Moms - do you have books about puberty/s*x around your house?

Question

When I was 8 I found a book about puberty at my cousins house which I tried to look at in secret because I was embarrassed.

My mom saw & we ended up taking the book home & reading a bit of it every night.

It was a great way to learn about s*x/puberty at a young age.

It's an awkward subject to bring up for both parents & kids, & parents don't always know when they're child starts wondering about this topic.

Having books around your house is a great way to teach your kids.

1. Your kid will start looking at it when they start getting curious, so you know when you should start to teach this subject.

2. reading facts & stories from a book is a lot less awkward than trying to have a conversation.

3. Your kid gets all the facts correctly, things aren't left out on mistake.

Q1: Do you have these books around/would you & experiences with this?

Q2: How do you teach your kids about the birds & the bees?

Answer 1

Natalie, that is a very good idea. No I don't have any books around, but my daughter who is 11 likes to read, so maybe I will try this.  

Answer 2

in my experience be careful about having too much of this sort of stuff around the house.  my parents had bookcases full of books about adolescence, s*x, growing up..we were bombarded with information.  It made me and my siblings a bit embarrassed about the whole thing..and some of the information was just darn right wrong in some areas!  i think one good book with correct information snuck away somewhere is best, and don't ram it down your kids throat like my parents did!  

Answer 3

Yes, I have one book and we've read the first six chapters together last summer.....I stopped right at the chapter about s*x.  I did read that chapter to them this summer (kids are 8 and 10) and then they each had some private time to look thru the book on their own.  I have a book for my son when he starts to show signs of puberty, but he's not ready yet for it. LOL

Answer 4

I don't...but I have my own medical books..and my kids (10 & 7) read...and see it. I also explain to them about the conception and having babies....in a more scientific way and uses the medical terms. ...I'm telling you kids are smart...and you will be more surprise how matured their understanding are. They know their limitations and they know how to be discreet about it as well. =)

Answer 5

No I do not have those kinds of books around. Have never thought of having them around either. My kids are only 7 and 4 (one on the way) so I am not even to puberty stages yet. And even when my husband and I do reach that stage in parenting, we wont need books to tell us how to explain puberty. We should know since we went thru it ourselves.  

Answer 6

We have the American Girl book about puberty for our daughters. It is just on the bookshelf and they have both read it. They are 10 and 12 so they basically know most of it. We have talks here and there, we have had talks since they were about 4 or 5  that have been age appropriate.

I think books are a great tool, but I think converstations are best, I don't act like it is a big deal so my kids aren't embarassed or scared to bring things up.

I tell them what they want to know and sometimes what they didn't know they needed to know. I just do it age appropriately. No stork business in our house.

I was the oldest child and I was never told anything. When I started my period I didn't know what it was and when I came to my mom crying she laughed at me. I don't want to do that to my kids'.

Parents shouldn't feel embarassed talking to their kids about it and if you are going to give them a  book either read it with them or have them read it and then ask them questions afterwards so you know they understand.

EDIT: the person that answered right below me saying your kids are only 7 and4 so they are too young. Wrong. You should talk to your kids about these things before they happen to them not wait for it and then discuss. Seriously talking about their bodies and about s*x shouldn't be a one time talk, it should be an ongoing dialogue from when they are young.

Answer 7

No, my parents never had books like that and never talked about it with us...I am a parent and I am totally open to talking to my children about it with facts once they start asking..I will never sugar coat anything. I honestly think that is how parents mess up...they are so afraid to answer these questions, skirt around it hoping it will go away and what happens is that the child seeks answers else where and it mostly likely is the wrong info or they decide to experiment without any knowledge of what they are doing! Now this is scary! My cousin told me that her daughter who is 8 was telling her about how all her friends had "boyfriends" I told her instead of just telling her...well you can't have a boyfriend...she needs to explain and answer whatever questions she has cause if she doesn't her girl will be getting answers from her friends who probably got her answers from a older sibling or cousin!