Is 4 to young to explain periods?

[Sillyperiodquestion]

Okay this maybe a silly question but DD is my first so I wanted to get some opinions on what other people do

im a single mum to DD 4 so naturally she is with me all the time (bar pre school and visiting family etc)

she often comes into the bathroom whilst I'm on the toilet (something I'm working on trying to stop) and she is obviously at a curious age. She has seen my pads and has asked why I'm wearing a "nappy"

I remember also being curious around that age and asking my mum what the bins in public toilets were for and she always just said "I'll tell you when you're older" which I found extremely frustrating as a child.

now my DD is starting to ask questions around period / period products, is 4 too young to kind of explain that to her? Obviously not all the gory details, I'd do it in a child friendly way. I just don't want her to grow up thinking periods are like a secret or anything to be ashamed of but also recognise 4 is very young to get her head around it!

any advise as to how to answer her questions would be much appreciated!

DS was entirely familiar with periods, tampons, what periods were for in the reproductive sense, since toddlerhood. Same reason — he was always with me.

Not at all. But just age appropriate. I think I said something like “mummy does some bleeding from her bottom for a little bit every few weeks. It’s really normal for grown up women and will happen to you when you’re older”

Just tell her in an age appropriate way. That most women have this every month, when they don't have a baby, it's perfectly normal, nothing to be afraid of etc. My daughter is 4 and asks the same.
I agree, when you try to hide something, or tell them you can't tell them yet it becomes more sinister and secretive to a curious mind, and there's no need.

Don't say from your bottom, that's something else entirely! Just use proper words and descriptions.

Same here. When I was buying tampons she asked what they were for so I told her in simple terms. She forgot and asked again the next time and so on. She was only about 2 or 3 and it never became a big deal just a little more detail given as time went on.

Don't say you bleed from your bottom! That is far too confusing.
I've always been open with mine. Really pleased when DD aged 10 asked me a question about tampons and her brother aged 13 answered. That would never have happened when I was growing up.

My 4 year old son knows a bit, for the same reason - if I take him into the toilets with me he sees my pad (can't use tampons). I've explained it in very simple terms, just that it's something that happens to older girls and women once a month and it means you're not having a baby, and it's not blood like from a cut so it doesn't mean I'm hurt. No need for anything more technical yet.

As he gets older I'll explain more, and also make sure he knows how debilitating they can be so he's aware for future relationships with women.

My daughter was familiar with periods from around that age. It was her that noticed and asked the question.

My kids all knew from very young age. We used to call it baby cushion blood because I told them than mummies make a cushion inside for a baby every month, but if a baby doesn't arrive then that cushion isn't needed.

@Sillyperiodquestion

totally normal to explain to them, but at least try to be factual, unlike some of these replies.

you can be 'child friendly' without saying daft things.

Mine never had a specific age, they just always knew. I told them all about it from the moment they could understand. My girls didn't even flinch when they got their periods because they knew exactly what to expect and what to do. My 11 yo son could tell you too.

It’s always much easier to answer children’s questions with a little bit of age appropriate information as you go along, in a matter of fact way, than to have a toe curling “talk” of the whole sex ed curriculum at age ten or whatever.
Menstruation is simply a normal part of female existence, and should be explained in the same way as telling a child how cars work or where food comes from. Try not to project your own discomfort or embarrassment onto your child, who is merely curious to learn!

She’s not too young to have it explained. Don’t make anything up, just keep it simple.

Roughly once a month if a woman isn’t having a baby then she bleeds a bit from her vagina. People use tampons/pads etc to catch the blood so it doesn’t spill onto their clothes.

If you’re very matter of fact she’ll likely just accept that and move on.

Mine have all known before 4.
Honestly, as a fully grown but young woman, I was confused about why I had periods. I knew it meant I wasn't pregnant, but all the other stuff was sort of skipped over and shushed at home and school. Also explained in quite confusing terms.
My youngest is 4, she knows more about periods than I did at 18.
My children are so comfortable around the topic, it is nothing to be ashamed about. Very different from when I grew up.

Don't know if my post is included in 'daft' but just want to point out that explaining the womb lining as a cushion to make baby comfy is a perfectly sensible way to explain it to a small child and we built on it as they got older so they learned that the cushion was a lining which would become the placenta if a baby developed in the womb. And when they were little they knew that their own cushion had looked after them until they were born and that is why newborns have blood on them.
It stopped them worrying about mummy bleeding, and made it feel friendly and understandable to them.

I think it was really just referring to the most about telling someone it was their bottom. 🤣
Agreed that there's nothing wrong with explaining it like this to a small child.

I’ve said that every month a woman’s body gets ready for a baby, that the blood makes a nice cosy cushion and that when that baby doesn’t come the blood comes out. They’ve never questioned it. It’s better to explain it that to worry a child as that much blood would be startling otherwise

My 4 year old DS knows that women have eggs and if one doesn't turn into a baby each month, then it comes out of her vagina in blood.

The other day when we were at my parents' house, DS announced he was on his period and leaking!

Absolutely fine to be open with your DD about it.

As per previous posters, when DD asked I explained in very simple terms, once a month, women and older girls bleed from their vagina, it doesnt hurt, it's just a sign that they're not pregnant that month.

It hurt me!

“You know how babies grow in mummies tummies? Connected to the mummy with a blood vessel? Well, when there isn’t a baby there, there are blood vessel ready for a baby, and if one doesn’t grow, every month the blood comes away, and I use this pad/tampon to catch it so it doesn’t get on my clothes”.

I told DS something similar when he was about 4. I also made sure to tell him very early on that ladies have three holes! One for pee, one for poo, one for babies. I think I told him that the first time he noticed boys have penises and girls don’t.

Yes, but not like a cut would hurt.
I didn't want her to worry about it like she would worry about getting a cut. She was only 4 or 5 at the time.

We can move on to discussion of painful periods at a later stage.

‘Every few weeks, mummy’s body recycles itself and it does this by relieving blood through my vagina. But unlike toileting I can’t control when it going to happen, so mummy needs these pads to keep my clothes clean so the blood doesn’t stain. This happens to most other ‘grown ups’ and will start happening to you in a few years when your a ‘Big Girl’

Simple, honest and technically accurate.

You don't need to go into details just yet.

I used to say something about mummy's body not having a baby this month.

We never hid things from the kids and answered questions as they came up in age appropriate ways. So you don't need detailed explications. Your child just needs to know it's normal and okay, mummy isn't sick or dying and she doesn't have to worry.

I am so glad that menstruation is no longer a dirty secret that girls have to hide from everyone around them.
In the 60s I had no idea what was happening to me as my period started when I was on my way to Sunday School, (as a leader, I was 13 years old) I thought I was dying and was so upset and scared.

I always told my small children that it is your body's way of telling you if you are pregnant and need to start knitting some clothes in readiness! Their grandmother was a very prolific needle woman so they accepted this easily!☺️