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Original poster

what do you call DD's lady bits?!

59 replies

SqueezyB · 18/02/2010 09:20

I was shocked the other day when I heard my sister say to my niece (nearly 4) 'let me put some cream on your vagina, it looks a bit sore'. She is a teacher, and said their PSE teacher at school said it was important to use the proper names from the start, partly so they learn not to feel embarrassed about body parts etc, also so they can always tell you if something is wrong etc.

I've never thought of myself as a prude but I was really shocked! It seems such a grown up word for a little girl. My DD is 22 months and we don't have a name for her bits as such yet, though she knows what all her other body parts are so I guess I should call it something...

What does anyone else call it?? I know my SIL uses the word foofoo with her DDs, and I vaguely remember my mum referring to your 'inbetweenies'!

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TheWifey · 18/02/2010 09:35

My little girl died when she was 6 months old, so it never came up with us, but I used to call them her girlie bits, Im not sure what we would have called them to her, but my sil has 2 boys and they say boys have Winkies and girls have minis.
Someone I worked with taught her girls to call it their mary, which looks funny written down but sounded ok if she said it.
I started jokingly calling it foofoo or foof to my hubby and that kind of stuck.

I dont think Id feel comfy saying Vagina to my child. It was never called that when I was young, but we learnt the proper name for it anyway.

MumNWLondon · 18/02/2010 12:23

DD calls it a noonie, although she does know the proper name (she's 6). Needed to come up with something....

BunnyLebowski · 18/02/2010 12:25

Oh TheWifey I'm sorry

DD's is her minnie.

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oopsandbabycoconut · 18/02/2010 12:28

DD has a winkle and boys have willies as announced in Saisburys today - 'Papa dot a willy' followed by a massive giggle - she is only 18 months though!

CMOTdibbler · 18/02/2010 12:28

I call mine a vulva. Can't abide the cutesy name for girls external genitalia

TheFallenMadonna · 18/02/2010 12:29

Which bits?

TheFallenMadonna · 18/02/2010 12:39

I mean, did the cream actually go ont he vagina? Or was she using the word vagina to refer to the whole area?

My DD says wee hole, poo hole, baby hole. And I'm afraid she does refer to then as being in her bottom, which she sees as extending over the whole of, well, the bottom of her body. This makes me cringe a bit, as I am anxious to avoid 'front bottom', but she will not be budged, and her terms are clearly specific to area, and also nicely related to function, so I am trying to relax about it...

TidyBush · 18/02/2010 12:41

My DDS are now 15 and 12 so we use the proper names now - although DD2 cracked me up the other day when she called it a vajaja

When they were little they had a tuppence and boys had a willie (why do boys get the universally agreed name and girls get all kinds of daft names?)

When I was little it was 'privates' and when DH was a little boy it was willie for boys (of course)and 'peach' for girls

Amongst my friends with DDs I've heard

front bottom
flower
fairy
twinkle

Why do we do it? Why don't we use the correct names - they'll need to learn them eventually anyway.

Answering my own question, I suppose using vagina/penis subconciously links to the sexual element of genetalia rather than just somewhere to wee from when they are children.

Original poster
SqueezyB · 18/02/2010 12:46

She uses the word for the whole area, so I guess technically she should say vulva?! Now there's a word I don't use every day!

I agree, I guess to our ears vagina/penis sounds sexual, but to them it's just naming a body part. I just wish there was a nice sensible girls' equivalent to 'willy'! Or is it better to just get over our hangups and use the proper words from day one??

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TheFallenMadonna · 18/02/2010 12:50

Not that much need to refer to a vagina with a small child though, really. Apart from in the context of babies. DD is more interested in the wee hole really. As DS is not very interested in the multifunctional nature of his penis.

NicknameTaken · 18/02/2010 13:05

I asked about this before too and got some interesting suggestions! After talking to a French friend, I settled on "zizi", which is gender-neutral. Maybe a bit poncey, but I do speak quite good French and would like DD to learn too. She'll have a head start with vocab!

GrumpyBlumkin · 18/02/2010 13:30

I don't have girls, but the range of names amongst my friends are minnie, or noo-noo.

I always used 'penis' to the boys, but they seem to have heard 'peanuts' so that's sort of stuck now!

NicknameTaken · 18/02/2010 15:15

Cute!

Fimblehobbs · 18/02/2010 15:22

We tend to say girls bits/girls parts/private parts. DD says 'bits'. Did consider vagina but it isn't actually correct is it, and vulva seems too clinical. For DS we say willy rather than penis so wanted the girls equivalent.

GoldenSnitch · 18/02/2010 15:35

Zizi! Oh no - that's a restaurant not genitalia!!!

yummumto3girls · 18/02/2010 16:50

We got to a point with DD1 where we had to distinguish between front and back, so front is 'girly bits' and back is bottom!

bobblehead · 18/02/2010 19:06

Lady bits for us. I have explained their "lady bits" consist of vulva vagina clitoris, etc but don't think they really care. Will mostly refer to Dhs penis as his "man bits" too.

megcleary · 18/02/2010 19:08

foofee for ladies and daddies have winkies much hollering of daddie has a winkie in Tescos for our family.

princessx2 · 18/02/2010 20:10

My dd calls hers her bam bam - don't know why or where it came from, but it has stuck. In time I will tell her the correct names but she is only 4 so I can live with it for now.

She also says my husband has a tail - he had a vasectomy last year and we had to explain to her that he was sore there and from then on she called it a tail!

Lipstickdipstick · 18/02/2010 20:17

We have Front bottom and back bottom and just the hole in the middle where babies come from. DD has had two brothers both by C section but she came out of the hole! Her male cousisns call it the vagina and I think it sounds dreadful when a 4 year old says vagina. Each to their own... will tell her the proper name when appropriate and not a big issue.

VinoEsmeralda · 18/02/2010 20:18

MiffMiff or vagina but she then call it her china

ShowOfHands · 18/02/2010 20:28

DD has a vulva and a vagina and boys have a penis. She asked one day when she was around 18 months and I just answered honestly. She's 2.9 now and could even tell you about your cervix and uterus if you wanted. And your urethra and bladder and bowel and rectum and kidneys and digestion and reproducation and it's all just naming of parts isn't it?

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts

Sorry, couldn't resist, brilliant poem.

charlotteolivia · 18/02/2010 20:32

when i was little my mum used to call it a 'wee-wease'!

mamasmissionimpossible · 18/02/2010 20:39

Fanny for dd. I like a good old fashioned word

shockers · 18/02/2010 20:48

Vino... my sister used to call hers 'china'... my mum got a bit particular by the time she was born (6 yrs after me) and wanted her to call it by it's real name.... unfortunately she couldn't say it properly.
I called mine my 'winky' and DD does the same. Boys bits are 'willys'.