Any advice on how to explain a period to my oldest daughter? She will be 5 next week and she has seen me pregnant with her 3 little sisters, so she knows quite a bit about babies but we haven't talked about periods yet. Thanks, Moms!
P.S. For those who are wondering why a conversation needs to be had...With 4 small girls, I am rarely in the bathroom by myself. They are going to see what I'm doing. I do not want my girls to be concerned or worried about me or think I'm hurt. I'm not looking to have an in-depth conversation about the birds and the bees -- just want a brief explanation so my girls know it's normal.
Just keep it very simple.
An egg jumps every month in the belly and the belly gets ready for a baby.If mom doesn't want to have a baby,she has to bleed a little for the egg to come back out to get ready for the next egg.
Worked for y daughter,she just started to have her own period.
They do grow up so fast .
Yep, my three year old is asking what that string is...etc....I wasn't sure what to say and I just said, "Oh, mommy's have to have one sometimes so that they don't have a baby" Of course, she was like, "WHY" and I said, that's the way mommy's are made. WHen you're a mommy, you'll have one too... So difficult..but I hear you, NEVER alone in the bathroom. My husband pleaded this morning for our little watch dog to leave him in private, but she wouldn't do it. I don't remember hanging out and watching my parents in the bathroom, but I guess in our household, it's becoming the norm for everyone to be in everyone's way. Need a bigger house! m
My daughter is only 3 so i have not had an in depth conversation with her about it, but she has been in the bathroom with me many times at that time of the month and she always says "oh mommy you have red on your butt again." I had to laugh the first time she said it, but she seemed upset about it and thought i was in pain or hurt so i explanined as simple as i could to her that mommy is ok it doesn't hurt it just gets my body ready to have a baby and it stops in a couple days its ok. She seemed to be ok with that answer and hasn't asked about it since (i am now into my 7th month of pregnancy) so i have not brought it up again. Tell her what you think is simple enough for her to understand and bring it up again at a later day when she is closer to that time for her, but don't wait to long, you will know when she is ready. If you are interested i saw an episode of oprah recently that had a mother and ten year old daughter on and they helped teach the mom how to talk to her daughter about sex, periods, having babies and much more, maybe her website for the show would have some age appropriate ideas and materials that may help good luck.
At around 7- 8, when my daughter inquired, I just said that mommies have what's called a "period" or menstrual cycle, and once you reach a certain age, around 12 or 13, your body will start maturing and preparing the uterus , every month, for the day when you become a mommy. Each month your uterus goes through a cycle to build a nice place for a baby to grow. When it's not needed, your body gets rid of it and gets ready for the next month. It's a different kind of bleeding because your body is doing what it is supposed to be doing (i.e. as opposed to cutting yourself and bleeding.) Your daughter may be able to grasp the above conversation.
When my daughter was around 5, she was good with the answer...."It's called a period, something private that happens to older girls and women and every month they bleed from a special place and that's very normal"... She had seen people pregnant, too, and had heard about periods but what she needed reassurance with was that she wanted to make sure the blood was nothing to be alarmed with - then she needed to pack her own private items so that she would never be caught off guard when the moment arose!" (First born!)
Good luck.
