Do you think my 3 yo is likely to ask how a baby gets out mummy's tummy? Or how it got there?

[mum1979100]

I have a 3 yo and 1yo. I'm not pregnant.
But my 3.5 yo has a book about bodies. It's mainly where the heart/lungs are. And what bones/muscles are for. He is really into it and tells everyone where their heart is.
There is a small section about babies growing in mummy's tummy. And I'm bit worried he'll start asking me how they got there or how they come out. I don't want to go into too much detail at this age as he's a bit young and will go around telling everyone!
Do you think it will occur to him to ask? Any suggestions on suitably vague answers I can give him?

I didn´t particularly wait for them to ask. Both dd (3 years when ds was born) and ds (with no younger sibling) found it fascinating and wonderful to learn about how babies were made and born. As to "making babies" we talked about the dad putting his penis into the mummies vagina and how the sperm swim along and one can get inside the egg and the egg with the sperm as it´s centre then can grow to be a baby. As to giving birth, my dd found one of my books on pregnancy and birth when she was 3 and she did and still does adore looking at the photographs in the book of a baby being born. The photos are of the baby´s head coming out of the vagina, taken from between the mother´s legs. They are quite "messy" photographs as you might imagine. The book then continues with photographs of the child developing to being a toddler (it also has pictures of the foetus in the womb). My dd absolutely loves these pictures and she just wonders at this - and after all, which adult doesn´t?! It is an amazing phenomenon, life!
In the past and in other societies, children were and are much more often present at births (I don´t imagine that cave-children were taken off hunting with grandparents to keep them out of the way). My children have both really loved learning the details.
Ds reads and rereads the books - more picture books for children. Somehow the book for adults illustrated with photos has caught his imagination less but he really likes the books for children of how babies are made/born. He is now 4.
I would think that if your ds goes round telling everyone, it´s probably about time they heard it too! :)
Good luck!

I have a 4.5 yo DS and a 17 month old DD. DS was 3.1 when DD was born, and although he knew that there was a baby in my tummy, he didn't ask how she got there. We talked about when she came, that I would go to hospital and the doctors and nurses would help get her out.

As for how she got there.... he still hasn't asked even thogh a few of our friends have had babies since. Taking the lead from my sister, with older children, I am planning on telling him something along the lines of "Daddy gives Mummy a special seed which she puts inside her tummy to keep it warm to grow". He can understand about seeds growing into things. Actually when DSis had this conversation with her 4 yo DS (now 12) she told him it was a nit, leading to the new family terminology of "Pregnut".

Nut, not nit!

DS did ask at 2 yrs when I was pregnant with DD. He's 5 now and still intrigued as to how women pee (I have explained, he just doesn't believe me!).

DS1 was 2 and a half when we told him that DC2 was on the way. He never asked how the baby got there but became v concerned about how the baby would get out! We got the book "There's a house inside my mummy" and there's a somewhat dubious line in it about the baby's door being very tight . Anyway, he did ask a few times about the door but was happy with the explanation that it would open when it was time for the baby to come out. Strangely, he's not mentioned it at all since DS2 arrived - it's as if he was worried he wouldn't be able to get out, but now he's here it's all fine.

He absolutely loves looking at his body book too. The one we've got doesn't have anything about reproduction, but when the questions come I'll just try to answer in a straight-forward way at a level he'll understand depending on his age at the time.

Thanks very much for responses. I do wonder if I should be matter of fact and tell him like it is. But I just feel he's a tad young for too much detail. I'll have to try and prepare some responses. I certainly don't want to lie or make him feel awkward. Sometimes I wish he had a sister, as at the moment I think it would come as a surprise to him that not everyone has 'pillys' !

My DD1 is 4, and has asked a bit about how babies get out (although not yet how they get there in the first place!). I've tried to be matter of fact, and just said that there's a special hole between the 'wee' and 'poo' holes in a woman. She was absolutely fine with this. I also talked a bit about c-sections (in her little group of friends, half were born naturally, half by c-section) and she found this a lot more alarming!

I've just had DC3 and both older DCs (4 and 2.5) knew there was a baby in my tummy but showed no curiosity about how it got in or would get out. I think best practice is to wait till they ask and then answer only the question they have asked. Flooding them with knowledge they haven't asked for generally results only in misunderstanding and confusion. Not to mention that they are likely to talk about it to friends and with the usual children's Chinese Whispers cause enormous confusion elsewhere.

DS1 is 5, was 3.8 when DS2 was born. I'm now pregnant again. DS1 was very curious about how the baby got in, so I told him, he's fine with that but thinks the idea of sex is pretty disgusting!