what do you call them?

ladylisalt · May 2013

Kinda of a cuckoo question but what are you referring to your little one's body parts as to teach them? I teach grade school and the health teacher comes right out with the 5th graders and calls them "penis" and vagina" which makes sense since essentially that is their name. However, is it common to start that from the get go? Or do you call them "privates?" I know I don't want to make up some silly names like some people do. Not to say that's horrible, but I guess I was just looking for opinions on what is more common with this.

XCrissCrossX · May 2013

We call them by what they are. It helps reduce confusion in the future. We do tell LO that "that's your penis- it's private and we don't show it outside the house, in the potty, or at the doctor" etc.

ladylisalt · May 2013

This is what I was thinking too. Thanks.

TiffanyBerry · May 2013

I call them what they are - vulva, vagina, anus (yeah, I'm just not a fan of the word, but that's what it is), penis, etc. Oh, and our dog is intact, so they are testicles, not whatever other strange things she calls them.

rlyttle · May 2013

We say peepee. This topic always comes up. I don't think it's that big of a deal if you use the proper term, or something different. We all somehow figured it out over the years.

LSU628 · May 2013

When DD asks I answer questions. She knows about breasts and nipples. We talk about having private parts, but when it comes to specifics she just refers to all of her parts as her "hiney". I'm fine with that now, but am fully expecting more questions about her baby brother's parts.

Blondangel · May 2013

We use the medical terms and encourage him to do so also. I never saw the point of teaching kids silly words for their body parts. I mean, you don't do it for "ear" or "elbow", so why should genitalia be any different?

ncbelle · May 2013

Blondangel:
We use the medical terms and encourage him to do so also. I never saw the point of teaching kids silly words for their body parts. I mean, you don't do it for "ear" or "elbow", so why should genitalia be any different?

This exactly

pitterpatter129 · May 2013

Real words (penis, vulva, breasts), except we call it a butt or bottom, not anus. I've read it's important for them to know real words just in case the terrible should happen also. If someone molests them, they can tell the story using the real terms and there will be no guessing about what happened.

skio · May 2013

Penis and vagina.

BelhurstBride · May 2013

I say penis and vulva... it's what they are.

Kie310 · May 2013

I have always used the word penis with my sons. My 3 yo calls it his penis (says it like PEEN-US, really funny)

hoping4sticky · May 2013

Blondangel:
We use the medical terms and encourage him to do so also. I never saw the point of teaching kids silly words for their body parts. I mean, you don't do it for "ear" or "elbow", so why should genitalia be any different?

Tummy, bum, piggies, noggin... I know this is a big thing on the bump, but I don't find it to be a big deal. I think that generally kids learn that one thing can have multiple names. I call them by the proper name (relatively I haven't busted out vulva or aereola), but DH doesn't like to with DD, I don't find it to be a big deal.

kenyakeetah · May 2013

I agree with pp no harm with using a "softer" word. We call our sons penis, penis and peepee. His button is a bum and he goes poopoo We all learn the words heck I don't even use the word vulva at all vagina sometimes but it's not often you need to use the names,

Testicles will be that or balls (I'm British its the common term lol ) but I feel that it won't do any harm.

With potting we use the term potty, pee, poop he knows the difference of go pee and where's your peepee so yeah unless he points to it and asks like he does sometimes then we say that's your penis or peepee we use both words. He doesn't speak enough for us to know what he will use.

RayRay007 · May 2013

We call them vagina, boobs and bum, except DD says booboos. If I had a boy I'd call his penis a penis. We haven't had to have the discussion yet that they're private.

ETA: re: vagina v. vulva, I know vulva is the more correct term, but I'm trying to find a balance between what is common and what is correct. For now we'll call it vagina because that's what a lot of people (mistakenly) call it.

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