What age did you tell your kids how babies are made?

[Tailfeather]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but curious to know when you told your children about the birds and the bees? My son is 7. He knows he was put in my tummy by a doctor (I had IVF) and knows the scar where he came out (c-section). But doesn't know the 'normal' way to make a baby/give birth. Thanks!

Are people serious that they are telling 3/4/5 year olds that a man puts his penis inside a woman's vagina?
I was wondering this same question. I have a puberty book I'm reading with my 8year old. Wasn't sure whether to skip the p in v part until she's older. Also explaining that it's not just for making babies. I guess they do it at school in y5/6.

Depending how old you mean - my dd is 3 and has always been happy that periods is just a normal thing that grown up women have periodically except when they're pregnant or just had a baby. A bit like weeing and pooing but only for women and not every single day...!

I haven't explained the biological function at all, I feel like it's quite complicated and she'd get bored haha

School taught in year 5, very few children knew already from talking to parents, it was well done and the kids seemed ready at that point

Not that graphic.
i said mummy has eggs like you
daddy has the other part and we make the baby together. When they are older I’ll discuss the actual intercourse part of it and contraception options

I agree with them seeing animals. We live near a sheep farm and seeing the ewe being mounted was what triggered the conversation with my eldest. He asked what they are doing and I explained about making babies and that humans do that too. Triggered some laughs but it definitely helped him to understand it.

Just to add. I've done periods and mummy has egg daddy has sperm bits just as and when they ask. It's how the sperm gets in that I'm not sure about.

Ps whilst I know some girls do hit puberty early, they are rare, very few by year 5, 9 years old. Mine were 14 & 16 when they got their first!

Though I did have to explain to my then 12/13 year old that a period wasn’t the result of an egg exploding in the uterus, that they seemed to have picked up from a class at school

DD 3.5 asked a couple of nights ago but the wording was more like "how did you grow me in your tummy" so I explained about the umbilical cord etc. I'm going to have to figure out what to say when she asks about how she got there in the first place 🤔

Here is a paper published in 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213398421000622

Average age is 12 range is 7-14 graph attached.

Why do you think 10 is too late ? They’re still just little kids at that age

This

They always knew, as did I. We had a picture book which was the same one I had as a child and it was in the pile with all the other picture books. Sometimes they chose it. I didn't really fancy making a big thing about it or sitting them down at a specific age to tell them.

All I can say is it's cultural. I am 47 and I can't remember a time I didn't know, certainly before I went to school, my parents were often naked in front of us so I knew what a penis and testicles were and what they were for. When I was very young my mum explained that I mustn't worry that a man could wee inside me when having sex as it was something she herself had worried about as a child. So that is probably three generations of openness.

When my DC came along it just didn't occur to me not to tell them when they asked.

For the poster worried that an 8 year old is too young to hear about intercourse, I would say that it's the right age if not a bit late. I would be surprised if she wasn't already aware of what sex involves. With the internet nowadays children can be exposed to pornography and other sexual content at that age or younger. There have been some discussions on this on Radio 4 recently. The advice seems to be that arming your kids with correct information and giving them tools to help them cope with things like porn, harassment, etc. is a really good thing so they don't end up learning from internet porn basically.

My sisters and I knew the headline facts by 5 or 6 and that was back in the 80s. Maybe because my mum was a nurse but she always just answered what we asked when we asked.

I can’t imagine sitting a ten year old down and offloading a big information dump on them about this 🤯

Much better to just address it organically from an early age and then it won’t be such a shock or big deal.

Me too.

I might be wrong but i also imagine that having those conversations early and helping your kids understand that sex is something for grown-ups would better protect them from sexual assault??

Both DC (9 & 5) know the basics from a book (Amazing You) like eggs, sperm, puberty.
DD now knows about periods - we've talked a lot about it recently including showing her sanitary products & how to use them. I got my period at 10 so she may start soon & needs to be prepared.
As for the actual mechanics of sex she has recently read the Adam Kay book Anatomy which has a chapter on reproduction. She read it on her own (her choice) & after I asked if she had any questions & she said no. It's quite matter of fact.

Yes, why wouldn't you explain the penis in vagina part? It's just another fact to them, we started from 2. Like op we had ivf so described both that and standard conception.

My nine year old has shown zero curiosity so far. When I've tried to initiate conversations about how babies are made or growing up she has been actively resistant. They are doing it in school next term though so she will have to face facts then. She is very different to me. I can remember asking lots of questions and them being answered "I will tell you when you're older"!

My DD6&4, know everything that actually happens and I have shown them videos (you know the cartoony ones that show the sperm getting in to the egg etc). They know that their dad has the sperm and that I have the egg. I was so sure they would have asked how it gets there, but that just hasn't come up yet.

My DD6 is absolutely obsessed with my period though. Talks about it, asks me how it happens and what happens, and is fascinated by my mooncup.

I've tried to talk to my 8 nearly 9 year old DD about sex as she has a good understanding of birth and puberty but she will not entertain the conversation 🤣 She either knows already and feels mortified or just isn't ready so I'm going to leave it for another few months.

When they asked, in an age appropriate way followed up by books. Both asked varying questions from the age of 6, knowing the full facts by 8. A good age because they just accept it as fact. If you wait until 10/11 when hormones kick in they get embarrassed.

DD is 5 and obsessed with babies so she's known about pregnancy and birth since about the age of 4. I have mentioned sperm and eggs but she doesn't know about sex - I wouldn't have a problem with telling her if she asked though.