Age appropriate discussion of menses

[DeerMother]

Dd, 2.5, came into the bathroom when I was showering this morning. I had a cloth pad ready to go. I had worn it for ten minutes before shower so was just going to put it back on. She asked what it was. I told her that when girls get older, they bleed sometimes and that is to catch my blood. She then put the pad on her recently scraped knee - that bled when she fell.

So. . . I want her to feel comfortable with menses and don't want her to experience any icky feelings with her cycle. I want her to know that it will happen so she is not surprised and confused like I was.

Did I say the right thing? What do you say?

[Autumn Breeze]

Sounds fine to me...my daughter started asking around age 3. I told her it was something Mommies did, and she didn't need to worry because it was ok, and it was something I was supposed to do.

Last year when she noticed again I told her that when girls get older it was something that normally happened, and that the bleeding itself wasn't from a "boo-boo" and it didn't hurt.

I'll just keep adding to it as she gets older. Little steps. You're doing fine

[sammymama]

I think you did a great job in the moment!

Some mamas have recommended this book to me - I believe there are a few of them, designed for different age groups...

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Stork-.../dp/0763600474

I was going to order it soon to check it out. See what you think!

[AllisonR]

I have a 6 yo DS and a 3 yo DD, and both are fond of barging in the bathroom to ask where their legos are, or did I know that the other one said a bad word or.... so they have seen EVERYTHING, and have asked why I am bleeding. I guess they first asked at age 2 or 3, and I just say I am bleeding because my egg is coming out because it isn't going to be a baby, and next month a new egg will come out and I will bleed again... leads to interesting questions - why do I have eggs? Like a chicken? Does it hurt? Why don't you have a baby in your belly instead?....

Meanwhile I am still in shock about going to visit a friend a year ago and talking about heavy periods and her wanting me to be quiet because her 10 yo didn't need to know about periods. My mind was just whirling - I mean if you can't discuss menses with a 10 yo, exactly when will you discuss it? I may be on one end of the spectrum, being better to open too early than too late, but man, was she on the other end....

[pianojazzgirl]

I told my kids (when they were around that age and first noticed/asked) that every month mommy (like all women) bleeds a little bit so I put a pad there to catch the blood. I made sure to say that it's not a boo boo, and that it means that a woman is mature enough to get a baby in her tummy (basically as a pre-curser to the more complicated explanation of the menstrual cycle that I'd explain at an older age).

[Learning_Mum]

I think I told DS1 that when a girl becomes a woman she gets her period and that means she can have a baby. I think subsequent times he's asked I've explained that an the blood is kind of making a little nest for a baby to grow inside my tummy and that if a baby doesn't grow that month then the blood / nest comes out.

Sounds all a bit complicated now that I'm writing it here, but it made sense at the time and DS1 understood!

[TheGirls]

My DD is 2.5 and has seen me changing pads/emptying menstrual cups, etc. She often asks (in the way of 2yos asking the same question 95000 times...) what it is/what I'm doing. I usually just say that it is blood from mama, but that mama's ok. Or that I am chaniging my pad so I can have a clean one to catch the blood. She's never had an injury with much blood, so she doesn't seem to associate blood with serious injury/pain. It does lead to some interesting commentary when I am taking care of business in a public restroom, but otherwise she doesn't seem terribly upset by it. As she gets older I'll give her more detail.

[Attached2Elijah]

Ha! I told my DD when she asked why I was bleeding that when your older, your body changes and part of that is bleeding and that someday she will too but that it doesn't hurt and it's just a part of being a woman.

She then tells Great Grandpa that when she grows up she's going to have big boobs and a hairy crotch that she bleeds from... Thank you Eden, just what I wanted you to get from that lesson.

[TiredX2]

At that age we also went the "nest" route. That women build a little nest in their uterus each month in case they are going to have a baby. If their body realizes they are not pregnant then the nest has to come out. Something like that... my kids are 9 & 11 now so it's not been in terms of a nest for quite some time

Originally Posted by Attached2Elijah

She then tells Great Grandpa that when she grows up she's going to have big boobs and a hairy crotch that she bleeds from... Thank you Eden, just what I wanted you to get from that lesson.

[Tumble Bumbles]

Edited. 

Edited by Tumble Bumbles - 4/10/11 at 1:43pm

[Norasmomma]

Well I've been very upfront with DD since I was pg with DS. She went and saw ultrasounds and went to Dr's appts with me, so she knows enough about female/male bodies.

I have told her about human eggs and she's seen an ovulation video on YouTube, because she's so fascinated about it. She knows that when girls grow up they have periods so they can have babies. I have found her putting a pad in her underwear because she says she's going to have a baby.

She's 4 and knows more than enough.