What should I call the vagina?

[Mrsapea]

Dear all

I have a 3 year old boy and a 3 week old little girl. My little boy is very helpful and likes to pass me the nappies when changing. As is normal with kids he talks about his little sister and her body; during a nappy change he asked me why she didn't have a willy and what she did have. I told him it was called a "front bottom" but that adults call it a "vagina". Both these explanation sound either silly or too anatomical.

What would you guys recommend I call it?
Many thanks
Mrsapea

Really? I wouldn't want ds wandering round calling his a knob, so perhaps fanny is too strong. Never perceived it as a strong word myself, but perhaps tempered by having a French friend called Fanny as a child. Vulva or pudendum seem technically correct, but not "friendly", in the way willy is a more friendly name than penis, iyswim. Bits, minnie etc seem twee.

When I was little everyone seemed to call it a fanny - when did it become a rude word?

I think maybe it is much more acceptable down south, but I was born in Scotland moved down south and I must say my parents perceived it as rude but many southerners called it fanny and my mum would get all cats bum faced about it. So maybe its a regional thing.

My Scottish family use fanny as a name calling insult and I have never heard any southern friends use it that much either as an insult.

Hate all the twee cutsie names, so have told DS from when he started asking questions about why I don't have a willy that women have a vulva. Hearing him say that made me wince less.

I'm Scottish too, it's definitely a swear word here.

fanny is the polite version where I come from, if you're too bashful to talk about your vagina/vulva you say fanny

Snigger at cat's bum face! My mum has one of those

Fanny is v rude where I come from (home counties) and pretty sure it is rude in east midlands too. My DD came up with "wee wee bottom" and "poo poo bottom" and whilst this isn't anatomically ideal I'm happy with it for now (she's 3). She also knows that "babies come out of a special middle bottom a bit like a poo does but a different bottom" courtesy of the midwife visiting me postnatally after having DD2

Im scottish too and my family use fanny as a jokey insult. Like if you walk into a door. Because you werent paying attention we would say 'haha you fanny'. I think cow, bitch or cunt are far worse swear words.

Wriggler has come up with "girly bits" all by herself so I'm happy to go with it. Just like I go with "noisy bumpkin" for farting and "head soap" for shampoo. If I manage to get pregnant with another and am explaining where the baby comes out of I will say vagina and that this is a part of the girly bits that is like a special passage for the baby to get out of my tummy.

Interestingly she clambered into bed with us the other day and managed to kick her dad in the crotch. He was naked (we both sleep naked) and she has seen many times. But when she asked why he was rolling about and gasping and I explained that she had kicked him in the willy which is one of the names for boy bits she stared at it in such as way that I was absolutely certain she had never actually noticed that he had anything other than girly bits before, despite copious wandering about nekkid!

girls bits and boys bits here

wash your bits, pits and tits, bum and tum

boys know they have a willy that is also called a penis
they know mummy has girls bits/babyhole also called a vulva/vagina

My DD hasn't reached the age where it needs a name yet but I read on a similar thread on MN that one mum called it the "in betweenies", I quite like that, lol, but would make sure they knew the real term too!

Am shocked that some are using "fanny"! :-o

Babyhole Never?! That's made me think of a field of them, like rabbit holes!

We're currently having this issue, DD is 2.1 and currently keeps pointing insistently and calling it a 'wassit'.
I hate twee names (flower makes me shudder) but DH can't quite get his head around a 2 year old saying vulva...
Maybe Volvo is the winner

Lol Santa!!!

I have never thought of fanny as rude at all - certainly not the same as cunt.

On a lighter note, Fanny, which as well as being a light hearted Scottish insult (as in, "Don't be a fanny", ie don't be an idiot), was used in this Irn Bru ad,

yes Santa when DS1 was really little he wanted to know how the baby came out so I used something I heard from a friend, that there is a wee hole, a poo hole and ladies have a baby hole as well.

it just stuck here.

I always thought funny was a very anti gay insult, ie being a fanny was the same as calling someone a poof.

Im from north of England where fanny isn't rude but I still don't use it, seems twee somehow.

Only have ds but will prob use hoo hoo, ds has a widgey, sometimes willy or pee pee but will teach him penis when he's older.

My gran used 'howsyourfather' for a vagina!

Hoo hoo? Widgey? And you think that fanny is twee....?

I'm shocked that people are shocked at the fanny usage! Blimey. When I was growing up it was always willy and fanny. Might I as well have been going around as a 6 year old saying cunt? 22mo DD's yet to name her unmentionable nether regions and DP's "hairy axe wound" isn't exactly helpful so I'm watching this thread with interest...

Bits! Not too descriptive or too cutesy/silly. I don't cringe if she runs up in playgroup saying she hurt her bits. I would if she was was yowling "mummy I hurt my VULVA!"

Pretentious gits

Me too perchance. My focus has been on trying to persuade 2yo dd that she doesn't have a willy like her brothers. Now that she's starting to accept she has a fanny, I'm quite worried that other parents will think she's using the equivalent of cunt which, to me, is a nasty and very strong swear word.