Intimate hygiene in girls

[cleanandfresh]

Yeah I know crap title and I apologise in advance for "twee" terms BUT I am genuinely a bit confused about cleaning my little girl's "bits" (and I am calling them bits for brevity's sake rather than getting into labia major and minoria etc...)

So my girl is nearly 3 and she has a bath before bedtime most nights (except Fridays). I know that soap is not a good thing for the intimate regions so I don't get her to soap there but do remind her to "swish her twinkle" (yeah shoot me!) along with swishing her tummy and legs etc.

I have noticed these past few days that she has white, creamy deposits in the folds and around the top of her clitoral hood and wondered whether I should be trying to wash these away. She's been ferreting around this area occasionally and has said "look it's creamy" but it doesn't seem to bother her. The other day she was pretending to be a baby and have her nappy changed so I took the opportunity to get some cotton wool and try to really clean in this area but she really didn't like me doing it and I must admit it didn't feel right.

I guess I worry about thrush but I don't think it is and then I worry about messing about where I should just leave well alone. But then I worry about being too coy and maybe I should be actively encouraging her to "clean" there a bit more. I know on Mumsnet there is a small sector that think any female scent or secretions should be disinfected away and I don't want to fall into that trap - but I do want to keep my daughter healthy and instill a healthy, positive attitude towards her genitalia. I always use the words beautiful and fresh in relation to her body as in my own childhood I was very much given a negative impression of that area of my body.

Mothers of girls please help me out here

funnily enough, namey, i was just going to post this and thought i'd check to see if anyone else had posted in the interim. now i see that I am now being pulled into the doublethink as well. disgraceful.

anyway, here's what i had posted to libster... i'm actually not calm around that sort of tricksy doublethink, libster. it puts the OP in an impossible situation, she is allowed to ask her question but will be branded a paedophile, and yet when she responds to this outrageous accusation she is the one who is at fault, obsessed, fixated etc.

it's her responsibility to behave like namey and suck up being called a child abuser (i doubt that this charge was levelled at namey, however unlikely her OP). there is no worse crime on MN and in RL, pretty much, and yet it's fine to accuse someone of this, on the basis of what? terrible, i am really shocked at this thread, more than anything i've ever read in four years of MN.

to OP: don't use soap there ( I think you probably wouldn't) - I never use soap there, even so-called natural or simple type brands. I'm quite liable to get thrush and using soap exacerbates it. Same should apply to DD's. Just a swish will do. I've read a bit more of the thread now.... all I can say is, Oh Dear!

Fwiw, I am not accusing op of being a troll. I am just staggered that her poor dd is in this situation a) to start with and b) healthcare professionals have not been consulted when op first started doubting how to keep a child clean.

oh and can i just say that 3 is PRECISELY the time that this question would come up, because the child is out of nappies and therefore no longer being wiped clean by a parent frequently throughout the day, while sufficiently independent to want to wipe their own bottoms. it is also the point in terms of development when children become more aware of their bodies, their personal space, and are more verbal and able to discuss matters of personal space with their parents.

but, ya know, don't let that stop the paedo-hunt.

Ok, haven't read the whole thread and avoiding answering anything other than the OP tbh for obvious reasons.

Posting this in case of any help:

• a creamy discharge could be thrush especially if she tells you it is itchy and/or the skin is inflamed.
• there is a canesten that can be used for rash caused by candida (thrush)
• I suffered from thrush throughout my recent pregnancy and found that soaps, shower gels etc really aggrevated it - I think it is because it alters the pH of the natural flora of the vagina - so if a person is sensitive to this it can have an effect.
• have you tried using some non-soap based washes for your daughters bath - we use [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/E45-Junior-foaming-bath-500ml/dp/B001E4EMM8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290280509&sr=8-1 this] for DS1 as he gets eczema if he uses normal soap.
• if it doesn't improve soon you should see your GP.

500ml/dp/B001E4EMM8/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1290280 509&sr=8-1 link

509&sr=8-1 E45 Junior

excellent input from minimarmite imo, OP.

WHy was I not flamed on this thread then trollhunters?

Thanks MiniMarmite - useful stuff - my DS is also prone to a bit of excema so I am cautious about using soap products.

HalfTermHero I am struggling to keep civil with you. YOu talk as if I am leaving my "poor" child lying in her own piss. READ MY POSTS.

F**ing hell

Well apart from my crap linking

Aitch - pass me the hipflask next, I'm only down the road

really? that's gonna be some christmas meetup then...

I make no apologies. I am shocked, frankly.

omg! have to agree with Aitch here, this really is the worst of MN isn't it

absolutely vile behaviour towards the OP. makes me ashamed to be a part of mumsnet :(

OP- i have only got boys so afraid i can't answer your question as i don't know what is normal. yes, despite the fact that i am, indeed, female.
shocking isn't it?
I would say leave her be for the time being if she doesn't appear to be in any discomfort, but help her have a clean with water when she is in the bath

also, might be worth steering clear of anything you put in the bath water? I get thrush if I use soap down there, or if I use certain bubble baths (or anything from Lush!)... so if it is that then frequent baths with stuff in may make it worse

When my boys are in the bath I try and give them a quick "swish" round myself just to make sure it has been done!

The GP is the way forward here, I think.

Wow, so the OP has managed to be accused of paedophliic trolling and child neglect in one thread? Does she get a special badge?

I had a little girl nearly 3 years ago. Up until that time I had only ever cleaned and changed boys.

I had to ask my neighbour how I should clean her. I wasn't sure of how thorough a clean I should give her or how often.

I couldn't really compare to the way I clean myself as I tend to just jump in the shower in the morning and wash myself.

not trawling through hours of interminable troll hunting.. so apols if this alraedy been asked..

why is this worse than any of the other myriad threads about cleaning little boys/foreskin/penis questions? Or is this normal about foreskin/penis in little boys?

This thread is shocking. I didn't see any problem with the OP and posted what I'd do, there's just no need for all this trollhunting, I'd be really embarrassed if I were one of those accusing the OP of being a paedophile.

I don't own a childcare book, and I trust the collective wisdom of mn rather than random googling.

Good grief. Poor OP. What is left of MN if you can't ask a question like that?