How to explain how babies are made?!

[LiveLifeToTheFull2]

My 7 year old has been asking how babies are made recently and will not accept the 'mummy and daddy have a magic cuddle' answer 🥴

I feel like he is grown up enough to know but I want to explain it to him in age appropriate terms and interested to know what others have said and kept out of the conversation 🫣

How has anyone explained this to their child appropriately?

Any tips or advice greatly appreciated!

My DD is just a baby so this conversation is years away.

Im sure there’s lots of resources online but I’ve read on MN before about mummies having an egg and if that egg touches a seed then it starts to grow a baby. Then direct the conversation towards chicks…

Then direct the conversation towards chicks…

The child is 7, not 3.

Just... explain what happens. Women make an egg, men make seeds, men put the seeds inside the woman's body, if a seed gets to the egg a baby starts to develop. You can leave out the sweating and grunting, but there's no need to surround it with waffle when you just need facts.

There are loads of age appropriate books. In Ireland the HSE has a lovely simple resource busy bodies I am sure your jurisdiction is the same.

We always went with facts when asked rather than special hugs.

At 7 (yr 3) my DC had already started to be taught some human biology are you sure your dc doesn’t already know? We live rurally and DC have seen baby animals “being made” so we used that as a starting point and told them very factually what happens! We’ve always used the biological names for body parts as well.

Daddy's body makes sperm which comes out of his penis. Mummy's body makes eggs. Daddy puts his penis inside mummy's vagina and the sperm swim up to find the egg. When the sperm touches the egg they make a baby grow inside mummy's womb. When baby grows too big to stay inside anymore, she comes out of mummy's vagina.

The end.

Why is this only coming up at seven? Most children have been given the basic years earlier! Just give him the facts. It’s far easier to explain reproduction than it is how electricity or inflation works.

I'm amazed this hasn't happened before 7. There are loads of great books that address it in age appropriate manner. He probably heard all sorts of things in the playground, particularly if his mates have siblings.

I did the egg and seed chat quite early on, you know, mummy has an egg in her tummy etc. DD is 9 now and has had the sperm / penis / egg / vagina talk, not overly graphic but she knows the mechanics of it.. I'm sure she enjoyed every second😂

Realistically and not through a ‘magic cuddle’?

I don’t understand why we’re so afraid as parents to talk about reproduction. We’re not giving raunchy details of sex life…

Just a factual age appropriate briefing will do. Also, be sure to use the actual body part names, not ‘Minnie’ or ‘fooofoo’

I remember my mother telling me at about five. You need to be factual rather than magic cuddle talk.