How to talk about periods with 2/3/4 year olds.

Basically, just introduce the concept.

We've already read "How Babies are Made" so there's that foundational knowledge or at least familiarity.

When child sees a tampon or a pad (which are terribly fun to play with BTW, one puffs up in water and has a string; the other is a giant puffy sticker ), you say, "That's a tampon/pad. Do you know what they're for?" (No.) "It's for when I menstruate. Most people call it getting your period, so it's when I get my period."

And then explain.

Around 10. I got mine at 12.5

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another from probably age 2. I let my kids be in the bathroom with me, they've seen the tampon string, so we've discussed it in an age appropriate way.

Getting my period felt a bit shameful / like something to hide for me. I don't think intentionally on my Moms part, just the outgrowth of not really talking about it. So I'm really hoping to avoid that with my girls and they see it as just another of those things that happens / changes for then as their body moves from being a girl to being a woman. Plus I figure they are easier to talk to now then they will be at the time!

Sorry to be a dunce, but can someone please be more explicit about an age appropriate way to talk about this with 2/3/4 y olds? How did you phrase it?

I'm an earlier PP. When DD has seen me holding a tampon or pantiliner and asked what it is, I've told her the name. She saw blood in the toilet once and I explained that it wasn't blood like I was hurt but was a special blood that helps a baby grow in the mommy's tummy. And since there's no baby in mommy's tummy right now, I didn't need it. "It's period blood, not real blood" was how I termed it.

Very fact based, non judgmental. Not using made-up words, but still making the concepts as simple as possible.

PP you quoted here, and our conversations have been pretty similar. To be honest I didn't think about it in advance - just answered questions as they came up, and tried to follow my kids lead about how much information to give at any particular time. I think I referred to the tampon as similar to a bandaid, and that it was like how you used a bandaid for a cut. When my daughter sort of pulled back I followed up with an explanation that it didn't hurt like a boo-boo. Then some of the information on the body preparing for a baby as a response to the 'but why?' follow up question. But I'd say those more detailed conversations have happened more in the last year or so since my oldest was 5-6. Of course, since I always have a menagerie around when I'm using the bathroom the 4 year old has heard the conversations as well.

And it's really just been a part of some broader conversations about body changes that happen as kids turn into adults: growing breasts, hair in other places than your head, boys and girls starting to be more different physically, etc.

By 8. You don't have to go into depth until you see signs DD is going through puberty but definitely let her know the basics early. I got my period at eight and my mom later told me she didn't think it would be an issue until 15 at least.

Every month mommy gets what she calls her period. It's the body's way of getting ready for a woman to make a baby. There's a part of the body below the tummy called the uterus. Each month it gets ready by growing thick in case a baby needs to grow there. When a baby doesn't start growing, which isn't going to happen for us since we're happy with just you (and your brother, sister, whatever), every month it goes away. When it comes off, it looks like blood but it isn't. It's my uterine lining coming off. Sometimes I wear a pad in my panties to catch it so that it doesn't get on my clothes. Sometimes I put something called a tampon inside me to catch it before it comes out. It doesn't hurt me when it comes out but sometimes I get a tummy ache or a headache at the same time of the month.

This is basically what I have said to my kids since they were 2-3 years old. At first it's gibberish to them, but at some point it sinks in. DD is now 8 and I'm starting to talk to her about other aspects of it. DS is 5 and is only starting to understand/remember. I just had an endometrial ablation a few months ago and so am going to talk to DD about that at some point soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another from probably age 2. I let my kids be in the bathroom with me, they've seen the tampon string, so we've discussed it in an age appropriate way.

Getting my period felt a bit shameful / like something to hide for me. I don't think intentionally on my Moms part, just the outgrowth of not really talking about it. So I'm really hoping to avoid that with my girls and they see it as just another of those things that happens / changes for then as their body moves from being a girl to being a woman. Plus I figure they are easier to talk to now then they will be at the time!

Sorry to be a dunce, but can someone please be more explicit about an age appropriate way to talk about this with 2/3/4 y olds? How did you phrase it?

I'm an earlier PP. When DD has seen me holding a tampon or pantiliner and asked what it is, I've told her the name. She saw blood in the toilet once and I explained that it wasn't blood like I was hurt but was a special blood that helps a baby grow in the mommy's tummy. And since there's no baby in mommy's tummy right now, I didn't need it. "It's period blood, not real blood" was how I termed it.

Very fact based, non judgmental. Not using made-up words, but still making the concepts as simple as possible.

My older daughter's seven. She knows I use tampons and why. My little daughter's three. She knows I use tampons, but her understanding of why is very unclear. She does like to play with them, though. They're fun to puff up in the water.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As soon as she found a tampon and wanted to play with it, I started talking to her about it. So around 2. She's in sixth grade now, and although based on her weight and my genetics I'm pretty sure she's got at least five years to go, I want her to know all about things way before she experiences them. We actually just talked about periods again last summer because I got her more involved in doing laundry and told her to use cold water on any blood stains. I'm sure in her mind, she was thinking "skinned knee" but the seed has been planted.

Just like sex, we've been talking about this since she was a toddler, each talk comes at it from a slightly different angle.

I'm sorry I'm confused. Are you suggesting that she won't get a period until age 17?

I didn't, and I was taller/heavier than she is. She is routinely mistaken for an 8 yr old.