Questions from my 3yo

[HappyLoveMama]

I wasn't prepared for this just yet at 3 yo but he asked me how does the baby come out? LOL. How much do you tell a 3yo? I think it would be a good/healthy thing if he knows a little bit - I figure it will make more sense as time goes on and he sees an actual belly.

Share some sibling stories!

[mommariffic]

My DD asked about 498 questions a day

She was really interested in where the baby CAME from, and how he got in my belly. I told her that Daddy planted a "seed" because we wanted a sibling for her...that seemed to ease that question.

[blessedwithboys]

When ds1 was 3 and my sister was pg, he asked. I told him babies are supposed to come out through the mother's vagina, which is like a special kind of tube slide and then I took him to witness the birth...from the business end. He's almost 16 now and has attended 3 births, plus he has hung around laboring women 3 other times without actually being in the room for delivery. We're planning to attend a VBAC in a few months.

Not that anyone asked, but I think it's great to expose kids quite early to the normal processes of birth. All but one of the births my older son experienced happened before ds2 was born (well, one of them was his birth, so technically he was there! LOL) so I am really excited for this next one so he can finally see a labor that isn't mismanaged straight into the OR.

Keep it simple, but be honest. GL!

[Qbear'smama]

DD turned 4 just before I got pregnant, but she had asked previously how babies got out of their mommy's tummies and i was honest and told her it came out of my vagina (ok, well, I said "nunny" that's the word we use) and she was like "How does THAT happen?" which kinda made me laugh. I have explained that the mommy has to push the baby out. She thinks it's interesting and has seen some footage of births (nothing too dramatic) and she accepted it pretty nicely. She hasn't asked how the baby got in there and if she does, I would be a less than honest, my daughter would ask WAAAAAY too many follow-up questions (if I said "daddy had a seed" she'd want to see them, want to see daddy plant one, ask if she could plant one, etc etc etc!!!) I think I will tell her it was God and magic, which wouldn't be too far off .

[HappyLoveMama]

I actually did say mommy has to push and he said "really really hard, like this mmmmmmmmmm?" I said yeah, thats how. I also showed him pictures and he saw something and said "wow, thats a big boo boo" he must have saw blood or something. LOL

[nova22]

My MIL suggested that I tell my young son that the baby comes out through a special hole under the mother's belly, so that's what I did.

A couple days later, I was walking past the kids' room and I overheard my four year old son telling his three year old sister: "Okay, so this is what happened. Mommy got very sick and then she sneezed. AH-CHOO! And then the baby came out - ZOOOOOOM!!! - right out of a hole in Mommy's foot." After I picked myself up from the floor and stopped laughing I decided to be a little more specific about how far under the belly this special hole was and I let them look at A Child Is Born by Lennart Nilsson so they could see the images of the baby in utero and a birth.

[HappyLoveMama]

Thats the book I have! Oh good, I showed him a good one then!

[MyFullHouse]

My 3yo boy hasn't asked (yet), but I intend to show him book illustrations if/when he does and see what he says after that.

It was so much easier when my dds were 3 and 4 and were more familiar with the anatomy!

[karen1968]

My 3yo asked only breifly. He's aware that pee pee comes out of his penis and poop comes out of his bottom, so I told him that Mommy has a third hole down there and that is where the baby comes out. No follow-up questions, yet. He's also aware that I'll have to push the baby out, similar to the pushing he does to poop (he gets constipated sometimes).

[MammaB21]

We talk about childbirth and pregnancy pretty openly in my family, so DD has heard discussions about it and seen videos. But she has asked specific questions. I think it's important to be as honest as possible.

So this is what I've told her: She knows that the baby in my belly is there because DP and I gave each other a special hug (because we love each other) where he puts a seed in my belly. Once it is in it meets up with an egg (no, not the kind you eat, much much smaller) and together they start to grow a baby. The baby grows in my belly for 9 months until it's healthy and big and ready to come out. Then I'll go into labor and have contractions that will make my belly tight and help to push the baby out. It will be very hard work and I'll be making some noise to help get the baby out. My body will open up so the baby can come out through my vagina. Then we'll all live happily ever after.....lol.

Any additional questions she's asked have been pretty easy to answer. I figure if she's asking about it, she's ready to know the real answer.

[ryansma]

We're not shy about body parts. Ds1 knows Mommy has a vulva and a vagina and that he has a penis and scrotum. Ds1 was 2 1/2 when ds2 was born. We had a homebirth and I wasn't sure if he would end up being there or not so I wanted him to be really prepared. We read "Welcome baby" and watched lots of births online. He knows that it's hard work and that Mommy's sometimes make a lot of noise, that babies come from Mommy's vagina and that and that blood and water comes out with the baby.
Ds2 ended up being born while ds1 was napping. He woke up and came down to meet his brother about an hour after he was born. He looked at me and the baby with such awe then he put his arm around me and told me "You did a really good job mom! That was hard work!"

It was a really easy transition for him. I think knowing where the baby came from really helped him.

[~Demeter~]

Originally Posted by MammaB21

We talk about childbirth and pregnancy pretty openly in my family, so DD has heard discussions about it and seen videos. But she has asked specific questions. I think it's important to be as honest as possible.

So this is what I've told her: She knows that the baby in my belly is there because DP and I gave each other a special hug (because we love each other) where he puts a seed in my belly. Once it is in it meets up with an egg (no, not the kind you eat, much much smaller) and together they start to grow a baby. The baby grows in my belly for 9 months until it's healthy and big and ready to come out. Then I'll go into labor and have contractions that will make my belly tight and help to push the baby out. It will be very hard work and I'll be making some noise to help get the baby out. My body will open up so the baby can come out through my vagina. Then we'll all live happily ever after.....lol.

Any additional questions she's asked have been pretty easy to answer. I figure if she's asking about it, she's ready to know the real answer.

This is my kind of response... I believe in telling children the truth and answering their subsequent questions honestly. My daughter will be 3 in a week and we have been really enjoying watching birth videos together. I'm trying to get her to understand the process a bit because I'm pretty sure she'll be here when it happens... My bigs are all more than aware of what happens as they've asked more and more questions with each subsequent sibling addition.

[bluebirdmama]

I totally agree with being honest and straight forward but also putting it in the simplest terms possible.

When I was pregnant with my son, my nephew asked me if the baby was in with my pee. I was surprised and perplexed by that one until he went on, "well, why is the baby wet when it comes out?" This preciptated a talk about not just where the baby comes out, but where it lives while in there (as in, it's not just "in my tummy", but in the womb in it's own bag of water.).

Sometimes, the questions can be funny and awkward but I sure get a kick out of kids early understanding of these things.

[HeatherB]

I've generally told them that the baby comes out a special place/hole that only mommies have (as opposed to daddy and my 3 boys!). My 2yo has told me the baby is in/comes out of my belly button. He has also told me he has a baby in HIS belly button. The bigger boys (now 8 and 5.5) have more specific questions, and I try to answer them as truthfully yet simply as possible.

[~Adorkable~]

I was around home births at a very young agi, I remember one that I was probably 4 during. Folks were honest and used accurate name all the time and I knew it as a normal part of life, I'm very thankful for that.
I do remember after moving to the city at 7 that I was shocked andcconcerned when I heard about a neighbor going to the hospital to have her baby, I thought something must be terribly wrong with her, since babys were supposed to be born in bed!