How do you handle talking to your DC about their private areas?

[HIU8]

DS, who is 3 1/2 has been commenting on how he "gets bigger" when he touches himself and wants to know why he doesn't get smaller when he pushes it in. When did your DC start noticing their body like this? What did you tell them? Are there any good resources for how to handle talk about their body with a young child? DH was no help in this area at all.....

Thanks :wavey:

[lorinick]

DS, who is 3 1/2 has been commenting on how he "gets bigger" when he touches himself and wants to know why he doesn't get smaller when he pushes it in. When did your DC start noticing their body like this? What did you tell them? Are there any good resources for how to handle talk about their body with a young child? DH was no help in this area at all.....

Thanks :wavey:
My son never asked those questions. But I believe in telling them the truth. In not to much detail and using the proper names for the body parts. I know in school even in K they talk about the body and the body parts using there correct names. I would say that is what happens when a boy touches his penis. And that no one else should touch him there. Except for mom, dad, and his doctor.

[beansprout13]

My 3.5 yr old DS has made similar comments. He says things like "Oh, look mom, it's growing!" The first time he noticed, he actually came to me with a very concerned look on his face and told me that his penis was broken and could I fix it.

I've tried to be as honest with him as possible that this is what happens to boys, but he isn't quite getting it and is just fascinated with the "growing" concept. I figure this fascination is just another phase and hopefully will pass like all the others did!

[ilfaith]

...and is just fascinated with the "growing" concept. I figure this fascination is just another phase and hopefully will pass like all the others did!

A phase? Hmm. How many grown men do you know who are still fascinated with the "growing" concept?

[ha98ed14]

A phase? Hmm. How many grown men do you know who are still fascinated with the "growing" concept?

YEAH, That! (Dunno how to do the happy guy with sign). OMG, this comment made me laugh so hard!

[HIU8]

OMG, am I destined to raise that...????????????????? Help......


DS likes to watch it grow (says he is now as big as a daddy). We have told him that is what happens when boys touch their penis. He gets antsy about it going back to normal and tries to push it.

[ha98ed14]

A friend's son was practically obsessed with his penis. He had his hands in his pants all. the. time. Or he would just pull out his penis out of his pants and play with himself. It was of course perfectly normal for a 3 y.o. but it was also completely socially embarrassing when he did it in public. She finally just had to be really firm with him that if he wanted to touch that area he needed to go in the bathroom or his bedroom. Eventually he lost interest. But the interim was interesting. Her code word to tell him to stop was "Paws Off!" she said that A LOT for a few months.

[BillK]

A phase? Hmm. How many grown men do you know who are still fascinated with the "growing" concept?
Based on my "junk email" inbox every morning.....all of us? ;)

Anyway - Zach's almost 3 1/2 now and so far he's not been too terribly interested in his stuff.

However - a while back - I was changing Ben's diaper, Zach was "helping" me and out of the blue - Zach looks at me and says "Daddy - baby Ben's penis is tiny" - which gave me quite a chuckle. Poor baby Ben. I told Zach "He's only 1 year old buddy" - but that didn't seem to matter to Zach - he still felt it should be the same size as his.

[ThreeofUs]

DS is just noticing this himself. We try to be as frank and matter-of-fact as possible without giving too much detail (unless he asks). We also use the latin/medical names for body parts.

[StantonHyde]

TOTALLY normal. DS says to me in the mornings "Look how hard my penis is, Mom". I just say yes it is, that usually means your bladder is full--go peee. He gets erections in the tub and DH just ignores it---why does this make grown men uncomfortable? I guess they keep associating "adult" ideas with 3 yo penises. On the other hand, watching my 3 yo DD exploring her "bulba" on a constant basis makes me uncomfortable too--like "she's gonna hurt something in there" :ROTFLMAO:

For DS, we just calmly tell him not to do it outside the bath/bed. For DD, I am waiting till we get past the naked stage (please, God, by 5???) so that it is not always available to her :cheerleader1: (She doesn't do it if her diaper is on, which it is most of the day)

[brittone2]

TOtally normal.

ITA w/ the PPs. Keep it short and factual in content, and use the anatomical names for body parts. If he asks for more info, provide it to him, but you don't need a whole birds and bees discussion when a simple answer will probably satisfy him for now.

DS never did much handling of himself in public, but if that were an issue I'd just encourage him to give himself some privacy and go to his room or the bathroom if he wants to explore ;)

[KBecks]

I would probably explain that getting bigger is called an erection and that it's bigger because there's more blood in his penis or something, and that an erection lasts for a while and then his penis goes back to normal.

I might even go so far that when he's a grown up man that erections are for making babies, but I'd try to avoid that detail as long as he didn't pepper me with questions.

I try to be as honest as possible and it seems to be working OK. I have not had that specific question yet though!

[niccig]

DS is very interested in his penis and we have the bed/bathroom only rule. He was naked after a bath at my parents house and my embarrassed sister (no kids) told me he was playing with himself, I wasn't in the room at the time. I told him that he could only do that in the bed/bathroom. So, he ran through the house yelling "I'm going to the bathroom to play with my penis". I only have sisters, my family don't understand little boys at all. He's asked questions like why does he look different from his friend when they were both running around naked, I explain as simply as I can, and he's usually happy with that...until the next time.