Do Seven Year Old boys...have...ummmm Night Dreams??

I have raised 2 boys. And, yes, it can happen this young. The thing is, she has no choice, whether she is ready or not his body is doing its thing and there is a need for talking. The difference is in how much info she needs to disclose at this time. If all she wants to do is let him know that it is normal, it is not urine, it is created by all boys and men as they mature, and that she understands, that is all she may need to do. The questions he asks her, will be the deciding factor. If her answers leads to more questions then she may need to find a little more detail to share with him. The fact is, that if she doesnt, the other boys will as they are also going to experience this kind of thing soon as well. So being ready for it or not, is not an option, it is here, she just hast to accept it and deal with it.

I also had the issue about having the talk with my 7 yo son because I just had a new baby and he was asking some questions. I agree that she needs to say something, but he DOES NOT need all the info at this age! It is a fine line, but disclosing too much info can be dangerous. You might have the childs dr. explain it to him if mom is uncomfortable. When I started to explain in 7yo terms about how a baby gets here my son quickly got bored and changed the subject, much to my relief! But don't worry, 7yo boys are just starting to realize that girls are different and are curious about it so this is a normal age for those kinds of things to happen.

I'm amazed no one else thought of this but I think not only does she need to talk to him she needs the dad's help. They both should sit down with him and explain that it is ok and that every boy does it at sometime in their life and then ask if he has any questions. Its the questions he asks that is the information he will be wanting not the extra stuff he hasn't asked about. This is also a good teaching moment to be able to talk about appropriate touching from other people. I rather give my child to much information than not enough and have something happen to them. In fact I'm usually the one the kids in my family come to to talk about sex and other information. Just because they are not comfortable talking to their own parents.

I say if he asks questions answer them. If you are uncomfortable talking to him about stuff, tell him so, BUT talk to him anyway. My mother didn't tell me about periods and I started early. I knew only a little from what I'd heard on the school bus, and I was scared to death. It's not comfortable but I promise it is much easier talking to your kids a little at a time than to tell them everything at once. Tell him what he needs to know. "I need to talk to you about something and I'm a little bit uncomfortable, but I know it's important for you to know that you can always come and talk to me about anything." And simply start off with, "do you have any questions about what happened the other night?" Starting now will allow him to feel more comfortable talking to you about anything.
I never was able to talk to my parents. They'd freak out and act like I did something wrong by asking.
I have answered some sudden and uncomfortable questions, but I'd rather they ask me than a friend who might not have the correct information. My daughter is almost 18 and she will ask questions when she needs to. I also have a 16 year old son that I told about the birds and the bees when he asked at 10 years old. For him I asked if he wanted me to tell him or write it down and he could read it... He chose to read it, but he still asks questions if he has them.
And just recently I had to have a hysterectomy and I sat my kids down, including a 9 year old and a 6 year old, and explained what was going to happen so they wouldn't be scared about me going in to surgery. Turns out my 9 year old already knew more about periods than I ever imagined. My six year old went to school and told his teachers that mommy didn't need to have anymore kids and she was having that stuff taken out. He hasn't asked any more, yet.
It is well within your best interest to talk to your kids about what they NEED to know when they NEED to know it. It's much better than them coming up with their own ideas and being scared, and not having someone to talk to.
Good luck.

I don't know about whether it is or not, but I'd say that by seven he should have some idea that it's going to happen, first of all so that when it does (if it hasn't) he doesn't freak out and also so it's HER not someone else telling him. Really, he may already know. Kids that age know a lot.

K.

I would say if a toddler can get a hard on then a seven year old can have a wet dream. She'll need to explain to her son that this is normal and help him understand why it is happening. Good luck and God Bless.

As far as explaining a child's body to them, I have always believed it is best to give them as much information as they can understand. If I own the vehicle, I want the owner's manual. I've never known a 7 y/o that was safer with their (or their peer's) imagination than with the facts.

As far as a 7 y/o body being ready for this, yes it can happen and is not that uncommon. However, the fact that it has become common at that age may be due to the hormones that are fed to farm animals. It did not used to be common for teenage boys to develop breasts, but the human growth hormone fed to dairy cows has caused this to become far more 'common'. This began to happen to my son in his early teens. When we switched to organic milk, cheese, butter, and meats, the problem disappeared!

My SIL was given an unusual hormone before she knew she was pregnant. The daughter born of that pregnancy started her periods just after her 8th birthday.

There is way too much we do not understand about the way we play with hormones. My mother's obgyn-idot prescribed birth control pills for me when I was barely 12 y/o because I had severe cramps with my periods. Later, when I was studying human physiology, I discovered that the amount of estrogen in a pubescent girl's body determines how large her breasts become. My breasts grew so large that I wore KK cups before I had to have a surgical reduction in my 40's. It also took me 12 years to have a child. I had 2 tubal pregnancies and ovarian cancer. I never even saw the doctor. He prescribed per my mother's request. I wasn't even told those were birth control pills until after I was married. I never even knew the doctor's name!

I have learned to investigate everything for myself. Know what you are putting in your body and in your children's bodies. I don't feel we have the right to endanger the next generation's health with FDA or IOM approved hormone tampering. I have come to learn that their standards of safety aren't always reasonable, aren't purely scientific, and are, therefore, not always reliable.