Referring to genitals with children

I like telling my daughter the names of things - she can say all the main body parts now - and am wondering about people’s thoughts on the issue of terming genitalia. On the one hand, I’m not hung up about the correct terms. On the other, “vagina” is a pretty clumsy, medical textbook-sounding word which I’d never use in any context except maybe if I actually were describing a medical issue (though not as bad as “testicles”!) “Penis” is ok except for the -s at the end, which makes it sound Latin and thus again text-bookish.

At first I was thinking my problem with these words is that I unconsciously AM hung up on them - maybe because of prudish religious parenting. But I don’t think that’s entirely right. Look at the other obvious body parts: head, arm, leg, foot… Most are monosyllabic except for the joints, and thus very child-friendly and vernacular-sounding. But if you say “dick”,’ “balls” or “pussy” it sounds like locker room/bedroom talk.

Which leaves the obvious alternatives, like pee-pee, woo-woo, tinkle and so on. Am I wrong to hate this option? So far “lady-parts” is my favorite compromise for hers, and for mine (I don’t make any effort to hide it), have just gone with the proper term.

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Boys have a winkle. Girls have a tinkle.

My sister uses the phrase “front bum” with her girls which I think is quite cute.

Oh, come on. “Wee wee” is perfectly acceptable (well, for boys’, uhm, thingies), and leads to the euphemism “gotta go wee”. Not being female, I have no idea what little girls’ ____s are called.

When the time comes for me to have a family, I think I’ll go with the scientific terms. I’m not a fan of babytalk.

My gf’s family uses cutsey words like “車車” or “鴨鴨” with their young ones and it kind of sends me up a wall.

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Toenail :astonished: , instep :astonished: , buttocks :astonished: , nipple :astonished: , stomach :astonished: , forearm :astonished: , armpit :astonished: , forehead :astonished: and belly button :astonished: :astonished: :astonished: .

Toenail :astonished: , instep :astonished: , buttocks :astonished: , nipple :astonished: , stomach :astonished: , forearm :astonished: , armpit :astonished: , forehead :astonished: and belly button :astonished: :astonished: :astonished: .[/quote]

shoulders, nostril

for my boy i use “willy” but never have been exposed to young girls i have no idea what term to use with my daughter.
edit - i just read this webpage where “cooch” gets a recommendation. have to say i quite like it.
theguardian.com/theobserver/ … magazine27

We use “penis” and “vulva” but my kids also use “willy” and “front butt” (front butt was my daughter’s own description). My mother will be mortified when my kids use the first two words in front of her, so it’s good to have a backup word or two.

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Willy or Wee Man for the fella. I actually use Mei Mei for the daughter, cos I can’t think of anything suitable in English.

My Mom used the word ‘coolie’ when we were kids…it is Italian slang for ‘butt’ I think, but she used it to refer to both that and genitals. It was good because if she used it in public, no one knew what she was talking about. :slight_smile:

Toenail :astonished: , instep :astonished: , buttocks :astonished: , nipple :astonished: , stomach :astonished: , forearm :astonished: , armpit :astonished: , forehead :astonished: and belly button :astonished: :astonished: :astonished: .[/quote]

shoulders, nostril[/quote]

Ok smartasses, I was talking main parts, and certainly none of your counter examples except maybe “nostril” and “buttocks” (most kids wouldn’t know either of these, and who the hell except doctors say the second one) have that sort of medical textbook sound that “testicles” or “vagina” have. And incidentally, a shoulder is a joint.

There is the all encompassing word, ‘bits.’

Don’t play with your bits.

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[quote=“StuartCa”]for my boy i use “willy” but never have been exposed to young girls I have no idea what term to use with my daughter.
edit - i just read this webpage where “cooch” gets a recommendation. have to say i quite like it.
theguardian.com/theobserver/ … magazine27[/quote]

:astonished: Thank god for that.

We’re ‘willy’ and ‘bits’ here, too. As in, leave your bits alone, stop fiddling with your bits, get dressed, visitors don’t want to see your bits, your bits are hanging out etc. etc. Penis sometimes, and testicles, but not often.

I understand the reasoning behind giving genitals their ‘proper’ names but we have common names for most of the rest of the body and getting stuffy about genitals only adds to the slight uneasiness around talking about them.

Weird question.
I used to use the local versions, when they were young. But they’re old enough now to know some of the slang.
I’m just glad it is not quite at the stage where certain naughty bits become more active due to hormones. That’s where the locker room terms shall enter the fray.
Kids learn fast. Quite refreshing actually, but with a slice of sadness over just how quick.
Time: The Avenger.

My parents taught me “penis” and “vagina” when I was a kid. I learned the other words from my friends and schoolmates.

Vagina is inaccurate, though, unless referring specifically to the inner female genitals. I’m not sure why this caught on.

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Whatever you call it, how you say it is important. You should say ‘does your penis/wee wee hurt?’ Just like you would say ‘Does your eye hurt?’. I see a lot of lowering of voices and hushed tones when parents talk to the children about their genitals or the bathroom. Upto 4 and if your lucky even 5, children are not shy naturally. So you don’t have to be either. Follow their lead.

Back to the tone…if you’re hesitant about genitalia conversations, the kid will pick up on your body language. So be adult about the whole thing.

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Not only does a thread addressing my question exist, I actually took part in it…

Anyway, I’ve been using the word private-parts, but I think lady-parts is actually pretty great. I may even be fine with just genitals.

I just find winkle, tinkle, wee wee, yaya, cooch so awkward to say…

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When I was a kid it was willy, balls and front bottom.