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Original poster

Trying for a girl

49 replies

musica · 08/08/2002 15:12

Does anyone know anything about Dr Shettles method for conceiving boy/girl? Anyone with any experience of it? I'd ideally like a girl next (only because we have ds already), so any suggestions for success?

OP posts:
angharad · 08/08/2002 15:23

There's a book called something like "chhoose the sex of your child the natural way", I'll look the title up for you. It's all about diet and having sex in a certain position at a certain time and whether or not you have an orgasm...

Rhubarb · 08/08/2002 15:23

Never heard of it sorry. I think the general consensus is that no matter what you eat, or what time of the day you make love, or what exercises you do before conception, you cannot predict the sex of your child. The X and Y chromosones (sp?) come from your partner, we only have the Y chromosone. So if the sperm that reaches the egg carries a Y chromosone, you will have a girl, if it carries an X chromosone you will have a boy.

Take a look at his side of the family, if they are mainly boys then chances are you will have boys too. And there is similarly nothing he can do to improve his X chromosones either!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Good luck in conceiving your next, I'm sure you will love it no matter what it turns out to be!

Queenie · 08/08/2002 15:38

My GP told me that to have a boy you need to concieve within 6 days either side of a new moon or is it a full moon? Any dates outside this time produce a girl. He is muslim and really has a lot of faith in this. He has been comparing the dates of his "ladies" with an internet site which gives details of the moons and says they match up. I don't believe a word of it personally.

MABS · 08/08/2002 15:56

Musica - I read a book on the subject but actually was trying for a boy. It said something about having sex once, exactly when you ovulate, it also suggested doggy fashion... sorry girls - too much detail

GillW · 08/08/2002 16:21

Does anyone else have a family (on DH's side) where there hasn't been a girl for at least 4 generations? I think if we had a girl next time the outlaws would be asking who the father was - lol!

Paula1 · 08/08/2002 20:26

Musica, I was going to try www.rightbaby.com this time, but chickened out, am having my 20 week scan on Monday, so will find out whether the eating plan I followed worked. Funny thing is , I don't even care any more, so long as it is a healthy baby.

bloss · 09/08/2002 02:58

Message withdrawn

angharad · 09/08/2002 09:49

Ok, for a girl you need to be at it like rabbits,in the missionary position, without YOU having an orgasm for 7 days before ovulation, then no sex on day of ovulation or after ovulation. Eat a high calcium diet, esp leafy greens, wholenuts and dairy products and give yourself a douche to make the vagina more alkaline...

The book title is almost right, good luck!

slug · 09/08/2002 10:46

It's just anecdotal evidence, but all the really serious sportsmen I know tend to have girls. Apparantly it has something to do with the testicles being kept at a slightly higher temperature. This dosen't hold true of the swimmers amongst them, so maybe there's something in it.

Rara · 09/08/2002 11:03

There hadn't been a girl on dh's side for 63 years (since my FIL's cousin was born). FIL is one of 2 boys, both of them had 2 boys, dh is one of 2 boys and dh's brother has got 2 sons so I was pretty much expecting a boy - despite secretly hoping for my girl-power chromosomes to do their bit! We even chose a name for "him" and several people told me I was carrying a boy (there are always some, aren't they - as if they've got x-ray eyes). And lo and behold at the 20 week scan we were told it was a girl!!! Had to have another scan at 32 and checked again (same as last time). Wouldn't have minded a boy, of course, but I was delighted with my dd!!!

Rara · 09/08/2002 11:04

BTW I also bullied dh into not taking long hot baths when we were trying to conceive - which was a real sacrifice for him as he loves nothing more. Don't know of this had any bearing - I like to think it does though!

sb34 · 09/08/2002 11:31

Message withdrawn

Alibubbles · 09/08/2002 13:23

People in stressful jobs have girls, eg fighter pilots are always known to have girls until they are grounded! Again it could be anecdotal, but my sister says its true of most of her service friends.

It is also said butchers have girls, could be all those hormones from the meat!

honeybunny · 09/08/2002 14:08

We followed the "choose the sex of your baby, the natural way" for a little girl and ended up with another boy, (who, I must quickly add, is wonderful). dh is an anaesthetist, stressful job and linked with girl babies because of the anaesthetic gases etc. Still didnt help. He's one of 5, 4boys, 1girl. His older brother has had 2boys (like us, 3 if you count the baby we lost). Guess there's just a strong genetic tendency for male babies!! Darn it! Would dearly love a little girl, and may yet have another go, but my advise would be not to set your heart on it. Just be happy with having a healthy, happy baby at the end of 40weeks!

Original poster
musica · 09/08/2002 14:25

Thanks for all the suggestions! Of course we would be really happy with another boy, I was just wondering if it was possible to tip the balance at all. Will try timing it round ovulation. Any other suggestions? Any really weird ones?

OP posts:
Tillysmummy · 09/08/2002 14:45

Not really. I had heard the ovulation one the most, female sperm swims faster etc. etc. I know there are some things about what you eat etc but I'v seen these proven wrong.

Rhubarb · 09/08/2002 15:08

Ooops, fancy getting my Xs and Ys mixed up! Thanks Bloss, that would have been embarrassing in a conversation wouldn't it!

I was told I was having a boy by various people when I was pregnant, even strangers! Because of the way the baby was positioned. But we had a girl, thankfully, I wouldn't know what to do with a boy!

GillW · 09/08/2002 15:42

Rara - DH's paternal grandfather (which is as far back as I know) was one of 13 brothers (no girls) - he had 2 boys, one of whom had one son, who then had 3 sons of his own, and DH's father who had 2 sons - and now we have DS.

Statistically that's just so unlikely - given that the overall ratio of boys:girls is about 51:49 (at least) 22 consecutive boys in a family is about a 1 in 2.7 million chance! See what I mean about the questions which will be asked if we have a girl?

honeybunny · 09/08/2002 20:12

On the topic of sperm speed, its the boys who swim faster, and stronger, reaching the egg v quickly which is why its good to have sex on ov day for a boy. However they are a bit short lived. Girlie sperms are slow but live much longer which is why having sex 5days before ov day should result in a girl baby as all of the male sperms would have peaked and died by then leaving the girl sperms to do their stuff for a girl! Thats the theory, didn't work for me though. Followed it to the letter with help of Personna and temp charts for 6months.

carrieboo · 14/08/2002 23:26

Try reading 'choose the sex of your baby - the natural way' - Hazel Chesterman-Phillips (I got it from WHSmith £6.99).

Its a fantastic book and explains it all very well. We used it to get ds and intend to use it in the near future to get a dd. She even lists her address at the end and will enter in to personnal correspondence if you need extra help.

Basically there are two ways food and timing. The food way is not v. reliable but won't hurt as an extra. The timing is as has been said boys are from sex once at ovulation due to the man having a build up of sperm and then the male sperm swimming fastest so reaching the egg first, girls are from sex every other day before ovulation due to lowering the sperm count and the female sperm living longer.

Girls are harder to get on purpose and if you are not accurate it many not work so I would recomend reading the book thouroughly and analysing your cycle for a while to be safe of your timing (god my spelling gets worse all the time!)

Book also goes into the relevance of high/low sperm count, why there are more girls/boys in certian religions/cultures etc.

Good luck - let us know if it works.

Ghosty · 23/08/2002 23:36

I have enjoyed reading everyone's notes on how to have a girl! I, like Musica, want to try for a girl as we have a boy already. I have heard about having sex before ovulation from many people so maybe there is something in it. Our son was conceived without trying (too many glasses of wine one night - the only time I have had unprotected sex - very lucky I guess!) so I have no idea about the 'science' of trying!!

Good luck Musica and wish us luck too!

Original poster
musica · 24/08/2002 00:05

But of course Ghosty...hope you get your girl!

OP posts:
kkgirl · 24/08/2002 09:15

I've got a boy and girl twin, so I don't know how the theories work on this!!!!!!

carrieboo · 28/08/2002 14:48

The boy and girl twin can be explained by the two ovulations, for example the boy could of been concieved by sex at the first ovulation and the girl concieved a few days later by the sperm left over from the sex at the first ovulation. Does that make sense? If not the book I listed explains it better!.

I'm so up on it as I really want to start trying for a girl but I need periods first! it so frustrating (see periods-whats the norm thread).

Enid · 28/08/2002 14:54

This will be interesting, according to the rules of that book I should be having a girl as we were actively avoiding sex around ovulation (I didn't want to get pregnant that month as I was going on holiday!!). Still managed to get pregnant though, so if its a boy it should pretty much knock that theory on the head.