Does your son know what a period is?

DS3 does as he is a nonstop question asker. I use washable pads so he sees them drying or me changing them in public toilets. He will quite happily ask if I'm having my period, am I poorly and do I need a cuddle to feel better when he sees them. He is aware that nanny doesn't have periods because her body is older and his sister doesn't because she is still a girl.

The once he was chatting away full volume about my period in a public toilet. When we were washing hands the lady next cubicle came out. Double took at him and said she thought he was older by how much he knew.

My dad freaked out when I leaked as a teenager the once. I vowed to bring up any son of mine to not make another girl feel the way I did that night.

Periods are normalised in this house (mother of 2 girls) My eldest is 21 and things seem to be open & awareness within wider friendships.

My mum was rubbish at anything like this. My Dad had to have the conversation she couldn’t bring herself to even say the word period. I remember saying to my Dad it’s ok I know - I had a best friend who started in primary school and her Mum explained it to us. He was very relieved and I made the decision not to bring my own children up quite the same!

I remember an ex from a very long time ago - he was an only child and lived in quite a closed family. He honestly didn’t have a clue (I must have been 16/17?) I remember having to explain that it wasn’t like having a wee and he didn’t even know it would be red. Hopefully he went on to be a decent partner to someone!

It is usually covered in year 5 PHSE/ RSE. year 5 is age 9 to 10

Yes I have an 8 year old who knows grown up ladies have a little bleed once a month and need to put sanitary pads in knickers.. that's as much as I've told him so far. I've sat with him and unwrapped a sanitary towel and explained why they're in the bathroom for me.

My ds is 16 and knows what a period is. I will say though I have extremely easy periods...no pain and doesn't stop me doing anything so he hasn't ever seen me struggle at all with it. He knows what it is but it isn't something that's on his radar particularly.

No, but only because he’s just been born 😂

My brother did from a young age though, I remember him bringing me some chocolate when he was about 10 (so I would have been late teens) because he’d just learnt about periods at school and seen sanpro in the bathroom so used his pocket money to get me some chocolate ‘just in case’ 🥹 he’s 24 now and still just as kind and thoughtful as he was as a kid.

Absolutely they understand what it is. I actually find school education to be very good at this these days too. I will tell them when I have mine, not every single time but I don’t shy away from “I’m just extra tired/emotional/have cramps/etc. because it’s my period”

They might be a bit embarrassed if confronted with it in the wild but I think that is normal for young teens (two DS, 11 & 13) and I wouldn’t hold it against them. Not unless they made the girl feel bad or “gross” about saying she had a period.

I saw a debate once online between two WOMEN, and one of them insisted that a woman's urethra was inside her vagina. Initially the conversation went that maybe she was referring to the entire area as vagina rather than just the actual hole, for lack of a better word. But no, she thought women urinated from a hole inside their vagina. Certainly there are more men who don't understand how women's bodies work but I think there are plenty of people of both sexes who don't know.

I was once being intimate with a man and my period was getting ready to start a day or two later, and I had experienced some spotting. He got blood on him and then proceeded to take a full-on silkwood shower. That was the point that I decided that if I ever had sons that they would not be squeamish about..

@Dogsaresomucheasier
Your post reminds me of another some time ago on MN where a guy posted a comment like
’its not like you’ve got three holes down there’

whereupon all the MNs on the thread realised Are you a bloke!! I vaguely recall he was married too 🤯

Yes, my sons know. They don't have sisters but I've always been open with them. They're grown now, and DS1 has mentioned buying period products for his girlfriend. He's quite comfortable with it, unlike his dad, my DH, who was mortified when I asked him to do the same many years ago, despite having sisters. He still got them though, I just had to tell him exactly what to get.

I have two sons, they are two years apart, and then I had our daughter when the boys were 10 and 12. So I was the only girl in a house full of boys for a long time. I talked to the boys about periods from a young age. I didn't want to raise men who were squeamish about something that happens to roughly half the population.

Yes, my 9 year old knows what a period is. He doesn't know the full details, other than a woman's body bleeds once a month and it's related to her bodies potential to make a baby. He knows it's natural, it's not dirty and it's not dangerous (that last point needed to be explained because he equated blood with injury!).

Yep - not least because they took a lot of reminding to leave me alone when I'm in the toilet (thank god, they understood privacy for poos earlier than for anything else), and if they're going to hang around chatting, then they're going to see stuff, and I'm going to have to explain (especially when youngest ran out, then approached me menacingly with a plaster - he was obsessed with applying plasters to any slight wound)

They know that sometimes I'm in some pain, and I just need to get takeaway for dinner and sit with a hot water bottle. They know what it is (to an age appropriate level).

They've learned the 'medical' side of it at school as well

I agree kids are more open about it all now. I think that's good

I don't think it's too shocking to not realise. If you don't use tampons, you might not know its possible to urinate with one in which would probably be the biggest signal. And the urethra isn't always visible, and even if it is not everyone would go looking.

Of course everyone should know, but I don't think it's something you would necessarily just realise by yourself.

My son is 8 and has known for years now, not least because he’s seen me bleed. He knows what happens during a period and why. There’s absolutely no reason to hide periods from boys - in fact to let them know this is what girls go through is very healthy and takes away the stigma from early on.

I have 5 sons and no daughters - I always talked about periods in a matter of fact way since they were small. It shouldn't be a taboo subject 😕 they knew that mum would sometimes have tummy ache and would have a hot water bottle on her tummy and back and they saw sanitary products in the bathroom and knew what they were for. Now they have girlfriends and know when to offer hot water bottles, painkillers and chocolate ☺️

One of my DGSs (12) comes home and talks about which girls are having trouble with their periods.

All my GS s know about it - from about age 4. The littlest one asked his Mum is she had PMT one day!

I have ds aged 13&11, yes they both know.

Just asked my 12 year old if he knew - I have told him in the past but wasn’t sure how much he took in.

He gave me a very good explanation.

I’ve taken the approach my mum did and teach in an age appropriate way continuously.

I have two sons (17 and 25) and they’ve known about periods since they were old enough to ask questions. We have open and honest relationships and I’ve always told them age appropriate truths about anything they ask about. They’re both confident and happy enough to go and buy sanitary products for their girlfriends if needed to. Unlike DH who at the age of 60 would run a mile if I asked him to buy them for me. Luckily I’m past all that now I’m old 😂

Yes! We have no locked doors, taboo subjects or anything off limits! He's known in basic terms since he was maybe 3 but we've had loads of talks over the years about changes to both boys and girls. I'd be disappointed in myself and consider it a failure to some degree if he didn't know.

Yes, age 6 he found a tampon in the glove compartment of my car, so I told him what it was and why. On the way home, he found the rest of the box and came out with "Mummy, you've got a whole army of these little soldiers!".

But we had a serous chat. Then
school sent home the (excellent)
Newsround Extra report to watch in lockdown (he was Y6, maybe 7, same school). And he has a sister.

He's 16 now. I'm now sure he has any female friends. He'd be very factual if he did, and she was caught short. Factual, but probably impractical and no emotional support at all. We're working on it.

Yes my 7 year old and my 3 year old both know what a period means. I’ve always been very open with them regarding bodies.

My DSs are almost 15 and 13. I don't talk about periods much at home- i am on the mini pill and menopausal so basically have not had them for years. But they both learned about them at school in personal development classes and Ds1 asked me 'what is it like having a period?'. So we talked about it then and I told them what it is like for me and for some other women. They asked if it hurts and I was quite truthful and said for me I was very lucky, it never really hurt- achey perhaps- but for alot of women and girls it's terribly painful. We do talk about these things though- i suffer from depression and I am very open about it and about hormones have affected that for me in the past and how it can affect women and girls. I discuss it as matter of factly as puberty for example- and how body changes are a basic reality etc.