How do you refer to DC's 'private parts'?

[writermama]

In our house, we call them "parts" -- it started when DH was nervous about changing newborn DD#1's messy diaper and asked me how to "clean her ... um ... parts." The name stuck.

"Stuff" has also come up, but didn't stick.

Breasts, on the other hand, are called "milks." DD started this one. There are "Mama milks" which are functional, and "Daddy milks" and "baby milks" which are not.

[megs4413]

i'm afraid i'm gonna come off as a nut, but well....here it is anyway....

i use the anatomically correct terms for most parts. but DD prefers to call her "bottom"..."the poopoos". i'm good with that. i also prefer to say "boobies" instead of "breasts" but that's just my personal preference. breasts is hard to say and makes me think of chicken.

[icunurse]

We obviously haven't gotten too deep into naming special body parts, but we will get more specific with time and questions. We use "butt", "penis", and "boobies" (though I am really trying to use the word "breasts"). They seem to be easy enough for DS to say and remember and aren't offensive.

[fortato]

We haven't set real names to things yet, but will more than likely call his penis, "penis"- and his testicles are his little "nards"- or the "walnut"(that's what it looks like!!)

However. I got into a terrible habit... when he gets up from a nap or something and he's "happy to see me" I started singing "Somebody's got a boner..." I don't know why. It just happened- I'm sure I will stop at some point...hopefully before he's 15.

Funny side note- the kids I nannied called their Vagina's "China's". When their mom asked their dad to get something out of the China cabinet...poor Jenna (she was 5 at the time) said "Mommy- you keep it in a cabinet???" For days after all she wanted to do was see where mommy's China Cabinet was.



Kristen
eta-- totally forgot...DH refers to Jack's Penis and Testes as his "Buisness" or "Bidness"

[BillK]

We refer to Zach's penis as his .... penis.

On a funny note - one of my best buddies from high school told me they refer to his son's penis as his "man unit". That just cracks me up for some reason.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I use real names. Breasts are breasts, penis is penis,...I don;t have a girl but I would be sure to distinguish vagina vs urethra as they are not the same but I hear so many moms use "vagina" for where pee comes out.

I just think it makes it confusing to have made up words and such for these parts. Plus, I feel like naming them correctly makes the owner more respectful of their bodies.

Beth

[C99]

This came up recently.

I use the correct names. We refer to DS' penis as a penis, and to DD's vulva as such. I will admit that I don't use the term breasts, but I do say boobs and nipples.

[shilo]

another anitomical names for the genitalia family - penis, vagina. using urethra separately for girls kinda makes sense to me, i'll have to remember/think on that if i have a girl next time.

breasts and bottoms are a little more complicated around here. breasts go by 'boobs' or 'boobies' more often than not, but like pp, DS's been more interested in the nipples of late -sigh/ouch- which we do call nipples (he showed 0 interest in them since he weaned 5 months ago, then all of the sudden, he started pulling on them again). anyway, i digress, bottom is probably where we're least consistent. i seem to use 'bum', DH calls it a 'butt' or a 'bottom' and my parents refer to it as a tusch or tuccus (they did when we were kids too). so he may get a little confused on that one.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[dr mom]

We use the correct names, too - we say penis, vulva, breasts, nipples. Although, in reference to his derriere, I usually call it a "bottom" rather than buttocks/anus, which sounds a little TOO clinical.

Funny story: when DS was younger, and we were learning names for body parts, he said "Mommy has breasts" and then turned to DH and announced gleefully "Daddy has hairy nipples!" LOL!

[newnana]

Currently breasts are boobies. And I mean lift your shirt up, grab them both and shout, "BOOBIES" as loud as possible. Thankfully she's only interested in doing this to herself and at 19 months that's still pretty cute. Thankfully she's also only doing this at home ;)
And I agree, for some reason breast makes me think of raw chicken.


The backside is so many things. From DH, it's butt. From DD it's butt. But she knows bottom, rear, tuchas, tucci, tooshie. I prefer tuchas because that's what we grew up with.

DH refers to her private parts as "girl parts." Not crazy about that, but it's what he's comfortable with. I haven't decided. Not crazy about vulva, but that's most appropriate. And vagina always reminds me of Alotta Vajina from Austin Powers. I really need to not watch movies!

I love this thread. It's very timely for us and I look forward to some insight! Thanks for the post and that reply about distinguishing the vagina and the urethra.
Michelle

[TraciG]

Boobies,and vagina, she also know's that boy's have penises, she's 3.

We say poop or poopy & pee pee

O yeah we say tushie , such a CUTE word & sometimes butt

[Fairy]

We're a mix but mostly anatomical. Penis usually, but often pee-pee. We say tushy for his bottom. We generally say boobs, but sometimes it's breast. If we had a DD, we'd probably call it a vagina. Tho, when I talk in every day speech to my friends, I often call it a cha-cha. As in, "Why on earth would Britney Spears want to flash her cha-cha all over the Internet, C-section scar and all?!" Or if one of the male half of our couple-friends overhears his wife and I talking girlie stuff and he says, "ooh, i dn't need to hear the girl talk," I'll say, what, you don't want to hear about vaginas and periods and cracked nipples?" They turn a nice shade of beet red, and the two of us have a nice giggle. I have no shame.

[Splash]

Charlie's penis is his penis most of the time. Sometimes I say winkie or call the whole area his bits. His butt has been his boot for a long time (luckily we're in FL, where wearing boots is never necessary!). Breasts are mumsies for the most part, ocassionaly boobs.
I don't mind the word penis, but I hate vagina. I've never liked that word. Or vulva. Luckily right now we only need penis.

[JBaxter]

Nathan refers to them as Penis, butt (or butt hole depending on what he is talking about) boobies, He also refers to the "gina" and the "volo".

The first time I told him the correct names of girl parts he went around for 2 days telling everyone "mommy's gina" Thank goodness it sounded like he was saying Mommy is Jeana LOL.

[randomkid]

Glad you posted this. I'm having issues (mine) with vagina or vulva because it seems that it will be too confusing. Urethra is where the pee comes out, but so hard to say. The whole area is made up of all those things. Vulva is just the outside and vagina is really not appropriate, imo, when referring to pee-pee. I wish there was a general term for the whole area. Right now, it's usually bum and pee-pee. I'm fine with bum, but I want a different term for the other. Maybe I'll get some ideas from here.

[Lmoor]

We started with cute names when DD was under 2 (hoo-ha), but now that's she's 2 and understands more, we use anatomically correct names.

Just to add some food for thought, I've attended a class on sexual predators and keeping your children safe, and they, hands down, no exceptions, recommend you teach the correct names to your children. That way there is no confusion by your child when telling you if someone touched them in inappropriate places. Also, they claim that if a child knows the correct names, a sexual predator is less likely to choose your child, since clearly, it is something that the parents have discussed with the child. The instructor gave the class a list of names she's heard in the past, and they were horribly confusing - like "cookie" or "taco" (GASP).

[ShanaMama]

Currently, DD thinks it's called a poop! I'm not sure what my words of choice are going to be, so wanted to hear what you all do.

My 4 year old nephew proudly showed me his 'pee-pee maker' after a bath. I could barely keep a straight face! My sister chose that because he has a twin sister, & she didn't want to get too deeply into the differences between boy & girl anatomy. Right now, he has a boy pee-pee maker & she has a girl pee-pee maker.
Lately, DD has also been quite interested in poking & pinching my breasts (she doesn't remember nursing). In public, I gently move her hand away & tell her those are Mommy's private parts. In private I repeat those words but give a little more leeway to explore.
As she gets more aware of her own body, I'd like to have some ready terms/ explanations.

[Lovingliv]

>Just to add some food for thought, I've attended a class on
>sexual predators and keeping your children safe, and they,
>hands down, no exceptions, recommend you teach the correct
>names to your children. That way there is no confusion by
>your child when telling you if someone touched them in
>inappropriate places. Also, they claim that if a child knows
>the correct names, a sexual predator is less likely to choose
>your child, since clearly, it is something that the parents
>have discussed with the child.

This is the exact reason we say the anatomically correct name for her body parts....and mine.

[o_mom]

You mean "female genitalia" doesn't cover it? :-)

We usually use vulva for female parts (as in boys have a penis, girls have vulva), but it doesn't come up much.

penis = penis
testicles = balls or scrotum
butt = bottom or bum
breats = nummies or mi-mi-s since they only know them in the context of nursing

[youngmommy]

Great topic!

I remember my mom used "privates" and "bottom" with me. I guess we do use the word "tushie" sometimes. Oh, by breasts are "nursie" or "nursies." I'm quite sure DD still remembers nursing, as she came up with the name. This issue hasn't come up with us too much yet because I only have one DD who's 2 and a half, and she hasn't seemed to need words for that area yet. I assume it's different with boys because there's something there on the outside, and I assume we'll use penis, but I guess we'll have to read all of the suggestions and discuss it.

[randomkid]

Well, yeah, that about covers it, but that might be a little strange and difficult for a 2 year old to say - lol!

[ShanaMama]

It's very interesting to see everyone's responses. I'm still in search of something for DD's 'female parts'. Bottom is generally tush, but I've resisted vagina until now because it's really not correct, as many pps mentioned. I'd like to use anatomically correct names, but it's pretty hard with a girl.
The point about sexual predators is very interesting. Is using anantomically correct terms is better than other specific, clear terms? I don't remember having different names for different areas (hence the question), but I clearly remember knowing that private parts are private, & no one is allowed to touch you there except your parents and dr. IMO, having a discussion about it is not contingent on calling the areas by proper names, although I can see the relationship. If you're the 'type' of parent to use proper names, you probably talked about it with your kids.

[jgriffin]

This is a great topic, thanks for starting it!

We call various parts penis, breast, and nipple. No word for testicles yet, but I'll let DH figure that one out. I usually say bottom or butt. When we give E a bath the whole genetalia/butt region is referred to as the "important bits" (important to keep clean, that is).

I've been thinking about what we're going to do with a girl in terms of naming the vagina/urethra/vulva. At least with E he can see his and DH's penises (and point to them if asked) readily. Not so easy with girl parts. I'll bookmark this thread and refer back to it in a year, I guess.

[C99]

Yes - we say "bum." The word "bottom" makes me giggle and I think "butt" is kind of vulgar coming from a 4-year-old's mouth.

[hardysmom]

we use the correct terms with our son and twin daughters.

we have neighbors who have taught the correct terms, but around the house say "big bottom" and little bottom" with their girls.