How to explain periods to 8 year old ?

Question

My first born is 8 and has been asking so many questions lately, (as she should) I gladly answer all of them! Until this morning she asked me what a period was and why girls get them, ( i don’t even know who told her about periods in the first place) I’ll admit the question caught me off guard a little. I told her I would talk to her later but how do I properly explain a period without freaking her out? I’ve never had to explain menstruation to a kid before, so give me some advice moms😩 thanks in advance! I don’t want to hold off on the conversation much longer as her pediatrician has told me that girls are getting their periods much younger now. So I want her to be educated but I also don’t wanna traumatize her
*also i should mention that my kid is absolutely terrified of blood, she gags at the sight of it and cries every time she sees it. I actually think she might have a phobia.😐 so that’s why I’m so hesitant to tell her every little detail. I’m scared she’ll live in fear until the day she gets it. I’m gonna have to explain it to her entirely one day, just not right now. I do hope she gets over her fear of blood though 😓

Answer

Honestly if she is asking she is old enough to know the whole truth. Tell her about eggs (like chicken eggs but so small we can't see them) and how we get a lining on our uterus (if she doesnt know this word just tell her its where babies grow) which is made of blood so that if the egg grows a baby it has somewhere to rest (I'd probably describe it like a comfy bed). If the egg doesnt grow a baby that lining comes out and that's a period. I wouldn't explain PMS just yet (and she probably doesnt care about it at this point) but maybe tell her there are a lot of different options for when women have a period (only describe them if she asks specifically) so that they dont bleed on their clothes. Tell her its a sign that a girl is becoming a woman, and that it's a natural thing that happens to us all.
She may have a friend that recently started (I know a couple girls who started at 8). I'd try to answer all her questions but in simplistic terms rather than biological ones. Even if her questions venture into other areas (like breasts/hair or even how babies are made if she doesnt already know). You dont need to get too specific, just enough to sate her curiousity, you want to try to avoid overwhelming her (lets be honest periods are a bit much when they first start, my sister thought she was dying because she started so early nobody had had "the talk" with her).
Good luck, the first time I had to explain it I was 13 and was actually watching my sister who just so happened to start about an hour after our mum left the house. I honestly didn't know that much myself having only started the year previously.

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You need to start having the "hard" talks with your children before they hear it from somewhere else. An 8yo is too old to just now hear about periods imo. 
Keep everything matter of fact. There is no shame in what bodies naturally do.

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Ise anatomical terms and be matter of fact. It's not dirty, shameful, or something to be secretive about. At 4 years old my neice corrected her other aunt when she said she had a baby in her belly by saying "baby is in your uterus, auntie. You didn't eat it!🙄🙄🙄". That's how I plan on raising my kids as well. Complete openness about bodies, there's absolutely no reason not to.

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Just wanted to add- I got my period at 9 years old, which was early, but I’m not the only one. She could have heard from someone at school.

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I think I explained everything to my daughter when she was 8, she had actually hear other kids mention sex and i would rather my kids hear clear info from me than others. I explained what women’s bodies do, egg wise and all and i explained sex, two married ppl do to show love. What can happen. Ive also always given correct names for body parts too.

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Idk I would just stick to facts. My 6yo knows what a period is, and that she will be getting it when she hits puberty. It's not a big deal.

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I ended up explaining this to my daughter when she was about 7. She had gotten a bladder infection and was bleeding everywhere and freaked out, she thought she was dying. So I decided to explain to her what a period was at this point because I really didn’t want her to freak out about it once it did happen. She has several friends who started in the 2nd grade!! She’s 9 now and knows what it’s all about and has a little makeup bag in her backpack with a change of underwear and a few “teen” pads, and I’ve shown her how to put them on.
Simply put, I explained that a woman “lays an egg” when she ovulates lol we made it kind of a joke to lighten the subject a little. The egg needs sort of a seed from the dad to make a baby, but if there’s no seed to meet the egg, then the uterus will shed the egg and the lining it prepared for the baby, then this starts all over again the next month. I always get ovulation pains so she knows if I’m getting pains we say I’m laying an egg 🙈 now she’s 9 and knows the rest of the details about reproduction and periods and all that, they have sex Ed at school and I just wanted to make sure she heard it from me first. And also I had her brother in the winter and she had more detailed questions about where babies come from so I answered them honestly. It’s awkward but we live in a different kind of world now with the internet. Even if we don’t let our kids have a phone, who knows what their friends are telling them. Better to give them the facts.

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I haven’t planned this out at all since my daughter is 3 but whenever she ask me questions especially difficult ones I start by asking her what she thinks? Then I generally try and think about what I would have wanted someone to say/tell me about whatever she’s asking about.
So I would probably think about what I would have wanted someone to have told me about periods when I was 8-10. And I would always start the conversation by asking my daughter what she thinks a period is... I find it’s easier for her to have a conservation instead of just be “talked to” and also it gives me an idea of the kid of answer she’s looking for. 
An example from my 3 yr old was when she asked me how babies got out of mommy’s tummy’s.... I first asked her how she thought they got out and she said she thought surgery (there’s a lot of drs in my family) and I said yeah some babies come out that way and she said ok and was satisfied. So knowing what your daughter thinks might give you a good idea of the depth of answer she’s looking for and what will or won’t traumatize her.