3yo, How to explain period?

[Claire2009]

What do/would you say to this comment from a 3yo?

"Oh no Mummy, you're flower is bleeding you have to go to the doctor to make it better"

I'm on my period, she saw me earlier.

Flower???? You mean a vagina?

Just tell her women have this every month. It doesn't hurt and it's nothing to worry about. This is enough for a 3 year old to be honest.

it hasn't come up with my children yet, but I know others who have just said that it's what happens every month if you don't have a baby.
that you have a seed, and if it doesn't turn into a baby your body bleeds a little bit to let it out.
that kind of thing

Call it a vagina, she'll worry that flowers will bleed.

Yep, I mean a vagina, but we call it a flower

Thanks! I did try telling her & she kept saying "No Mummy you have to go to the doctor he will make it better"

I said something like: 'Every month your body gets a nice comfy place ready for a baby to grow. If you don't have a baby growing, it comes out through your vagina and it looks like blood, but it doesn't hurt.'

Just say the doctors don't have medicine for this. It's a bit like going to do a wee or a poo, it's what a lady's body does. It doesn't hurt and is not anything bad.

Thanks! I'll tell her that!

Yuck, I HATE 'flower' with a passion.

Are we agreed that Claire needs to ditch the 'flower'?

Yes! Agreed! I will ditch the flower

Call it a vagina. It saves having to go over it all again! I quite like the term fanny but it used to be a girls name so is no longer appropriate.

There are threads and threads on here about what to call it Claire - you'll definitely find something on one of them!

Sorry, but how on earth did your child see that you were bleeding?

she's 3, saw me in the bathroom earlier sorting myself out she follows me asking lots & lots of random questions...

Oh God I remember seeing my Mum bleeding on the loo, getting out of the bath - it's hardly an unusual thing to happen!

• as inquisitive 3yo's tend to do I think you'll find!

Surely even if she did see you can pass it off, she is only 3 after all.

why on earth would you pass it off rather than give a basic age appropriate explanation???

Mystic Syd, I have three DDs and I don't think I have been to the loo by myself for over 10 years!
And why 'pass it off'? It is a normal bodily function and you might as well know about it at three as at 10.

Calm down ladies!

I am frequently heard saying "GO AWAY, I want to poo in private".

Absolutely! She's aware enough to know that blood = something sore, so why not just deal with it in a basic way? The secrecy and 'disgust' associated with women's bodies and their functions has given rise to a lot of male and female neuroses throughout generations......openness is the best policy imo.

I think a reason women are less squeamish than men (generalising wildly) is that blood for us is a sign things are working well, not just an indication of injury or illness. Or being a vampire.

Gosh (to mystic sid) my DC all saw me from an early age - nothing to be embarrased about imo.

I think an early, simple explanation (like those suggested here) is a good way of avoiding future embarrassment about the issue tbh.