My sister-in-law recently gave birth to her second child in July, and since then, my kids have been asking a lot of detailed questions about where babies come from.
Johnny was just over two when his sister was born and we used the vague statement, "There is a baby in Mommy's tummy," with him and he was happy with that.
We've always tried to follow the recommendation of giving kids just enough information. So when my sister-in-law had her first baby in 2008 and Johnny asked how the baby would come out, I said, "When the baby is ready to be born, your aunt will go to the hospital."
He was happy with that for awhile, but pretty soon he wanted to know WHERE the baby comes out. So I said the birth canal and when he wanted to know what that was, I said, "It's sort of like a tunnel," and he was happy with that.
But now he wants to know where exactly the birth canal is. If you know me in real life, you know I'm not shy, I don't get embarrassed easily and I have a thing about using the correct words and phrases for body parts and functions. But for some reason, when he asks questions these days, I find myself changing the subject. I'm just not sure how to give him the information he needs. And since his sister is 4 and also wants to know, how to keep it age appropriate for both of them. And--probably the biggest thing--how to impart to them that they don't need to educate every kid they know about the process of childbirth. Not that there is anything wrong with them talking about it, but I think that's something parents should decide when they want to discuss it.
So tell me what you think. How did you handle it with your kids? Did you use videos or books or what? Would it be better to maybe start with how animals are born? And how did they respond to their new found knowledge?
Johnny was just over two when his sister was born and we used the vague statement, "There is a baby in Mommy's tummy," with him and he was happy with that.
We've always tried to follow the recommendation of giving kids just enough information. So when my sister-in-law had her first baby in 2008 and Johnny asked how the baby would come out, I said, "When the baby is ready to be born, your aunt will go to the hospital."
He was happy with that for awhile, but pretty soon he wanted to know WHERE the baby comes out. So I said the birth canal and when he wanted to know what that was, I said, "It's sort of like a tunnel," and he was happy with that.
But now he wants to know where exactly the birth canal is. If you know me in real life, you know I'm not shy, I don't get embarrassed easily and I have a thing about using the correct words and phrases for body parts and functions. But for some reason, when he asks questions these days, I find myself changing the subject. I'm just not sure how to give him the information he needs. And since his sister is 4 and also wants to know, how to keep it age appropriate for both of them. And--probably the biggest thing--how to impart to them that they don't need to educate every kid they know about the process of childbirth. Not that there is anything wrong with them talking about it, but I think that's something parents should decide when they want to discuss it.
So tell me what you think. How did you handle it with your kids? Did you use videos or books or what? Would it be better to maybe start with how animals are born? And how did they respond to their new found knowledge?
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Books. With drawings, not photos. and they were about the age of yours. Wish I could remember what books, but that was long, long ago.
They reacted well to the drawings, being familiar with story books with drawings - I am not sure they made the connection to reality all that well, but it worked until they hit middle school and all the secret smutty stuff started. Then I got a book called 'Your Body, Your self' and we read it together.
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