Aibu to tell my 7.5yr old birds and bees?

[Almostrubbish]

I've been asked repeatedly this week so told my 7.5yr basics of sex. He knew that a man did something with a woman so I explained the anatomical implication, that it was fun but for grown ups, that it was okay to find it disgusting at 7 but one day he would be interested and a bit about consent/legality/age not always to have babies etc. What age did your children find out and how? Should I worry that he's going to explain to his 5yr old sibling before we get the chance? Does that matter? I am Curious as to other people's experiences and keen to know if there's anything specific I should add for safe guarding or other reasons? He didn't believe me at first and thought it sounded difficult to do (very sweet was relieved he was too alarmed although not enamoured).

Bloody hell. None of mine knew all those facts at that age! A baby was just what happened when 2 people love each other. There was no diagrams or videos!

Timely thread. Let just turned 6yo stay up late to watch Dumping Ground tonight. Whilst we were waiting for it, we channel surfed and happened upon a BBC2 documentary about farming life on a Scottish island. A ewe was birthing a lamb...

Me: do you want to watch this?
Him: yes
Him (rather agog): did the lamb come out of her bottom?
Me: No, females...and women...like me...we have holes, not willies like boys.
Him: oh....it looks like it hurts
Me: it does!
Him: so is the hole massive then?!
Me: No; it's small, but gets big when a baby comes out, then it goes back small again.
Him: is the Dumping Ground on yet?!

Think that's enough info for now, but I'm very matter-of-fact and if he wants to know stuff I just tell him.

cheese it depends on the child though. Some kids don't ask that kind of question. My two are very inquisitive.

I have boy/girl twins. My two were astounded aged 3.5yo that a friend of theirs has only just discovered that girls don't have willies. My two have obviously always been aware of the anatomical differences as they have always shared a bath.

I'm very pleased things have moved on. It's perfectly natural and normal. Why hide it ? People don't hide digestion and the like.

I didn't know most of this until I was about 12 and was teased at school.

My mum did have some kind of book she showed me once but when I asked to see it again she said she'd given it back so I couldn't. No further discussion of any kind.

I gained my entire knowledge about puberty and periods from - I think it was - mizz magazine at around 13. Lucky I hadn't started by then. Ridiculous.

birdsbees (apt NN btw !) Good old Mizz magazine. I still have a pocket mirror with their logo on I got free, maybe circa 1995...it goes everywhere with me in my handbag

I've tried to add a bit of true 'magic' by explaining that a woman's body changes completely to grow and give birth to a baby, and that - as if by magic - it just goes back to 'normal' again when the baby is out.

HA HA HAAAAAAAa. It bloody doesn't

I should point out the name is a sheer coincidence!

I'm impressed anyone can keep a mirror alive for that long. I'd have lost or broke it within a year !

The babies in tummies is part of something I don't like; women having parts of their body being either misnamed or misunderstood.

Tummies are where food is digested. Uteruses (if you prefer) or wombs are where fetuses develop. No one says sperm come from 'tummies' so why do we insist on telling children that's where babies grow?

What is 'MN classic' or wrong with calling things by their actual names?

I have a curious 6 year old. A few months ago he walked into our room first thing in the morning asked what his two balls are, so I explained that's his testicles where daddy seeds are made when you're grown up. We haven't yet got to the question of how how daddy seeds and mummy eggs meet...

He was about 4 when he asked about the bone in his willy, and I explained that there is no bone and he followed up with "how does it go hard?". I explained it's when his blood is rushing around his body like when he wakes up and starts moving. We had a reprise of the conversation when he was 5 and saw a skeleton poster in an X-ray waiting room

He's also aware that women have a baby hole (and that that his head was too big so I had an operation). His younger sibling has certainly ambled in midway through the mooncup procedure and asked where I put it.

He's still quite young, so I'm happy to directly answer his questions and let him take the lead. When the questions join up more, then I'll be happy to explain with a book and add in more technical language.

The mirror has a metal flap which protects it. I'm actually really proud to have a freebie mirror which is...erm...shit, 22yrs old?!

My 6 year old asked me what sex was. I told her that when two adults want to make a baby the man puts his penis in the woman's vagina and sperm comes out that meets the egg inside the womb and that is where babies come from. Because sex = babies, not fun!

I am impressed shape

But also sad that 1995 was that long ago !

DGS is 9 and he and his friends are very intelligent but very naive.
He knows how animals reproduce but as yet hasn't applied this to humans. He has far too many important things to think about like football results. Waiting for him to either ask about human reproduction...or tell us about it.

A pregnant colleague told me recently her 4 year old asked how her sister will come out and she told her 'It's magic. The doctor just magics the baby out'. Hmmm! Missed opportunity there, to put it mildly! Colleague seemed very proud of her clever answer too!

Highway why wouldn't you tell your children that adults have sex for fun?

I started telling my kids when they were tiny. I was brought up in the countryside and saw animals mating and giving birth. I have explained in more depth as they got older.

There are no safeguarding reasons for not telling children biological facts!

My two have both known the basics since about 5, but I said not to mention it to kids at school as their mums and dads would want to tell them themselves. They were asking questions and didn't want to lie, plus to be honest it's probably a lot less awkward when they are that age rather than older. Mind you it was rather unfortunate that ds chose the swimming pool changing rooms to start asking questions, loudly. Haven't got onto periods because it's never naturally come up so might have to broach the topic myself at some point.

I was pregnant when DS1 had just turned 5. He asked the questions and I answered him as honestly (and in as child-friendly a way) as possible. He's now 11 and hasn't been scarred by his knowing. He also asked how DS2 was going to come out of me and I told him the truth about that, too. He knows about periods and we've always used the correct words for body parts.

At my school we teach them the correct names for penis, vagina and anus as part of protective behaviours. There's a reason we do that. Children who are more informed about their bodies and their rights over their bodies have more chance of being able to inform and trust adults when it comes to keeping themselves safe.

...the basics as in how the baby gets there. They've known where it comes out from much younger, maybe 3.5 - 4.

DD hasn't shown any inkling about six and reproduction yet. I think I'll be led by her unless she still hasn't asked when she gets to 12

Sadly when I was a kid we played out a lot and a younger boy showed us his dad's porn mags. I must've been 6 at the time. I had a poorly informed notion of sex from that age and definitely want my DCs to be equipped with the facts.

As and when I have always told them penis and vagina, etc etc.

My 7 year old knows the facts,where everything goes etc.We have both explained it to him in a fairly scientific way but also emphasising that you do it when you love each other. Not sure how much went in because he told me recently that you can have a baby when 2 people kiss. When it has come up he hasn't automatically gone and relayed it to younger siblings but if they ask I will say the same.
For ages I thought I had got away with that conversation as they were all c-sections so birth was always about being cut out but now they know what really happens. We also tried the "egg & seed" explanation but that got confused with seeds & nuts being eaten & slightly odd questions followed.
I go by say as much as they seem to want to know and answer any questions until they stop..

I was pregnant with DC3 when DC 1 and 2 were seven and five. The seven year old is very bright and inquisitive so he knew pretty quickly. Best thing I ever did as it's just so matter of fact in our house now. They've grown up with it not being a taboo subject and nothing is a surprise or a shock.

baby in tummy and sperm in tummy are not the same thing though, it's hardly a mysogonistic coup that it looks to all intents and purposes like the baby is in the tummy. it must surely beat an anatomy lesson with a 4 year old who just wants to know why mommy looks like she ate the baby