6 Yr Old Asking How Babies Get Here

When pregnant with my 1st child I had a friends kids ask the same thing. They were 4 and 6 at the time. I explained to them that its like a kangaroo and I keep the baby in my tummy till its grown enough to come out, then I go to the Dr and they help welcome the baby out. It was funny cause I expected more ?s but they were like "Oh cool". So i suggest you start out simple and you can answer more detailed ?s if they have them, then you are not offering more than you really want to at that age.

I told my 3 year old that the baby came out of my "peep". Maybe I'm horrible for doing this, but I just feel that being honest from the gate will help later on, when we go through the whole hormonal nightmare in years to come. He asked if it was going to hurt and I said, "you bet, buddy, but mommy will be absolutely fine". He never asked again and never seemed worried about this in the least, so I don't think he was traumatized. He's got a little sister now that he just loves and thank God my in-laws were in town when she came, because my labor was under 2 hours, I almost had her on the side of the highway, and if they weren't, he probably would have had to witness that whole mess! Ah, the miracle of childbirth! Congratulations, BTW

Tell him the truth....(in age appropriatness, of course)

M:)

I just went through this with my four year old...she said Gross and quit asking questions.

Tell him the truth.

There are some great age appropriate picture books on this subject. It's worth a trip to Borders.

As a funny aside: My mom was always very open with me about the realities of sex (or so she thought) and sent me to a very granola pre-school where they were the same. Anyway... although I KNEW about intercourse... in my little mind, I reasoned that it was the open mouthed kissing that actually got your pregnant since the baby ended up in the stomach!!! Until about 3rd grade it wouldn't drink from a water fountain because I had seen boys spitting into them and didn't want to end up pregnant! :-) I was 9 before my mom realized my misunderstanding and clarified. Oh well.

HTH
T.

How will the baby get out? I told my son a baby can be born one of 2 ways. The vagina or c-section. I said a c-section is when the doctor makes a little cut on the mom's tummy and takes the baby out. The mom has some medicine so she doesn't feel anything. How did the baby get there? It grew in mommies uterus. This is a special place that only girls have in their bodies. He didn't ask how babies were made, so I wouldn't mention anything about sex until he directly asks. A while back, Oprah had a psycologist on her show that explained what to say to children when they ask about babies and sex. I went on her website and printed off all the info that is appropriate for each age group and it has really helped me explain these things to my oldest son. It, also, had diagrams of the male and female anatomy for when kids are older. Good luck!

LOL... If you're sending them to school... avoid the word "sex"... unless you want to /feel comfortable having discussions with other parents and teachers. Mating and procreating, however, seems to be entirely acceptable synonyms.

I went with the scientific explanation, and skipped the mechanics, when my son was 6ish. In perhaps a 5 minute conversation complete with DNA helixes. And we've seen some cool programs on Discovery & Nat.Geo.Soc. where they've shown eggs being fertilized. Didn't realize how much of it stuck until a year later when my mum for some reason asked my son if he knew what sex was (I don't exactly remember why... but I was right there, it was an innocent query).

He said
"Sure! It's how you blend genetics. You can't see genes blend though without a microscope. We don't have one, but you can watch it on TV. Watching the cells split is like watching a bubble bath. Lots of things can go wrong, but if it doesn't you get a baby SOMETHING. Even a baby alligator! Can you imagine if mom had a baby alligator? She HATES alligators. BIG problem for mom."

Okay, and apparently, we need to have the discussion again. But since he hasn't asked, I'm letting that sleeping dog (or alligator) lie until he does again or puberty, whichever comes first.

We actually gave answers very similar to Anneka's when both my friend and sister had babies last Dec. My 6yo was much more inquisitive than when his brother was born 2 years earlier. Those answers satisfied him. I just wanted to add that you want to stop when they look satisfied... don't overshare. I always give a short, very simple answer and wait to see if he asks something else. If the answer was good enough, he'll take off to play. If not, he'll ask the next question and we go from there.

Please just use correct terminology! Kids are not to young to call body parts by their correct names!

Oh, and we love the books "What's inside your tummy, Mommy" by Anna Cocovini and "The birds, The bees, and the Berenstain Bears."

I recommend the book "it's so amazing" by Robie H. Harris. It covers everything you could imagine in a comic book style. Its funny characters try to figure out exactly where babies come from & succeed. My 8 year old loves the book & sometimes reads it to his 4 y.o. brother- both are fascinated, entertained & now well informed.

My oldest was 2 when my youngest was born and she didn't ask about how the baby got into me, but she did ask about how the baby would come out. My husband watched the video of my oldest's birth with her and that cleared things right up! :) There are lots of birth videos online or you can ask your health care provider if they have any they can loan. After that, my oldest just knew mommy would work really hard to get the baby out.

Oprah.com had a great piece on this awhile back. Basically, it was saying to answer questions honestly but age appropriately. Answer what is asked but you don't have to provide all the intimate details.

H. B. is right..keep it very simple..and use every day analogies..with no exaggerations. But, keep it light on graphic details. She's right..we are given different privates so this very thing can happen :) He can understand that at his age.

I've learned just answer the question asked - don't elaborate. They will normally only ask what they are capable of learning. You can say when mummies and daddies love each other, they get a baby. Baby grows in the tummy until it's time to come out. You don't have to get more elaborate. Then you can explain how it comes out again - keep it simple - just give the bare details.

My oldest is 5 and I'm pregnant with my 3rd. He has watched some of the baby stories on TLC with me and that's when the questions about c-sections arose. I went with the truth, letting him lead the way. I let him know that doctors go to school for this, the hospital is for me to stay and not him. I would rather the doctors use their tools to deliver the baby and not daddy's work tools. It was all simple examples like this and it made sense to him. He has asked twice how the baby will get out (guess he already forgot that he asked a couple months ago). I told him that's why we have different privates. Girls have privates for a baby to come out (and I do call them by the correct terms). He asked if it'll hurt and I explained that it's not the baby that will hurt, it's my muscles getting real tight for a long time. Once the baby is out then my muscles will relax and I'll feel much better.
Short simple explanations until the next question arises.

Simple answers - they don't need the gory details. Check out the library - they probably have age appropriate books that deal with this. Good luck :)