Explaining periods to your children

Talking about menstruation shouldn’t be a big talk to be done at a particular age. Instead, start that conversation early and dig deeper as your child gets older. Girls and boys need reliable information about menstruation. So, be sure to talk about it with both your daughter and son! It is a topic that should not become tabu, it should be explained as something normal that occurs as part of a cycle in nature.

For example, if your 4-year-old son sees a tampon and asks what it is for, you can answer her: Women have a little blood coming out of their vagina every month. That is called menstruation (or period). It doesn’t happen to women because they’ve hurt themselves. Rather, it is the body’s way of preparing to have a baby. The tampon collects blood so it does not stain the woman’s underwear. The less mystery children are told, the more easily they will understand and see it as something that must happen when they grow up.

Remember to find a safe and casual space to talk about it with your children, some situations in which the conversation can be born naturally are: if your children see you buying tampons or pads and ask what they are for, if your children ask you about where babies are born or if your children ask you about puberty and what happens when they grow up and their bodies change.

In those situations, ask your child if she knows anything about menstruation. Then, you will be able to share fundamental information on this topic with him, such as the following: When a girl develops and becomes a woman, her body changes and she could have a baby. The interior of the woman’s body is prepared so that there is a place where the baby can grow. The place where babies grow is called the uterus. Every month, the walls of the uterus prepare for the arrival of a baby. If there is no baby, the walls of the uterus come off and bleed a little. Blood leaves the woman’s body through the vagina. The body makes a new wall in the womb every month, so that in the event that there is a baby, it has a good place to be.