to have taught 2yo DD to say vagina?

[Maebe]

Because some of the others mums think I am

I don't like all the other names that are bandied around. If there was a 'softer' word, like the equivalent for willy, I would use that but there only seems to be words like daisy or minnie that don't actually indicate what you're talking about.

I know the 'what do you call it' question gets asked a lot, but AIBU to say vagina? Other mums think it is very weird/rude that DD now says "'gina"...

I think vagina is a medical word. As is vulva. I think a 2yo using the words is bizarre personally.

Arm is a medical word too. How do you feel about that one?

DS has a willy. When he asked "what's that" at my bits in the bath I told him a vulva, as he couldn't see my vagina.

If I had a DD I think I would probably go with vulva initially, because it seems less likely that they would actually need to refer to their vagina.

As for the difference between bum and anus, if DS said his bum was sore I probably would ask if it was his bum or bumhole.

Bagpipe!

But why is a 2yo using it bizarre? It's a normal word. It's not rude, it's not cunt after all. And it's not like it will be used often - at the moment she's said it in public because it's a new word and toddlers use their new words for a while.

I get the difference between vulva and vagina. I think generally as a parent you have a choice between those two words if you want to give the whole area a name.

I just don't a) get the need for a cute little euphemism that someone outside your family won't understand (for people that are concerned about children indicating abuse) and b) why a perfectly normal word is considered somehow rude or unacceptable for a young child to use. Would it be so bizarre if a toddler said stomach instead of tummy?

itsall I have been to 3 child protection training sessions on different occasions and have never heard the 'Minnie' story. I am calling bullshit either on you or the trainers.

Surely if a child was saying that you would say 'your what? Your Minnie? What's that?'.

I don't have any girls so the vagina/vulva/Minnie/foo thing is irrelevant to me, although I cannot imagine telling a toddler to use any kind of 'anatomically correct' word for their privates, it would sound weird! Unless you are using a really obscure word then most affectionate words for it would be elunderstood wouldn't they? It doesn't really matter what it's called does it?

Oh yeah, I am totally goin to start calling mine my 'bagpipe'.

But what are the most common words?

Genuinely, if yoni or fanjo or nini was as common as willy then I wouldn't even be thinking about introducing what's considered by many a too medical, too anatomical word.

But the prevalence of threads on this topic on MN just shows that there isn't a common word.

It's just silly. If a toddler boy said penis I doubt anyone would exactly be up in arms about it. But for some incredibly weird reason it's completely different for young girls genitalia.

Mine's a vulva. DS has a penis and testicles.

Words like willy, todger and all of that malarky make my skin crawl. Hate them.

And where I'm from, fanny equates to dick/cock rather than being a euphemism.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine has already made the point I was going to make. I work with young children and have been told I MUST use the words penis/vagina when speaking to the children as there have been cases where disclosures have been missed due to language used. It is also believed people sometimes deliberately teach children unusual terms to prevent them making disclosures

I used the term 'bits' when my lot were were little but YANBU to teach vagina

we refer to our private parts as 'bits' but DD knows she has a vulva, labia, vagina. She has asked as she has grown what various different areas of her genitals are. She knows that the collective is 'genitals', that each area has seperate names and functions, and that it's so much easier to say 'bits'!

Same with DS. he is 4. he knows he has a penis, testicles, DD knows too. He also knows it is sometimes called a willy. He doesn't get that they are collectively known as genitals, he is not interested yet in the names. DD knows, but again refers to them as 'bits'. As they ask, they will know the correct names, but it's really not necessary at 7 and 4 to refer to the anatomically correct names.

Why bother? Assuming she's wiping her 'bottom' and not her anus, it seems pointless to have just one thing that you're picky about. All or nothing I say.

I say front bum now and im 26!

Its never occurred to me to call it anything else

With DD1, now an adult, I used yoni (kioni is also Italian for penis but that one didn't stick as we never had much cause to use it). She got teased at school for using yoni though. Roll forward to DD2 5, & now I use 'gina - I like it, it sounds nice! Occasionally I use bits and bobs - she now occasionally says 'my privates'. She also uses boo boos for breasts & nips for nipples - when she was 2ish she called them pipples! And no I haven't worried about the anatomical correctness. How many of you say phalanges instead of fingers?

Why is there no common word for vulva though (the equivalent of fingers)? I just like 'gina as a word, like yoni.

But my favourite all time word (said by my favourite character from Grey's Anatomy) is vajayjay

Maebe, I think it's really cute that your DD calls it her 'gina' I would just leave it at that as that is what she calls it and knows it to be.

The word vagina to my knowledge is widely used as the general name for the female genitals so I wouldn't worry too much about it, as your dd grows I'm sure that you will explain and show her the proper names and parts of her body and that they are also called by other names. So it is unlikely that she will grow up not understanding her body.

What do you call yours? ;-)

It's not about being picky. I didn't spend the past 2 years thinking this through! It just came out when we were naming body parts as I think I must've called it that, or perhaps buts or down there - certainly all the cutesy nicknames are unfamiliar to me.

I don't get why some people thinks it's bizarre or inappropriate to give such a name to a body part. It's not about me being pedantic about all anatomical names, it's about why vagina or vulva are, essentially, seen as rude

I refer to the whole area generally as my vagina, when I do refer to it. Which isn't often

DS (2) says penis and vulva (we bath together occasionally). He is obsessed with cars and thought I had a volvo

He doesn't find it odd or weird because I don't. His grandparents on the other hand......

What's wrong with fanny anyway?

So do you call her bottom her anus? I've never heard anyone use that word with their children, so genuinely interested if the op is eschewing all twee names for private parts.

Gina the vagina it is then! I think these things just happen naturally and I wouldn't fret about it. There Are so many conversations or things that have come up with dd that I did not expect to be thinking about let alone discussing with her for years to come!!

No, not eschewing "twee" names. Just ones that are completely made up within your own family. I honestly hadn't heard of most of the names people on MN say they use/d. Minnie, nini, daisy etc are not as common as willy or bum are, they just aren't. As I've repeatedly said (if people read the thread), if 90% of the population used "yoni" just like 90% of the population use "willy" or "bum", I wouldn't even be thinking about it.

Phallic, fanny to me is the equivalent of dick, where I grew up it was practically a swear word.

If someone started a thread and said name what you started calling your DC's genitalia (so before they started making up their own terms) I reckon it would unanimously willy, but there wouldn't be a unanimous term for girls.

I say "bits" myself but I can't imagine if a child asks me saying "those are my bits"... it sounds weird. "Girl parts" vs "boy parts" maybe?

I think most people's issue is because she's 2. "Why does she need to know?" sort of thing... over-sexualisation of children and wanting to keep them young and innocent (sexual organs not being something people consider "innocent") and all that jazz.

Reminds me of this move:

Okay, I like volvo

Sky, I do get why people question why a 2yo needs to know. I guess to me there's no reason, just because it is genitalia and involved in sex and reproduction, to just ignore calling it anything at all until she's older. Right now it is just another body part and it deserves a name just like any other. As I said before, it's highly unlikely to be used often at all. But she's still in nappies, she can say sore - I don't see how wrong it is to ask which particular bit is sore.

I have a ladies grace...