What is the right age for a mother to show and explain adult body parts to her daughter?

Question

When should a mother show and explain about breasts and pubic hair.

Answer 1

When they ask about them. If you treat body parts as normal and not as something "bad" or "evil", then they'll be more comfortable with their bodies. Start out with simple answers, but don't lie. That will proibably satisfy them. If it doesn't, go into as much detail as you think they'll understand. Try not to get flustered or nervous when talking about body parts. The child will pick up on this.

Answer 2

While auld mom is right in that there is no generic "right age", my wife heartily disagreed with the "wait until she asks" approach. Between religious pressures and current model imagry, a lot of kids are ashamed of their bodies to begin with: and when it their own body starts to change, they retreat further. Since reading studies released in 1997 (Secondary Sexual Characteristics and Menses in Young Girls Seen in Office Practice) and 1999 (Reexamination of the Age Limit for Defining When Puberty Is Precocious in Girls in the United States: Implications for Evaluation and Treatment) that revealed that caucasian girls started showing secondary characteristics at an average age of 10 (for African-Americans, it's closer to 9); one to two years earlier than previously thought {Menarche, on the other hand, still seems to occur at around age 12}; we -- meaning my wife -- decided that it was time now. In other words, before our daughter's body started changing, we'd give her a heads up on what was going to happen.
We bought a wonderful book from American Girls that covered most the bases (physical changes, hygiene, mensus, etc), and my wife sat down and read it with her over the course of a couple afternoons. I would have joined in the discussion, but my wife is infinitely more qualified.

Answer 3

A lot of girls begin puberty as young as EIGHT these days. Helping children to understand their body is an important thing. For girls, I'd say, around age 7-8. For boys, a little later, maybe 9-10. Don't wait too long, or they'll be learning a lot of myths and lies from friends. It's better for her to hear the truth from her mom.

Answer 4

Well, I would agree with aaja, that even small children (may it be girls or boys) will notice differences in their parents when they are very young. If you have both girls and boys children at home they will notice even sooner, when they are taking a bath together for example. You should tell them accordingly to their age that those differences are normal and that they are needed for mummy and daddy to have babies (definition for young children:P). You should not wait until age 10, definitely. My mum never told me anything and still now it is a sort of taboo theme at home. I don't want my children to end up like that. They might indeed go looking somewhere for answers, adn the times aren't getting better, with children of age 10 sleeping together (It's in the newspapers, just read). Tell them early...

Answer 5

If you wait until she starts to ask questions you have waited too long. I would rather they hear it from a parent than other children. I think kids are talking about it much younger these days. I would think that between 8 - 10 years old would be safe. They have some really good educational books you can use to explain it to her, much better than show and tell. Good luck.

Answer 6

Uhh... I don't know if showing is the right thing to do... I mean, when I was first trying to understang this stuff, the last thing I wanted to see was daddy's Johnson.

Anyway, just wait until (and if) they ask any questions. There's enough resourses in the world today the kids will be able to figure it out on their own. In fact, it's probably harder to keep a kid in the dark around sexual material these days.

Answer 7

When they begin to ask, it shows that they're now beginning to notice things that spark their curiousity, most likely from seeing their mother's body or an older sister or girl cousin. Explain as much to fit the age. It wouldn't make sense to esplain the whole details and it would just go through their ears.

Answer 8

When the child sees and asks. I think it would be odd for a mother to simply get naked in order to explain.

Kids usually ask at a very young age (2-4 years)

Answer 9

No need to show and explain, just let the private parts be private. Wait, she will come and ask you otherwise now everything is so open they share such talks with their close friends. Don't panic and just take these parts also as normal as other parties of bodies.

Answer 10

There is no right age for this kind of things. Every kid grow at a different rate. As long as you show her concent and be more open minded when she has question she will approach you automatically. For example, my sons, they throw question without feeling shy, cos I am always very open to them. I would rather they learn from their parents then from someone god knows wheather this people give him the right answers or not.