What do I tell her to call it ...Help?

[ANGELMOTHER]

Not sure who to turn to on this one but my dd now 3 is well aware of the differnces between boys and girls anatomically that is.
It is very easy to put a name to a boys parts but what do I call hers...I can't remember my Mum ever referring to it nevermind giving it a name so am quite literally ata loss for words.
Sorry for the explicit nature but if I can't ask all of you I don't know who...

I did see on "Sex in the city" lately it referred to as her "Sushi" but well honestly please

Carla - I think cwym is Welsh and means valley - I've read a similar article too!

cwm, even (apologies to Welsh-speaking mumsnetters)

When I was a child we called it a daisy but now I tend call it a front bottom (usually said in a funny voice just for a laugh). DS1 has a willy but when I was a child I called it a tinkle. Up here in Scotland it is very often referred to as a wee man, but that is very often my nickname for both DS1 and 2, very confusing!

I do believe in teaching them the proper names and will probably do this with DS1 in a year or two when he will have a better understanding, perhaps when our first where do babies come from conversation.

Wasn't it called quim or queynte in Shakespeare's day? The main thing is that you do have a name for it and your daughter can talk to you about it without feeling embarrassed. When we were little there was no word for that part of the body, all I knew was it was very 'rude' and that's the main reason I couldn't tell my Mum when I was sexually assaulted. I've gone for 'fanny' because it's so widely understood and a 'friendly' word - but I think at 4 dd's old enough for me to teach her the correct terms now.

It's either your lulu or your minnie ha-ha in my book.

I've always thought that 'fanny' was crude and vulgar or maybe its just the way that most people around here use the word. I never had a name for it when I was little and tend to use 'girlie bits' for my dd. The boys have 'willy' of course, and anything more than that is their 'bits'. I think this thread goes to show that many of us who didn't have a name for it when we were younger still have problems now that we have our own children. The whole sex and body thing was a bit taboo in our house so I always did and still do feel uncomfortable talking about it.

We have 'willy' and 'milly'!

I was in the same predicament - my family have always called it a fanny but I think it's a horrible word, though better marginally than a vagina (though Puddleduck does improve it endlessly).
I have an Italian friend and she told me what names they have - all loads nicer than the horrible Anglo Saxon ones. One is 'patatina' (little potato) and another is 'fafalina' (little butterfly). I love the second one and this is what I say to my dd. Forgive me, any Italian speakers, if I've spelt it wrong.

Right now my 18 month-old calls it "my body". When I change her diapers her hands immediately go to her crotch and she starts the pulling/grabbing. Sometimes it looks so painful that I've said "please be gentle with your body". Now she grabs her crotch and says "body! body!" Stupid me! So now we always call it her vagina, or sometimes DH says "gina" (same 'i' sound just shorter word)

I've always been determined that my children will know and use the proper names for their body. I'd be petrified that no one would understand them if they'd been molested. We teach them to go to grown-ups like teachers for help, but how many teachers would realize that the child meant she was being molested when she said "Uncle Ben touched my daisy" ??? The teacher would probably talk to her about sharing. Or minnie, moo-moo, ninkie, etc. I just want her to be equipped to properly communicate if she needs help.

Vagina is just a name for a body part, it's not a nasty word....

Forgot to add, when I was little I had a friend who had the most horrid name for it, I have never forgotten because it scarred me, lol!

Wait for it..

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She called it her "tuna".

corbin, eeewwww!

I know vagina is the right word, or rather vulva, but they are such UGLY words. Isn't the Italian for dragonfly labalula? That sounds lovely as well - although nothing to do with this thread.

Wow I never expected such a variety of reponses and names for a part so important to us all.
It does seem that we all still do seem to struggle with defining this part of the anatomy but I think I will err on the side of caution and give her the real name as so many have stated it is imperative she realises it isn't a rude part and that others should understand her terminology.
I personally had such a sheltered upbringing that I was led to believe that you simply did not talk of such matters. I do NOT want my dd to have those beliefs as her self confidence and assurance in herself is of utmost importance to me.
She's at the most beautiful stage and I'd never want to give her any baggage or mis-beliefs ..............so Vagina it is.
Say it loud and proud Ladies
Thanks for the help.

Hi angelmother, you might find 'gina is easier for her to pronounce, and still gives the abbreviation of the correct name, and then makes it easier and less confusing later when she learns the full word. We use 'gina and penie here, since dd couldn't pronounce them - they have stuck somewhat! Ds is quite proud of the difference!

This has been discussed on other threads before, but I don't see you need to distinguish it as being anymore embarrassing or awkward to name or talk about than ankles or elbows. I'd rather not pass on the hang-ups of my parents, who like others' parents here either never talked about it or referred to it as "down below" in hushed tones. (I used to say "front bottom" too!) Good for you, angelmother!

Hi - my sister has two DDs and I have 2 DSs and we agonised over the names. Her friend called it a fairy which my sister thought was very confusing! We settled on gina and willy as being easily understood by everyone and not confusing if there was a problem. When my eldest DS asked me about my vagina once he said 'mummy is that a mouse?' - time for a bikini wax I thought!!

Dd decided at about 2 to refer to it as her 'bot-bot' - I think becuase when chnaging her nappy we always said 'let's wipe that bot' or similar. So it's stuck! I think it's close enough so that anyone would realise what she was talking about, or near enough anyway!

Ds has an illy (can't quite pronounce his 'w's yet

With my ds, I talk about his "willy". Just to confuse matters, my dp has always called it his "turnip". I really don't like this - especially as we have a favourite book called "The Gigantic Turnip", all about an old man who pulled and heaved and tugged and yanked, but still the turnip wouldn't budge!

So a couple of times at bath times, I have said "Its not your turnip, its your willy". He's now almost got the idea - told me the other day that he has a willy, but Daddy has a turnip. Why do we do this to our kids??

Mollipops, my hideous MIL is called Gina, so loved your suggestion!!! I once taught a little girl who called it her frilly!

I'm embarrassed to say that we refer to ds's little bits and pieces as his 'willy-wonka' or his 'whistle'. Why indeed to we do this to our kids!?
I can't remember what I referred to my nether regions as a small child.....
....maybe it was too traumatic to remember!!!!!

NQWWW - still laughing at the Giant Turnip - classic!

I remember I phsycologist saying once that women have traditionally passed on their sexual "issues" from generation to generation by being very open and unenbarrassed by their sons penises, laughing at their antics with them and such but always being very "hush hush, close your legs dear, we don't touch it, talk about it etc" about vaginas. There's enough Cosmo articles on sex problems to see that there's something in that...

I'm with ANGELMOTHER... we should say it loud and proud and just give them their proper terms (although perhaps in the shortened way for those little ones who can't say the full word properly.) Afterall, we don't try and find different words for any other part of the anatomy do we? I personally hate the term "bits".

true story: Slang changes from generation to generation... Once the term "C" (won't spell it in case it really offends anyone, but you know the word) was perfectly innocuous. There was a street in London where "ladies of negotiable affection" used to frequent, and it was called "Grope C Alley" before the word became more unacceptable, and the name was changed (to what however, I forget). Always made me laugh that!

My mum refered to it/them as "your special places" until we were given their correct anatomical descriptions in our "little talks" some year hence.

in spanish we call it
chi-chi,pichina,cacharrito,chochin,
for boys is pilila

Strange how there is an (almost) universally recognised and acceptable word for little boys to use but not one for little girls ... Vagina is fine but inaccurate as you can't really see your vagina (well, not without one of those horrid metal things doctors and midwives have!!!). You could call it a vulva but would others know what you meant? My son uses "willy" rather than the proper word. Somehow "whoops my penis is stuck in my pants" (for example!) sounds funny coming from a four year old whereas "willy" sounds more natural. After all, we use nicknames for other body parts - tummy, bum, etc.