Discussing puberty / sex ... what age ?

[sickofturkey]

Hi all

Im looking for some advice please .
My daughter is almost 8 . But very mature for her age .
I'm starting to think that it's time to start discussing puberty with her . She's well developed so I have a feeling she could start early .

I'm a bit stuck with how much I should actually tell her ... as in should she know about sex ?

Would be good to hear from other mums what you tell your children and at what age .

I bought a book on amazon which explains puberty very well, but the book also includes a lot of info on sex and I'm not sure if it's too soon for her to know about that .

I welcome you advice

Well you could tell her about periods and not about sex but I think by 8 she should know the basics of both and it will only get harder to discuss it as she gets older. Does she know the biology of where babies come from? Much better to hear it from you than from her friends at school.

I'm pretty sure sex education is on the curriculum in year 4, so she will find out one way or another soon enough!

I think it's quite late to be discussing puberty, has she not seen you go to the toilet on your period? Asked about blue bins in toilets etc? If she has no idea then I'd definitely start chatting about periods ASAP

Puberty and loving relationships are discussed in year 4.

My eight year old knows about sex and puberty because I’ve talked about it over the last year or so. I’ve been very matter of fact and age appropriate. He understands that puberty will mean he gets hairy and his voice will deepen. I’ve explained he’ll also be able to impregnate a girl. He knows the basics of sex and knows the correct words for body parts. We haven’t discussed any of it from a moral or emotional standpoint, it really is just me giving him a framework as his peers are starting to get to the age where this stuff is being hinted at abd I don’t want him to be the naive, innocent one who hasn’t a clue what any of it means.

DD is 9 & knows that in the next few years she will start to change in various ways, we've vaguely discussed periods & sanitary towels etc, she knows that sex is the word for male versus female & also how babies are made, but she doesn't know what sex (as in, babymaking) actually involves. She didn't ask, we would tell her if/when she did. She's seen DH & I naked occasionally & knows that adults get hairy, differences in anatomy, we've discussed that some people choose to shave etc but it's ok not to.

There is a book called I think 'the care and keeping of me' that deals with puberty but not sex. There is book 1 for pre teens and book 2 for older girls. Its a bit American but it was good as all the other ones I found had too much about sex in for my 9 year old. She is now just 11 and the ones with sex in are more age appropriate now.

I first explained sex when dd asked where babies come from. She was three. Just in simple biology terms obviously. Since then I showed her a few youtube videos showing the journey of sperm up the fallopian tube to the egg cos she was interested. She’s always known about periods etc.

I am baffled why people confuse children about this and it leaves girls vulnerable. Just tell her in the same matter of fact way you use for anything else.