Explaining where babies come from

[drsweetie]

I can't believe no one's brought this up yet, but I searched on every term I could think of and came up with nothing. We know several people who are in various stages of pregnancy. DD, who will turn five next week, is starting to ask questions about how the baby got in the tummy. Does anyone have any recommendations for age-appropriate books on this topic or ways to explain what's going on without providing too much information?

Ellen

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Dr. Sears has written some books for children. I think one of them explains preganancy .

Here it is http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Way-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316787671/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211735956&sr=1-24

Hope that helps.

[ellies mom]

Dr. Sears has written some books for children. I think one of them explains preganancy .

Here it is http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Way-Sears-Children-Library/dp/0316787671/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211735956&sr=1-24

Hope that helps.

That is a great book. My sister bought it for DD1 and I highly recommend it. But while it explains being pregnant, it doesn't explain the getting pregnant.

And in all honesty, I wasn't sure how to explain it either. I don't remember what I said but I know it was pretty darn vague. Sorry I can't be more help.

[caheinz]

Usborne has a great book. I'm not sure if it's sold separately (it probably is), but we have it as the last "story" in the Body Book hardcover volume. (The first two cover the digestive tract and the senses.)

It does a _great_ job of explaining it without going into too much detail. As in -- you need an adult man and an adult woman both. And it even explains how the sperm determine the gender, but again, at a very simple, undetailed level. (It does not explain where sperm come from, or how the sperm and egg get to be meeting in mommy's "womb".)

The childbirth part is hilarious from an adult point of view, but again, well done. Effectively, mom needs lots of help and might go to the hospital where she'll get more help, the baby comes out from between mom's legs, and poof! the baby's born!

We have the Sears book, too, and both are good. I think the Usborne one is my favorite by a hair, though. (Might be in part because with twins I know that this is going to be a hospital birth...)

[dr mom]

I like Joanna Cole's book When You Were Inside Mommy - not too much detail, but room to elaborate if your child asks questions.

[lizajane]

i used my high school AP biology book!!! it has photos of babies in utero at various stages. schuyler has been interested for YEARS and we just add more details as he gets older. at 3, we said something about how mommy and daddy both have special parts to make a baby and the baby lives in a mommy's tummy until it is big enough to come out.

the most recent discussion, at age 5, included (i kid you not!) ovaries, fallopian tubes, the uterus, the placenta, the umbilical cord and the birth canal. my child is very curious and very scientific...

[kijip]

i used my high school AP biology book!!! it has photos of babies in utero at various stages. schuyler has been interested for YEARS and we just add more details as he gets older. at 3, we said something about how mommy and daddy both have special parts to make a baby and the baby lives in a mommy's tummy until it is big enough to come out.

the most recent discussion, at age 5, included (i kid you not!) ovaries, fallopian tubes, the uterus, the placenta, the umbilical cord and the birth canal. my child is very curious and very scientific...

This is what we did (except the books were my husband's anatomy texts from college and a few pregnancy books like TCOYF). My son is way too persistent to not try and dig deeper into anything science related. He is not so interested in the how the egg and sperm get together, but he wants the full details on how the baby grows and comes out.

[lizajane]

This is what we did (except the books were my husband's anatomy texts from college and a few pregnancy books like TCOYF). My son is way too persistent to not try and dig deeper into anything science related. He is not so interested in the how the egg and sperm get together, but he wants the full details on how the baby grows and comes out.

yes! thank goodness we were able to distract him from "how does daddy's part get INTO mommy???

[karstmama]

if it's still in print...

my mama used 'where did i come from?' for the big talk. it's cartoony and does talk a bit about the baby starting, but in a 'mommy and daddy love each other and hug. they want to be as close as possible...' type way. so it has sex, but not much info about the sex act. correct terminology for the other stuff, though, including genitals.

i'd flip through it to make sure it hasn't gotten dated, but best i can remember as the teachee, it was a good one. reassuring and not too overwhelming.

[erosenst]

Abby just started asking detailed questions. I really struggled with this, as we intend to be very open. But OTOH, she's only four. I did the "when a man and a woman love each other very much, they sometimes decide to have a baby"...which literally lasted for about 10 seconds. Fortunately, it was bedtime, and I begged off.

I then looked for books, talked to friends, talked to her preschool director, etc. For now (likely not a lot longer, but at least for now) we're vaguely copping out. If she asks again in the next 6-12 months, I'm actually going to say that it's something we'll talk about when she's a little older. If she presses, I'll say it's like soda, and gum, and some adult conversations - not for little girls in our house.

We'll see how that goes...and how I feel about it when it comes up. But none of the books seemed appropriate, even for a pretty mature four year old.

Emily
Abby 4.25

[jamsmu]

if it's still in print...

my mama used 'where did i come from?' for the big talk. it's cartoony and does talk a bit about the baby starting, but in a 'mommy and daddy love each other and hug. they want to be as close as possible...' type way. so it has sex, but not much info about the sex act. correct terminology for the other stuff, though, including genitals.

i'd flip through it to make sure it hasn't gotten dated, but best i can remember as the teachee, it was a good one. reassuring and not too overwhelming.

My mom used that book for us, too. I was 7 and my sister was 4 when my mom was pg, and they read it to us a few times, and we asked lots of questions. I still remember what the parents looked like.

[lorinick]

My children are seven years apart. The DS asked question nothing to detailed but we were pretty open. It all started when he wanted to know why he couldn't have a sibling. And the whole thing started that it's not always easy to have a baby. That you need a Mom and Dad to make a baby. I did mention the sperm and egg and all. All the info he didn't ask any real sexual questions. I think you should be as open as possiable. Once in school there pretty open and use all the proper words for the body parts. and about touch. Much more than were ever got in school.

[ShanaMama]

Well, right now DD thinks she's going to come with me one day after camp and go to the hospital to pick out our baby. LOL. At this age I haven't even told her that the baby is growing inside me- for some reason I think she'll find that disturbing.
I am following this thread, though. Haven't really thought about what I'll tell her when she's old enough.

[m448]

we're open and answer questions as they come up. But my oldest attended the birth of his younger brother and now both boys will be welcome at the birth of their sister. My oldest has been receptive to learning the pieces of the puzzle although like others have mentioned he's mostly interested in invidividual anatomy and how a baby is born, etc. vs. the mechanics of sex.

Just keep the lines open because you have a captive audience at this point unencumbered by preteen hormones and awkwardness. Now's the time to lay the groundwork, not later.

[m448]

also just remembered I'm going to buy this book soon. Apparently now is the time to brush up. ;)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/031025096X/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance