is there an appropriate age to talk to a boy about checking their testicles?

[FluffyBunnyGoneBad]

? Question says it all. It's important right? As important as getting girls to check their breasts.
If you were a single mum, taking it into account the longer it's left the less the boy will listen, when would you talk about this?

Ds2 (2 1/2) was fingering his the other day and exclaimed "Mommy, this feels like balls!" So we had a little talk about testicles at that point....not so much checking per se but testicles in general.

Haaaa PMSL!!

Ds is at that age where he's becoming really embarassed about his body so I don't know how long to leave it. If I took him to the GP when he's bigger would the GP go through it with him or is it his crap dad's job?

I just asked dh b/c I really didn't know you were supposed to check His response "Well, if you had a family history I'd check regularly for a lump or something". I dunno how I would go about it. My two boys are errrr "checking" their privates at any available moment. Maybe a general health chat about if anything ever feels different tell Mum? And maybe that could go along with a talk about how no one but your ds or the doctor (as long as you are there too) should check his privates.

Let me know how it turns out so I can file it away for when my time comes!

Is there an appropriate age to mention it though?

Maybe around when you would talk to a daughter about menstruation etc? Very good question and as the mother of two boys I should know at some point.

If I leave it too long he'll be grossed out and get really embarassed. I've no idea being female. I havn't had much experience of talking about bollocks.

How old is he now?

He's 10, hormones are starting to kick in at the moment so he's changing alot.

Good thread. Hadn't even thought of talking about this with DS.

I remember doing sex ed with Y 6 children and mentioning testicles and one boy piped up with, "Oh, like an Octopus"

I would have thought it was more important than getting girls to check their breasts, just because the incidence for testicular cancer is much younger than for breast (on average). I'd guess just before puberty would be the sensible time, as the testes often change at that point, however no reason not to talk about it before, as they are quite prone to injury, so keeping an eye is quite a good idea in general. I don't know that I would particularly get my dd to check her breasts, because you are supposed to start doing that at around about 20, by which time I expect she will be using other sources than me for her health advice.

It's best to start young so they know that they need to do this IMO. Teenagers and young men get testicular cancer aswell as older men. Like breast cancer, there's no set age for it so awareness and regular self checking is the key. It's important for everyone to know their bodies isn't it?