Where do babies come from?

[mammabear]

Today DH sent DD to me with a question. Where do babies come from? DD is only 6 but I told her the truth of where babies come from. I explain a little bit about menstruation, sex, and fertilization- then gestation. She didn't give me any weird looks and seemed as though I satsfied her curiosity.

I didn't get into detail about anything- just told her the basic. I am sure more questions will follow. And damn DH for chickening out. :LOL

So what did you tell your child/ren? Where you honest? Did you chicken out and tell them the stork delivered the baby?

I am curious how in detail you explained where babies came from.

[Alkenny]

I asked them what they thought first and went from there, only going more in depth as they questioned.

Since we found out DD kissed a boy a couple of years ago, I tried to have a talk with her and she ran from the room screaming. so I ended up buying her some books and telling her she could ask me anything. The only thing she's come up with is she wanted to know what f*ck meant, and I told her the truth.

DS was another story.

DShere do babies come from. From their mommy's tummies.
Me:But how do they get in there?
DS:From God, of course.
Me:But how does God know what to make the baby look like.
DS:They look like the mom.
Me:But what about Heaven (his biracial cousin), she looks more like her dad. How does God know to make her look like him.
DS:Because God knows everything, DUH, Mom!

[the sunshine]

my six year old is confident that she knows where babies come from. Two people kiss, then the baby grows inside the mom. I'll fill her in more as time goes on.

[beloved1]

DS announced at dinner that he knew where babies came from. I asked "where?" he told me that a man puts his "dangle" in a womans Yoni. He had never asked before and dh and i just never thought of it.

I tried to tell him later , when we were alone the real truth about how babies are made and he was so mortified

I also told him that babies begin i the spirit world and the sex act is how they incarnate into this life

[Graceoc]

Being pg with #3 DS (4 yo) has learned ALOT about babies and the whole birth process - in fact probably more then most women LOL! But I never told him how the baby got there. SO the other day we are driving around not talking about anything and DS pips in with this:

DS: So mommy, you have a baby in your tummy right?
ME: Yes
DS: So (pause) how did it get there?
ME: Ummmmmm.....well.......(totally taken off guard - DH snikering in the drivers seat) Well mommy and daddy love each other very much so we decidded to plant a special seed that mommy's body helps grow into a baby. (ok not what I would have planned to say - but whatever! )
DS: Oh....
ME: (pause for a few minutes) Well how did you think it got there?
DS: Well I though that maybe it crawled up your belly and into your mouth.
ME: LOL! LOL! LOL! Oh - well not quite.....
DS: OK!


He was also very concerned that the food I was eating would fall on the baby. So I explained that the baby grows in a special place in my tummy called the uterus - and the food goes into a different place called the stomach. He felt better about that He does know ALOT about how babies come out - and I can't wait for him to experience this birth (he actually got very sad the other day when he asked if he was born at home and I had to tell him he was born in the hospital - we have really been building up the fact that we are planning this birth at home...poor guy)

[Gidget]

Ds1 was asking lots of questions since I got pg and had dd and by the time ds1 was on his way, we decided it was time to sit him down and have "the talk". We told him the basics. We worked up to it. Once it was out how the man and the woman copulate, he was scooting backwards slowly off our bed and backing out the door before we were done tallking. Lol. Poor kid. I went to his room and told him that he should not tell his friend since their parents may not be ready and want to tell them their own way. He said "I couldnt even if I wanted to." And he wouldn't look me in the face. My poor kid. He had no idea what to think. Of course, he is not so freaked now. We talk more about it as it comes up.

I was going on a as the questions come basis, but when ds2 was on his way, Ed was asking so many questions on a daily basis, I knew it was time.

[candiland]

My 4 yo.'s questions have gotten very detailed, and I don't hide anything from her. I would like her to view pregnancy and birth as something totally normal and acceptable to discuss, much like any other topic she'd want to talk about.

I've explained how a mommy has eggs and daddy has sperm, and when the daddy's sperm "enter" the egg a baby is formed, which grows inside the womb. She was present for the birth of her little brother, so she knows how they come out Once she asked HOW the sperm got to the mommy's egg, and I explained that it comes out of the penis and goes into the vagina.

She's satisfied with those answers.

[mammabear]

candiland,
That's about how I explained it. No more questions as of yet, but I did talk to DH more about it and he told me that she asked him while the elderly neighbor was standing there. :LOL That's why he sent her inside.

[mamagranola]

My 8yo got the full monty a few months ago. He's seen the births of 2 of his siblings, but how they got in there was more of a mystery to him. We had told him that God takes a piece of the mommy and a piece of the daddy and makes a baby. That satisfied him for a long time. When he wanted more info, he asked. Dh and he had about a 1 hour talk about the act and responsibility. I'm not sure of everything they covered. It will be my turn when dd starts asking questions.

[Gendenwitha]

I explained EVERYTHING to them, and it partially went over their head. They know that mommy & daddy go in the bedroom and lock the door because they want to have sex, and at one point I explained that sex is that creates babies in the mother's belly, but I don't think that part stuck.

So we just talk about there's a special part of the mommy's BELLY (not tummy/stomach) that the baby grows and that's called a Uterus.

We've also talked about how sex between men and women creates babies and how when you get older you start to want to have sex, and that's normal, and that that feeling doesn't start all at once and that it may start with feeling different around pretty girls, feeling shy, or your heart beating really fast, or a fluttery feeling in your chest. And that he also might start becoming uncomfortable being naked around us, or he might want to stop sleeping in our bed, and that was fine with me.

(And my 7 year old said, "yeah, sometimes I feel all fluttery inside when I'm around some girls" awww... but he also said he didn't want to give up snuggling with us at night. awww...)

Right now my bigger problem is trying to explaining to them that sometime soon their foreskins might start retracting on their own and that that's normal. Hard to explain when dh is circ'd... not quite comfortable asking FIL to show off his penis to his grandsons, but the thought has occured!

[cumulus]

These days I would not mention sex. I want my children to feel that they are much more than mere biology. Their being is grand and mysterious and it might be a disservice to them to describe their creation as a set of mechanical and biological operations.

Where do babies come from?
I would say that someone as wonderful and beautiful as you, referring to the child, could only have come from the most wonderful of places... a place so special it cannot even be imagined... a place I am so thankful for or something like that.

I feel it's best to let little children grow feeling they are more than cells and organs. Later the technical stuff can be gone over.

[clynnr]

I was caught VERY offguard by this question two days ago... I am pg with #1 (didn't think I'd have to answer this question already!!), and was at my SIL's house. My nephew (4.5 years) and niece (3 years) were sitting on my lap trying to feel the baby move. My nephew said, "How does the baby come out of your tummy?" I was in shock for a few seconds, and then said, "That is a great question for your mommy!" (She was sitting about five feet from us.) My SIL hadn't heard us, so he asked the question again. Then he walked his fingers up my front to my mouth and asked, "Does it come up your throat and out of your mouth?"

She told him that God gives ladies a special hole for babies to come out of. He was satisfied with that answer and didn't ask any other questions. My niece, however, (who is one smart cookie for being barely three!) asked where the hole was. I didn't hear the answer because they started walking away. I haven't even thought about how to answer those kinds of questions yet! I guess it's never too early!

[Gendenwitha]

Originally Posted by cumulus

These days I would not mention sex. I want my children to feel that they are much more than mere biology. Their being is grand and mysterious and it might be a disservice to them to describe their creation as a set of mechanical and biological operations.

Where do babies come from?
I would say that someone as wonderful and beautiful as you, referring to the child, could only have come from the most wonderful of places... a place so special it cannot even be imagined... a place I am so thankful for or something like that.

I feel it's best to let little children grow feeling they are more than cells and organs. Later the technical stuff can be gone over.

No way would my kids take that for an answer. We talk about spirits and rebirth and reincarnation and ghosts as well, but we are still in a physical body and I think it requires more of an answer than that.

[pugmadmama]

Originally Posted by Alkenny

I asked them what they thought first and went from there, only going more in depth as they questioned...

That's how I handled it too. We started out pretty basic and now, at age 12, he knows everything his father and I know and probably a bit more because our church has a great human sexuality program. My SO and I have been careful to both speak frankly with him about sex, we want him to know it's normal, natural and something he can discuss with Mom or Dad.

Originally Posted by Gendenwitha

No way would my kids take that for an answer. We talk about spirits and rebirth and reincarnation and ghosts as well, but we are still in a physical body and I think it requires more of an answer than that.

Same here. My son is much more of a concrete thinker than I am. He demands full answers (he can tell when I'm holding back information, it's freaky), and has since he was two years old.

[stafl]

I've had that question from my three year old. She knows the baby was in my belly, and how she came out... but then one day she asked me how the baby got in there!
I told her that Daddy put her there.
She asked how, I said that he planted a seed in my belly that grew into the baby.
So far, that answer has been good enough.

[captain optimism]

I think the general idea is that you tell them the truth, and they understand what they are psychologically/intellectually ready to understand. For most toddlers, there is a lot of confusion about the baby being in mommy's abdomen, because that's where our food goes when we eat. Also that the genitals are near where pee and poop are excreted.

I am guessing that you will have to repeat these explanations many times until they are intelligible, once at each age.