“Our generation needs to break the taboo of complete silence or even shame when it comes to anything related to genitals and cleanliness.” - Rocio Navarro
Wow, that was a heavy intro! In one of our recent episodes, water healer Rocio Navarro discusses her practice of vaginal steaming and touches on vaginal cleanliness. We had such a good conversation and we would like you to think about how you’re talking to your girls about this.
As we already know, Paulina has 3 young girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) - so that’s A LOT of vagina talk. What do you say? “Wash your colita”, “lavate bien la cola”? HOW do we go about this sensitive subject?! During our episode with Rocio, Paulina asked about tips. Rocio mentioned that it is very important to teach our young girls to be comfortable saying the word vagina. The more comfortable you are, the more comfortable your children will be with themselves.
The importance of hygiene is something that needs to be taught to the little ones from a very young age. Apart from washing hands, face, hair etc., kids need to be taught to keep their genital areas clean too. This becomes specifically important for kids between the age group of 6 to 11 years, as their private areas begin to develop and some young girls may begin their menstrual cycles as they reach puberty. Kids become shy as they go through the growing years - we’ve all been there! “Cierra la puerta!” or “tapate la cola, no seas cochina!” were (and still are, unfortunately) sayings heard in many Latino homes around the world. If your child isn’t comfortable talking about genital cleaning, it’s important to start explaining about overall hygiene and not specifically “down there” hygiene. It’ll make the conversation less awkward or uncomfortable for you and your child.
Some tips are:
Make sure we get the point across that everyone, boys and girls, need to wear clean underwear every day.
Cotton underwear are the best for both little girls AND adult women. Cotton underwear allows our vaginal area to breathe and is less likely to breed unhealthy bacteria.
Washing the outside labial area is most important since our vaginas are self-cleaning so we don’t have to go “inside.”
Washing from front to back is important too, so harmful bacteria from the colita area isn’t spread to the urethra area. If you’ve never had a urinary tract infection, BLESS YOUR STARS! There are many ways you can use your family love language to talk to your girls (and boys) about keeping clean.
How do YOU talk to your children about this touchy subject?
