Word for toddler girl private parts...

[Blessedbethefruitz]

Weird question, sorry! Huge searchable history on here, I'm not a troll!

With ds it was easy - willy is freely used across the UK.

But I want dd 20 months to have a word to describe her vulva/vagina, for if she's hurt, needs a wee, has a uti etc. Right now she seems to think it's her bottom as I refer to changing her bottom/nappy. I don't want something ridiculous like flower, or something gross like minge or fanny. What's usual in your home/circles/region? She knows when she needs a 'wee wee' from copying her big brother. I could use that I suppose?

I used front bottom, then in P1 the school taught them all the proper words. Obviously it's better to use proper words but I think they were a bit of a novelty and much overused for a few weeks.

Muuum DTD1 kicked me in the vagina

No I didn't I kicked you in the vulva (DTD1)

Obviously done at full volume at awkward times, like in the post office queue surrounded by nice, old ladies.

That's mad - and interesting.

I studied German until the end of first year at uni, came across some of these words & yet never made the connection with 'shame'!

The vulva is everything left and right and in front of the opening of the vagina. The vagina is the internal passage leading to the cervix and beyond that is the uterus.

Assuming this is a genuine question...

5DD's here. All knew the proper grown up word was vulva but called it their missy when they were small. They're all adults now and I'm quite sure none of them use missy now!
I don't see the harm - it's no different from little boys who say willy not penis surely.

Did someone actually suggest foof or am I dreaming?

It’s vulva. Grow up.

Fairy

Those who say just use 'vulva' - I've never heard anyone use that word in real life, ever - pretty sure only mumsnetters (pretend to) use it!

I call my own vag, but when my DDs were little they used the word mini....not sure where that came from tbh. My own mum used 'tuppence' which made me cringe inside-out in a house full of boys.

I actually cannot believe some of the suggestion some people are coming on here and typing out.

This thread cannot be real.

My friend calls hers Margaret

My daughter's 2 and a half. It's vulva. Felt odd to start with, not strange at all now. It's anatomically correct. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable about talking about her genitals or having the wrong terminology. My sons had a nickname for their penis' which seems daft now.

Yes us “mumsnetters” are just one homogeneous blob of women who make up lies on the internet about basic biological terms for our bodies

Really?

it really shocks me that you think it ok to post something that will make women who for whatever reason prefer to use other words feel bad. You want people to be open with health care workers and feel safe they won’t be judged, surely? Do you think that’s more likely after this post, or less?

Really poor conduct if you are a health care professional.

Come on @MissTrip82 if a grown adult with no SEN came in and said they had a poopy woopy tumikins you wouldn't cringe? Grown women who can't talk about their genitalia is similarly bonkers.

Yes us “mumsnetters” are just one homogeneous blob of women who make up lies on the internet about basic biological terms for our bodies

Well I wouldn't use the word 'blob', but yeah, I do think a lot of posters are full of shit!

Mini or min min in my family when I was young, but I'll 100% be teaching my daughter to use correct language - it's incredibly important for safeguarding, but also important for children to understand and be able to speak about their bodies with accuracy and without shame. Anatomical terms shouldn't be taboo, especially when you think how little basic things like periods, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, male menopause are spoken about.

That's cracked me up! I don't think I even thought about it until I read 'How to be a woman'. Caitlin Moran calls hers a c*nt, because it's a strong bit of kit which should be able to stop the world in its tracks and therefore it deserves a name which does the same. But when they have a beautiful, innocent, peachy new baby they don't want to use the same word, so have a chat about it.

My dd has called it her vulva since we did body parts at just turned one. She used to say 'bulba' but can now say it properly at 2.5.
DS 5 knows penis but prefers willy as that's what school friends say. He also knows me and his sister have vulvas.

We had the same discussion about babies and I was honest. I too had a section but I also explained what would happen if I didn't and have done a couple of times since.
I'm also honest about periods as they both see me in the loo. I just rather they grow up knowing and it being normal and natural so they can speak to me comfortably about anything.

My husband thought women had 2 periods a month when we met...

I was 42 years old when I learned some people call their vulva a ‘foof’.

Literally never that before.

Also mini?!

But it’s really not the same.

For whatever reason willy has become the standard word to use instead of penis - and even if some boys/ families use another term they would all understand what was meant by willy. I STILL think you should teach them the correct word and model being comfortable using it too, but most people are going to know what a willy is.

Whereas there’s no similarly accepted word for vulva. On this thread alone here you’ve got various confidently declaring it’s a mini/ Minnie and surely everyone uses that - but honestly I’ve never heard/ heard of anyone using that term for it. I’m currently being a bad parent typing this whilst my daughter watches Minnie Mouse on Disney plus - she’s currently obsessed with Minnie and today when we were in the supermarket she saw a Minnie Mouse themed Halloween basket thing and yelled ‘I want Minnie’ at the top of her voice. If a child talked to me about mini/ Minnie that’s what I’d assume unless the context made it clear otherwise. I also know of / have taught three children called Minnie

Similarly foof/ foo foo - do you know the song/ rhyme about Little Rabbit Foofoo? It’s often used/ sung in schools - my friend was mortified when she found out it was something I sang with my Reception class when I was teaching. Her son was due to be in my class the following year and she begged me not to use it as that’s what she had taught him the vulva was called.

Missy is also a name/ used for pets and also used in conversation sometimes - ‘now listen here missy …’

Twinkle, tuppence etc all the suggested alternatives - not only do they have other meanings they are also only used by certain people/ in certain areas and not generally understood to mean vulva in the same way Willy is generally understood to mean penis.

Even if you don’t think it’s important for safeguarding or aren’t thinking about that angle - why do you think that it’s better for girls to have to use euphemisms and context cues to refer to their own body parts. Why not just use the actual word for it?

No I’m calling her vagina a vagina. And her urethra a urethra (which is stupid word to teach a child). And rarely does she have a gynaecological problem that encompasses her entire vulva hence never need to use that word.