to tell 3yo DD where babies come out of?

[ditsydoll]

My DD is very inquisitive and understands all about where babies live and that they start as eggs (left out the part about how the egg turns into a baby as that's just tmi and completely not age appropriate obviously) but she asked today.. mummy, when the baby is ready to come out, how does it get out.

I kind of skirted around the answer and changed the subject. I don't want to lie to her abd give her sone crap about babies coming out of belly buttons etc, and I know its probably frowned upon for me to tell my 3yo DD that babies have to come out of their mummys front bottoms, but how do I answer this without lieing to her?

[freemanbatch]

My 3 year old saw her sister being born, saved all need for the conversation

[gnushoes]

you say she is very inquisitive why on earth not tell her the truth now and that's it, done. Obviously you don't have to go into vast amounts of detail but it makes far more sense to do that than tell outright lies which may worry her and you'll only have to backtrack on them at some point.

[HeadfirstForHalos]

Well my dc can give a sigh of relief, none of them came out of my vagina (or my bum). seriously though it's a bit worrying that some people view vaginas as so dirty or rude, that it is preferable to tell a child that baby's come out of the bottom. Something is wrong there.

[NowThenNowThen]

I had a brilliant book when I was little called "how babies are made"
It showed this really 70's cartoon couple, them cuddling and kissing, then a cross section type pic of them having sex, then the baby growing in the mummy's uterus, and finally, them driving to hospital in a car with a heart on the side and a full on graphic cartoon of the babies head coming out of the womans vagina (parents smiling all the while, and baby smiling!)
It didn't shock me at the age of 4. I just thought "Oh, OK then".

So, since ds started asking, at around 4, I have answered his questions.
He knows that women get pregnant after a man puts his willy in her vagina and some stuff comes out which can meet an egg inside her tummy, which then grows into a baby.
When a baby is ready to be born, the woman pushes really hard, just like doing a really big poo, and the vagina (or ladybits as he prefers) stretch to let the baby come out.
He just accepts this.

It's fine. Why not tell the truth? It shouldn't be a secret. Just be matter of fact about it.

[NowThenNowThen]

Although, as ds is 6 and thinks everything to do with bottoms and willy's etc is funny, he did say really loudly once on the bus (appropos of nothing)
"Mummy. Did all the nurses laugh when I came out of your lady bits?"

No they didn't, but the people sitting behind me did...

[Badgerina]

NowThe Haaaaaaa! Hilarious.

[kerala]

surely you just be honest in age appropriate language? We had all this at the weekend when we found out in a drastic way that the two female bunnies we had were definitely not both female. I left DH explaining about special cuddles in a dark garden whilst checking that the 6 newborn bunnies were ok.

Heard DD (age 3) telling her little pal today that male bunny was being taken to the vets to have his willy chopped off so he could become a girl. Sort of nearly true but still...

[piprabbit]

Nowthen - I had that book too.
In fact, I still have it. DD was a bit when I showed it to her.

[oopslateagain]

When DD was about nursery age she was fascinated by my friend's huge bump and knew there was a baby 'in there', she asked how the baby got there and I told her mummies and daddies have a special sort of cuddle, and if everything is ready then it might make a baby grow in the mummy's tummy. Then she asked how the baby gets out, and I said it comes out of mummy's bits - she laughed hysterically and went off saying "mummy's bits, mummy's bits". I think it was another couple of years before she actually believed me.

[piprabbit]

Et voilawarning explicit images which were fine when I was 5yo but may be unsuitable to adults of a feeble disposition or one with DCs reading over their shoulder

Please take special notice of the smiling baby emerging from fanjo while saying "Ta Dah!".

[aldiwhore]

I used Valium's 3 hole tale as well, it worked fine. I think my eldest son was 4/5 when he needed to know more... my youngest son wanted to see, which provoked a rather nice conversation about privacy! We also discussed that some babies need a Dr to help them out either through the baby hole or through the tummy.

I LOVE these conversations, the look of wonder (and in some cases terror) is priceless!

My eldest is nearly nine and now he wants to know exactly how daddy plants the seed in mummy's tummy... this I have more difficulty in explaining, I'm fine up until 'the special cuddle' but don't want him to think he can't hug people without getting them pregnant!

[BegoniaBampot]

I've always tried to be as honest as I can with my sons in regards to sex and babies and the proper names etc. The youngest loves the word vagina and it does seem weird to hear them come nonchalantly out with penis and vagina at times ( generally they call their penis a more child friendly name). have some friends who think it's all unnecessary and probably disgusting. I wonder what they tell their children.

[aldiwhore]

piprabbit I shall be showing my eldest that when he next asks... :) Words can over complicate things (especially when they come from me).

[Cadmum]

I have always been honest with our four. I answered the questions they asked honestly. They seemed to take it all in stride. I only (almost) regretted it once when ds1 (then 3) was on the phone with dmil explaining that his closest friend now had a baby brother. He proceeded to tell her that the baby must have slipped right out his mum's vagina. Apparently this was based on the fact that they called us only moments after having arrived at the hospital announcing his birth.

[NowThenNowThen]

piprabbit THANK YOU!!

You have made my day!

I have such clear memories of that book, even though it's years since I have seen it! I wonder if you can still get it.
Still think it just tells it like it is, in a really sweet way.

[piprabbit]

Glad you like it NowThen

[neverquitesure]

NowThenNowThen - if you don't mind not having much change from £20 you can find second hand copies on Amazon

I agree it's amazing. My Mum ordered me a book through a book catalogue at my primary school as she was encountering the second wave of questioning and thought a book might help. It had lots of pictures of animals laying eggs (quite literally a 'birds and bees' book). We were both a bit In the end she got a pen and paper out and drew me her own pictures.

[HeadfirstForHalos]

I LOVE the picture of the grinning baby peeking out of the vagina