Responses to Early Questions about Sex

What You Need to Know

When your children were curious toddlers, you probably caught them exploring their body parts; and by preschool your young daughter had probably conducted enough exploration to warrant further verbal investigation regarding, “Where's my penis?” Your reactions to these early questions and explorations set the tone for your child's attitude about coming to you sexuality inquiries in later childhood when you'll really have things you'll need to discuss, like the birds and the bees. 

Responding with silence, disgust, reprimands, or embarrassment implies that sexuality is negative or dirty, and shuts down future communication with you that your child needs to get reliable information. 

• When your child was 3-4 years old, the big question was, “How do babies get out of mommy?” Now, at 5, the inquiry gets a bit trickier: “How do babies get into mommy?” Rather than majestic tales about storks and fairy godmothers that get you off the hook but do your child a disservice, offer a brief explanation about intercourse: “When a father and mother want to have a baby, the father puts his penis into the mother's vagina. Then sperm the father's body makes moves into the mother, and if it meets an egg cell the mother's body makes, a baby will start to grow inside the mother.”
• By explaining such issues as menstruation as normal and healthy, you help your child accept them as just that. Young children associate blood with injury, so it's important for them to have accurate information to quell in advance of any notion that mommy is hurt. When your child asks about tampons, go ahead and offer a brief explanation of menstruation.
• Your child is still too young for the confusing details about complexities of sexual relationships – but your child has probably been introduced already to the subject of HIV/AIDS. Discuss basic facts about diseases – colds, flu, and chicken pox are caused by germs that spread from person to person. AIDS is a disease caused by one type of germ, a virus, called HIV, which only spreads in special ways, not casual contact like shaking hands or sharing food. Introduce the idea that much of your child's health is within his own control by enforcing habits such as washing hands, eating nutritiously, and resting adequately to avoid common illnesses – long before time to discuss abstinence, condoms or other more advanced subject matter regarding protection from sexually transmitted diseases.

For more on this topic, see the complete article: 

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Theres_No_Place_Sex/