How to explain that time of the month to a 3 year old

@schilds (410)
United States
April 6, 2008 6:13pm CST
I try to close the bathroom door, but I do sometimes forget to lock it, and it never fails, my kids will walk in while I am changing my tampon or pad and ask "what are you doing?" My daughter sees the blood and thinks I have an owwie. I don't want her to hold on to that idea, but I'm not sure how to correct her in a way that she will understand. How have you explained this to your children?
1 person likes this
4 responses
makelifehappy
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
7 Apr 08
my 5 yr old walked in on me not too long ago because that's what kids do :) I'm sure we must have done it to my mom when we were kids but i of course don't remember. my son thought i was really hurt...he wanted to go get my hubby to see if i needed help, lol. he is sweet sometimes. I told him not to worry that's what girls do it doesn't hurt - our pee just looks red sometimes. Then i told him to get the heck out! Hopefully he's forgotten about it already.
marcialoyd
@marcialoyd (1173)
• United States
8 Apr 08
When I was little my mom told me that her uterus was "crying" because it didn't have a baby. Seemed to pacify my mind at that young age. lol.
TinaP40
@TinaP40 (329)
• Spain
8 Apr 08
Tell kids what they need to know when they ask, never lie to them and dont go into to much detail for their age, it pays in the long run and your kids will grow up far more aware of things that way.
jhl930
@jhl930 (3601)
• United States
6 Apr 08
that would be a hard thing to have to do is to explain something like that to a three year old because i don't think that most grown men even undersand all of that and it makes us embarrassed...i don't know unless you just tell her that it is something that mommy gets every month and that you will explain it to her later because she will also have it whenever she gets more grown up...that is the only thing i could think of to explain it to her... jhl930
dandj929
@dandj929 (423)
• United States
6 Apr 08
I have a 3 year daughter and she has seen this too. I think we that we don't have to explain everything in detail at this point. She has asked me if I had a boo boo and I just said that I wasn't hurt and that my body was getting rid of blood that no longer needed. She seems to have accepted that and no longer questions about it. Hope this helps!