Mini,vagina,labia,vulva,nunee what are you calling it?

[Skybooks]

I'm at a point I need a word to describe the female equally of willy for my son. We used willy and not penis as it is just as commonly used however now he is asking what girls have I'm stumped and realise there doesn't seem to be a universal word.

Mnetters with young children, what are we calling it?

Use the real names please. God forbid your child should need to, but if they disclose something to a teacher for e.g. with your code word for genitals,it can cause unnecessary delay and confusion. Vulva and vagina are absolutely fine, there's nothing rude it shameful about them.

My kids know the proper names for all the parts.
We have nicknames for them. Just as we do for most of our body parts in fairness.

We use bum for bottom.
We use tiddler for penis.
We use noonie for vulva.
We use chicken nuggets for testicles.
We use boobies for breasts.
We use liquorice sticks for legs.
We use noggin for head.
We use tummy for abdomen/torso.
We use pinkies for fingers.
We use chops for mouth.
We use button for nose.

All of the above is used some of the time for the different body parts. We also intersperse the actual names - though I've never actually said abdomen or torso to the kids in conversation.

Only on MN is it a CARDINAL SIN to use anything other than the factually and anatomically correct body part at all times. Any failure to do so is seen as leaving your dc wide open to issues with their body and (yep I read this) the likelihood that any claim by them of sexual abuse would not be understood.

Because "Uncle Jimmy sat me on his lap and touched my tiddler" is just too fucking abstract a sentence for anyone to understand.

Ridiculous.

《Climbs down off the soapbox and bids you all adieu》

I know there isn't any thing shameful, my point (maybe badly explained) is I word to cover everything. When he asks what does mummy have instead of a willy. Vagina, vulva, labia and urethra seems abit over complicated. Even vagina and vulva seems like not answering his questions just pushing ahead with this notion that we must teach anatomy nomatter what the question is.

It happens Bernadette, I wouldn’t want my children to ever be vulnerable in this way. I think your stance is pretty ridiculous to be fair.

My dd's call it their tuppence, it's the word I used when I was little.

I don't think there's a word as widely used as willy.

I totally agree @BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Only on MN is it frowned upon. Absolutely no idea, why posters get so excited by such a non event

@Bernadette there has been cases where girls have used words such as 'flower' and when telling people about sexual abuse, the person they are trying to confide in hasnt realised and as a result, the abuse has continued for longer. I have no issue with nicknames being used as long as children are taught the correct terminology first. OP, the word you are looking for is vulva.

I thinkyourstance is pretty ridiculous to be fair

As is your right.

It's good to have a discussion on this from all viewpoints.

I have also been struggling with this! I hate expressions like ‘front bum’ but equally there is not an ‘aggregate’ word

3 year old DD says vulva. I clearly remember as a young child asking my mum what my vulva was called, as I knew boys had a willy, and she told me it 'didn't have a name'. I think that reinforced the idea that female genitalia is shameful, and I didn't want that for DD. Plus it's good for safeguarding.

there has been cases where girls have used words such as 'flower' and when telling people about sexual abuse, the person they are trying to confide in hasnt realised and as a result, the abuse has continued for longer

I would genuinely be interested to read up properly on cases such as this. Are you able to give examples? I've always thought it would be pretty difficult to not get it, based on context rather than specific language, but am open minded to better improving the chances of my dc reporting this stuff if, god forbid, it ever happened.

Only on MN is it frowned upon. Absolutely no idea, why posters get so excited by such a non event then you are in a very fortunate position that you have never had any contact with abused children namechangenugget because it happens and using incorrect words can leave children vulnerable (misunderstood, ashamed etc)

It isn’t just about disclosure Bernadette it also makes them vulnerable because children that are taught ‘cutesy’ names for genitalia often interpret that as being because this part of their body is secret or shameful, therefore it could be that they would be less likely to disclose in the first place.

Vulva.

To a child, vulva as a word is no more weird than noonoo, willy or peepee. It's simply the name you've given them for that body part, and they are oblivious to the fact that one word is anatomically precise whilst the others are childish euphemisms.

It's adults that have the issue with proper vs cutesie. Children accept new words as just...words. It's really not as if you've decided it's important they use duodenum instead of tummy.

They might as well learn vulva once, as learn vajayjay first and then unlearn it later.

We use vulva. DS, 5 yrs old. He knows the vagina is where blood and babies come out and the urethra is where the wee comes out, but the whole thing is the vulva. He's one of those kids who needs to ask a million questions 😂

Pam.

We just say vulva generally as it is the right word and it's quite cute/cuddly already!

Sometimes foof or bits as an alternative.

I am a victim of childhood sexual abuse and not knowing the word vagina was the least of my worries. The perpetrator was arrested and I was never asked if I’d been a victim as well, even though he was my stepfather.

My daughters use a word that’s the equivalent of willy (think mimi, foofoo, flower) but much more importantly my children know from a very young age that no-one is allowed to touch their private parts ie the parts under their pants. They know that as soon as they are able to, they wash themselves and no-one else gets involved in that part of their body unless it’s me (eg putting on nappy cream — DD has a very sensitive bottom) or a doctor in my presence. They also know that sometimes people make threats about not telling anyone (eg your parents will be angry) and that that is a lie.

Though we also say 'wee hole' and 'baby hole' for urethra and vagina!

We say minnie but I always also say but it's proper name is vulva

I’m with Bernadette on the whole. I don’t see a problem with noonie/foofty or willy. Enough people use it and the word is not in common usage for anything else. I can see that tuppence or flower might be more misunderstood.

My dd called it her wee wee bum from very small so it sort of stuck.

They know the real name but DD calls it her frybits. As she couldn’t pronounce private’s when she was little.

Foo-Foo. No idea why . But both my girls know it's a vagina. It's just such a harsh word and so they prefer to use the word foo.

I don't think its 'frowned upon' - that is just what they are bloody called. Vulva and vagina are different parts of the anatomy, why make up polite nonsense for a body part- how would anyone get anything done at the doctors for goodness sake if there were an issue. All in the pursuit of latent shame about being 'explicit' about the anatomy