, but I was at a loss when it came to telling her what to call her girly parts... What do you call it? Do I just say vagina?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Moms of girls... A question?
This exactly!
Dh said Emma went through this phase when she was about three. He called me at a loss as to what to do when she was "playing" with herself.
Dh felt uncomfortable teaching her the "parts" and what the proper terms were. I think he ended up having her call them her "privates" for her "front" and her "tush" for the back.
we say girly parts.
She can learn vagina when shes a bit older.
I tried using "vagina" and it just felt funny to say, I don't know why, too grown-up I guess. We use "bottom" for the general area, and I think I've used "girly parts" before. I kind of like the term "privates", I might have to use that.
Definitely want to teach her the actual terms for her body when she's a bit older though. I work in a medical office and I cringe whenever I have grown women call who are completely unable to say what they mean. I get a lot of whispered "down there" kind of things.
We say girly parts or bottom for the general area. Of course this week Syd decided that it means she has two bottoms so we had to explain the difference. I'll use the anatomically correct words when she's old enough to understand and use them correctly.
Glad I'm not the only one who has had a hard time talking about it. Until this week, M has just referred to that whole area as her "bum" or "bottom" and I sometimes said "privates". It wasn't until M told her friend that R has a tail, that I decided it was time to talk. I started to use "vagina" but, like Jill said, it's not correct to me. I'm kind of embarassed to say, M has thought R has had a tail since about a year ago. And that I just shrugged it off. But it only came up a handful of times. Now she knows "penis" and which area is her "privates" and which is her "bum". But, we only talk about potty talk in the bathroom and we had the conversation there, to make sure we weren't talking about penises anywhere else
Steal my kids picture or pretend they are yours, I will find where you live and ship all of their dirty diapers to your doorstep. Promise.
We just call it a "peepee"...girl peepee or boy peepee. Butt = bum. We have also addressed that boys peepee is different so they can stand up, but if girls try it, it just makes a mess (and she tried it a couple times to find out the truth for herself.)
At this age they have the same function....to pee. When she gets 8-ish then we will address things differently and in more detail.
I use the proper words for both kids. I don't want them to feel ashamed. This lady has come to our preschool a few times to talk about sex and kids. She's wonderful. Love her!
https://www.birdsandbeesandkids.com/
Oh, just wanted to add that this lady was a sex therapist, and she started her kid business when she realized she didn't know how to answer her young son's questions.
I don't know what we'll say...
Except the urethra is where the pee comes from. And that's what they care about. ALthough your'e right, what they "see" is the labia.
Scarletii - when you say you use the "correct" terms, what do you use then?
So far when DD#1 does this, I just ignore it and let her explore. It really open happens at diaper changing time or bath time anyhow. When she is old enough to ask me about it, I guess I'll have to come up with a game plan.
Jen - Mom to Jillian (10/2008) and Hayden (4/2010)
My Blog
This exactly.
I'm sorry Susan, but I have to take issue with this. You are implying that if we do not use the proper words for our children's body parts that we are teaching them to be ashamed.
That's a bunch of bullsh*t.
We are teaching them to use words they can understand at their cognitive level.
Shame in one's body is taught when we teach our children there is something wrong about their bodies. When we don't teach them to respect their bodies and the bodies of others, whether that's understanding what should be kept private or what others should or should not do to/around them. When we talk negatively about one's body and/or bodily functions.
That rarely has anything to do with using a developmentally appropriate word. If a parent were calling body parts something negative, then could understand your point.
Newlyweds since 2007