inappropriate talk for toddler?

[lookingouttosea]

Could really appreciate some advice here. My little girl who is nearly 3 has started talking a lot about "willies" over the past couple of months. We didn't think too much about it as it coincided with her starting preschool so figured she'd picked it up from kids there. Its just recently in the bath or when getting dressed etc she's started pointing right inside her vulva area and saying "this is my willie" or "I have a willie here" and laughing. I just respond with "you don't have a willie because you're a girl" (although I'm not sure I would have chosen that particular terminology I'm just trying to keep it simple). I mentioned it to her preschool teacher and she reckoned it was nothing to worry about. Is this normal toddler behaviour? I'm just a bit worried not so much about the word itself but how she knows where to point. Thanks

Yes very normal and age appropriate. She has just realised that other children have different genitals.

Rebelrosie thank you. I wasn't expecting it until about 5 or 6! Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

My daughters the same age. I wouldn’t be at all concerned.

Yep my 2.5 DD is constantly telling me that her friends at nursery have a willy like Daddy and mummy and her are girls because they have ‘normal bottoms’. They have all been potty training and are generally not concerned about privacy so I guess they see each other semi naked a lot.

I'm a childminder, they all become obsessed with willies between about 2.5 to 3.5 years. I tend to find out about all the dad's having willies, makes a bit awkward when said dad's pick them up I can tell you

Thanks all. Turfaccountant that's so funny! Oh is so paranoid because she keeps going around saying "daddy has a willy" even though she's never seen it and we've never talked about it...he's afraid people will think he's some sort of weirdo :-)

It’s completely normal.

And there wouldn’t be anything weird about her seeing her father naked either.

My son is clearly advanced in this area He’s 2.1 and obsessed with his willy. He keeps trying to see mine. ‘Mummy willy?’

Willy is the technical term surely...?

Girls will be girls! Genital obsessed IME. Wait until she discovers farts are funny.

"you don't have a willie because you're a girl" (although I'm not sure I would have chosen that particular terminology I'm just trying to keep it simple).

What other more simple terminology is there?

Girls don't have willies

Oh is so paranoid because she keeps going around saying "daddy has a willy" even though she's never seen it

Really? They’ve never been in the bath together? Never been in the family changing room at swimming? Never walked around when he’s getting changed?

I think it's weirder that she's never seen your dh naked?

Yup, normal toddler developmental behaviour.

I remember DS at this age, walking down the local high street with me behind a woman walking her dog. At the top of his voice, he delivered the following: "Mummy, that dog's got a willy. Mummy, I've got a willy. But you haven't got a willy, have you, Mummy?"

It’s completely normal and age appropriate, though it’s a good prompt for teaching the proper names for body parts.

My dd was convinced she had a penis because her closest friends were boys. We taught her the difference between penises and vaginas (ignoring for a moment it’s actually a vulva, that’s a more detailed conversation). She then proceeded to announce to dh’s entire extended family at Christmas lunch one year that she “came out of mummy’s vagina” (!!). At least she used the correct word.