It's natural for preschoolers to have interest in their own body. Babies start exploring their own body, then the world around them. The genital is a sensitive organ and can be excited easily. When your child finds that she can get an exciting sensation, she will tend to do it more frequently. Sometimes, children may touch their body unconsciously for comfort when feeling distressed or bored. It doesn't mean that the child has 'sexual need'. Rather, we should be concerned whether she has distress and soothe her accordingly. We may give her a hug, encourage her to talk about her feeling or try to answer her worries to make her more relaxed. Don't try to stop her with threats of punishment. If playing with her genital is only for sensational stimulation, you may take her hand away gently and distract her such as by asking her to take the shopping bag for you. Praise her for helping. Try to pay more attention to your child in daily interaction by spending time to talk and play with your child. When your child gets enough attention from you, she doesn't have to rely on self-stimulation for comfort.

When I hold my son in my arms, he always likes to touch my breasts. He will also stare at my body when I am getting changed. Once he peeped under a girl's dress in the kindergarten. Will he turn into a sex maniac?

As I've just mentioned, the two year olds and under like to seek intense bodily sensations. The warm and soft breasts of mother invite children to touch them. After two, children begin to be curious towards other's bodies. They may notice the difference in boys and girls, and like to learn by observation and exploration. They may feel curious towards the adults' bodies and may explore what is underneath the girls' dress. The act of exploration has nothing to do with being a sex maniac. Parents should satisfy the child's curiosity by talking about sexuality with him. You can make use of everyday occasions such as getting changed and taking a bath together to teach him the difference between the bodies of the opposite sex and between kids and adults. However, if you feel uneasy about that, you may use books with pictures or other resources for parents. The most important is to teach your child to respect others. Touching or peeping at other's bodies without consent is not respectful. You may also show him that the body parts covered by the swimming costume are private parts. Tell him that he should protect his private parts and should take caution not showing them to others.

The family can teach our children to respect others and protect themselves. The problem is he will be exposed to magazines with covers of nudes and romantic TV scenes with lovers kissing everyday. How shall we respond if children see them?

Try to explain and not feel embarrassed about it. If the preschooler asks why the lady has no clothes on, you can ask how he feels about his body being naked. Then talk about his feelings with him. You may say something like, 'Yes, it's not nice to let people see your naked body. We should protect our private parts.' If the child raises further question, you may tell him that there are different kinds of people in the world, just like there are goodies and baddies. As some people like to watch these nude pictures, so they are put on papers and magazines. We should not do things that are not nice. If the child is curious towards the romantic scenes, explain to him, 'The couple loves each other very much and hugging and kissing are ways to express love. They are very happy when they are doing it. However, people hug and kiss only when they are intimate and trust each other, just like mum and dad, mum and you, dad and you or you and your future girlfriend. If someone doesn't like and doesn't agree to let you do it to her/him, even though you like the person very much, you should respect him/her.'