Any Suggestions on Naming Body Part for What They Are???

Aaahhhhhh, boy what fun I had in dealing with this stage of life. I'm always very direct so I taught my daughter early on the proper names for body parts to her grandmother's dismay. Anyway, I guess now I try to be a little gentle with it and use the word chest when speaking of her upper body and personal area when speaking of the lower body. Let me know what you come up with.

T. C - single mom of 2 girls

My daughter calls it her pee-pee, when she is a little older I will teach her the correct term, she calls breasts "boobies".

be honest. use the correct names for body parts. giving her silly nicknames for her body doesn't give her an opportunity to get to know her body and be comfortable with it. it is like telling children about the stork. the word vagina might sound weird coming out of her mouth, but it is far better than an older girl who is afraid to talk about her body. good luck.

Vagina and Penis it is that simple. Being anatomically correct only makes sense. My son is 2 and he and all his "friends" call them by their names. If she says it in public oh well. Just discuses with her when and where she can talk about private parts. I know the "butt" area varies some call it bottom, tush, butt, etc.

I always use the correct terms. Otherwise, they might grow up thinking that they need to be ashamed of their body. There is nothing wrong with teaching them the correct words in the correct context. Just my thoughts...

We have used the term "girl parts" or "boy parts" for the generic private parts areas. Such as "we keep our girl parts covered. That's the area our swimsuit covers." or during bath we might tell our daughters to "wash their girl parts" rather than saying their vagina. If one of our girls asked something specific--like where does the pee come out-- or we needed to use a specific term in the situation we use the correct name.

I taught my daughter the proper name for everything, although it really embarasses my husband as she has no problem just stating what it is no matter what. I guess it just doesn't bother me as much.

Well, you can just start out by calling them "private body parts". Just be casual and name them what they are, ie, breast. Yes, they can tear your heart out crying not to to to work. I have a work from home company and wondering if you would be interested in checking it out? Just e-mail me back if you are curious! ____@____.com

Hi T.,
Call them what they really are. I've been doing that with my 2.5 year old and now he tells me what part of his body hurts, if hurting (diaper rash etc). I didn't want to have him go to gramma's or the sitter's or the friend who watches him on an occasional weekend night and saying my (whatever nickname) hurts and them not knowing what he's talking about.
I hope this helps in your decision making process!

Hi T.,
I have a 3 yr old also, and we have named our body parts Tulips, because they are like flowers, when you get older they will bloom out like mommy's.Our major body part is "Our Privacy".

Hi T.,

I have a 2 1/2 year old and taught her the correct anatomical names. Refering to it by any other name actually places more focus on the body part than is necessary. This subject may cause the adults a little anxiety but she'll be more at ease with herself if you can be at ease with her on this issue. That being said, I can certainly understand not wanting to offend grandparents or other adults, so using the phrase "private parts" in public seems reasonable too since it is generally accepted terminology for police, teachers, etc.

I have always used the proper medical terms for private body parts to my boys. Now that they're older, I'm grateful for having done that because they don't fall into slang, or worse.

I have always called everything by it's correct names. Yes, they may blurt out something sometime that would be a little embarrassing, but you want them to be able to talk to grown ups and the grown ups know what they are talking about....ie what if , God forbid, they were to get touched inappropriately by someone? It is important that they could talk to any adult and tell them what happened and have that adult understand what they are talking about.

Call a spade a spade. When they are young - I always called them by their proper, medical terms. As the kids get older and start asking questions, you don't want them to think that you are embarrassed to talk about their privates, sex or any of the harder subjects. I now have a teen and a tween As my kids have gotten older, we sometimes use slang terms but they know they can ask be the big questions and I will give them a straight answer. One golden moment with my daughter was when she was three and we brought her infant brother to the doctor. She was so concerned about his condition that, when the Doctor walked into the room, she immediately ran up to the Doc and told him, "Dr., we are here because my brother has a rash on his testicles." Yep- it made me squirm, coming from her but...it's moments like that when you've done the right thing! Good luck!

Why not call it "vagina"? That is the name of that part isn't it? Vagina is not a bad word. KIds should know the correct term.

I think calling by it's real name is best I think you just draw more attention by making something up. Yes it's private but you do't want to make it something you and your daughter don't talk about. you don't call other body parts fake names like your thumb a noo noo.
M. S

I agree with everyone else. I just wanted to say to Kelly P., that was too cute! That gave me a good laugh : )

Hi there! I have three daughters, and from early ages, I taught them the correct names of all of their body parts. I think that by being factual from the beginning, there isn't any silliness later on (my girls are now 8, 10, and 12). Some parents think other names are cute or less embarassing, but I'll tell you, the kids are more embarassed to use the wrong terms! I direct a preschool program and one little girl (age 3) told a most embarassing story about her mom's incorrectly named private parts!

Honestly, I just call them what they are. I don't make up any nicknames for them...they are what they are and she shouldn't be ashamed to know the words for them, and shame on adults who think it's "shocking" if she happens to say the words in public. My daughter does call it her "pee pee" just b/c that's what she came up w/, but remember, the outer parts of the female parts are not the vagina...that's the INTERNAL part, which may be way beyond what she's interested in right now.

Well, I hope this is helpful to you. My husband and I agreed that we are not going tohide from our daughter. If we are in the shower she comes to get or talk to the one who is in the shower, she at first did not even notice or pay attention to the difference but when she did we just simply told her that those are mommys privates or daddys privates. We then explained to her that she has her privates too.And what they are reallly called, there is no shame or blame on her not knowing the truth. Since we were also potty training at the time of the questions we went into telling her that privates are just that.... private . She was always really good about it too. She now knows that she has privates too and that no one is to ever hurt, touch, look, or do anything to her privates and she asks if another family member has to take her to the potty if it is actually ok. I find that very reassuring. I do know there is going to come a day where she is going to ask for the "real" name of her privates, and we agreed that there is no reason to hide it from her. We do not want to be put in an uncomfortable situation either. I believe that if we do not make it a big deal then she will not think it is one. Hope it helps you.

I say call them as they are. It helps to prevent kids from being giggly and/or embarrassed about the topic.

Teach the anatomically correct terms, and if your worried she might blurt them out in public, you can also discuss that they are private.

My husband is Hungarian and ever since our 3 kids were babies he used the hungarian name to describe their private parts. If you are not of any direct foreign desent maybe you can find the words from your heritage. This way if the kids do use the words publicly ( which they will! ) not many people will no what they are reffering to but you are still using proper words to describe their body parts.

I'd like to thank Courtney G for pointing out the name of the external female genitalia. I was never comfortable calling it a vagina because I know that is an internal part, and does not explain where pee comes from. The part they see and ask about is the vulva. I agree- call them what they are, but be accurate!