Where Do Babies Come From? Posted: 07-13-07 19:06pm
When do you explain the birds and the bees
to your child?
I know someone that just told her 14 year
old that they come vaginally. She only
knew about c-sections up to that point b/c
that's what her mom had.
I think that's a bit old. I don't see any
reason why a child that wants to know
shouldn't know or be sheltered from that
information, it's life.
As far as sex, I'd wait until they're
about 13 to explain it or if they ask and
I'd simplify it if they were too young.
I'd see about mature the child was first
before going into detail.
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worrywart001
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 May 2007 Posts: 200
Posted: 07-13-07 19:15pm
I remember i was in the 5th grade..so what
is that...age 11ish? when I first started
learning about puberty, then sex in the
6th grade...wow...i didn't think so then
but looking back on it now that seems
really really young...my mom had "the
talk" with me when the class came up, she
said if I had any questions to ask her
before or after the class..didn't
matter...so i was informed but..i dont
think i really understood until way way
later though haha...
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worrywart001
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 May 2007 Posts: 200
Posted: 07-13-07 19:15pm
I remember i was in the 5th grade..so what
is that...age 11ish? when I first started
learning about puberty, then sex in the
6th grade...wow...i didn't think so then
but looking back on it now that seems
really really young...my mom had "the
talk" with me when the class came up, she
said if I had any questions to ask her
before or after the class..didn't
matter...so i was informed but..i dont
think i really understood until way way
later though haha...
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kaerbear
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Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 1557 Location: ,
Posted: 07-13-07 19:16pm
is that 14 year old a girl? you would
think that by the time puberty hits they
would have had that talk. in my culture
when a girl becomes a woman or is at that
age where she is about to (like 10 or 11,
sometimes earlier), some women will get
together and do a thing called a moon
lodge. they take the girls off somewhere
and just sit and talk about their bodies
and how to take care of them and how to
treat them with respect. they talk about
periods and what they mean and where
babies come from etc. it's meant to be a
positive experience and a celebration of a
girl's first period so that she doesn't
look at it as a negative thing like it is
often portrayed in popular culture. they
talk about what women would have done in
the old days - they would have gone to the
moon lodge to rest and be among other
women until their period was over - and
tell the girls how they can keep some of
those traditions going if they want to. i
think it's a really beautiful way of
teaching young girls. i don't know what
they do with young boys though, that's up
to the men i guess.
as far as younger kids, i don't see a
problem with them knowing where babies
come from but they don't have to know in
intimate detail. when i see kids i tell
them i have a baby in my tummy but they
have never asked me how the baby gets out,
lol. they're usually so interested in (or
dubious about) the fact that there is a
baby in my belly that they don't get to
that part. i guess if they did i would
just tell them without going into gory
details.
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Tylanas
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Posted: 07-13-07 19:59pm
karebear, that's so cool!
I asked when I was six, so I was taught
when I was six, lol. My parents had a neat
book they read to me, a children's picture
book, that explained how puppies were made
(it did in fact have pictures of how dogs
have sex, again, illustrations, not
photos) and how birds were made, and
explained that people are mammals too just
like doggies. They did show full nude
illustrations of a male and female
standing from the front, and explained
that humans are built like doggies (for
the "sex" picture they just had a male and
female staring at each other under the
covers lol). It had pictures of the stages
of pregnancy for all the animals including
people, and side views of birth and the
birth canals.
The illustrations were really cool; they
were sort of like paper collage/sculpture,
and very cute.
I think children should be taught either
when they ask, or by age 10. I think they
need to know about puberty before
it happens.
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AyaMiyaki
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Posted: 07-13-07 20:02pm
Well, as far as "where do babies come
from", we bought a children's book for
Alyvia called "God Gave Us You". The story
basically says that God heard a couple's
prayer for a baby and helped them create
one, and the baby grows in the belly, and
they go to doctor visits and fix up the
nursery, etc...
She definitely won't grow up thinking
they're grown in a garden or delivered by
a stork. But when she's maybe 9 or 10,
I'll probably explain sex to her.
Sorry Eiri, I know you don't like religion
but it really is a
sweet little book.
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jessesgirl
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Posted: 07-13-07 20:10pm
I think when a girl starts her period or
about 10-12 years is a good age to talk
about sex and things like that.
Especially if they're already interested
in boys. I just changed me answer.
Yes, she is a girl. Her mother keeps them
very sheltered. I think she knows more
than what her mother thinks though.
I was having sex at 14, so I do think this
girl knows a little more that what we
think.
My mom never had the talk with me. I just
always knew where babies came from.
Jesse's penis was the first I saw and a
condom he had was the first I saw. I
didn't even know what either looked like
until I saw his.
The only talk we ever had was, "I know
you're having sex, do you want to be on
the pill?" End of story.
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Tylanas
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Posted: 07-13-07 20:10pm
That is sweet, I just don't understand why
little kids can't know about sex lol XD
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kaerbear
Most Diplomatic Poster
Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 1557 Location: ,
Posted: 07-13-07 20:13pm
Eiri
wrote:
karebear, that's so cool!
I asked when I was six, so I was taught
when I was six, lol. My parents had a neat
book they read to me, a children's picture
book, that explained how puppies were made
(it did in fact have pictures of how dogs
have sex, again, illustrations, not
photos) and how birds were made, and
explained that people are mammals too just
like doggies. They did show full nude
illustrations of a male and female
standing from the front, and explained
that humans are built like doggies (for
the "sex" picture they just had a male and
female staring at each other under the
covers lol). It had pictures of the stages
of pregnancy for all the animals including
people, and side views of birth and the
birth canals.
The illustrations were really cool; they
were sort of like paper collage/sculpture,
and very cute.
I think children should be taught either
when they ask, or by age 10. I think they
need to know about puberty before
it happens.
i think i remember that book! did it have
flowers too? that sounds really familiar
but i don't know when i would have seen
it. omg i just remembered my sister
stealing the joy of sex book from my mom's
closet and showing it to me.
i didn't get to go to a moon lodge to
learn about stuff when i was younger.
maybe if i had known more about my body i
wouldn't have been abused as long as i
was. this is going to sound awful and it
was, but i remember going into the
bathroom one time when i was small and my
mom was mad at me for barging in on her
and she showed me her pad with blood on
it. that scared the crap out of me. it
still makes me kind of mad to this day.
when i was 12 i took a grade 11 biology
course because they didn't have an
enrichment program in the school i was
going to. so we were learning about the
reproductive system and they started
talking about periods and i guess i must
have turned beet red because the teacher
asked me if i was okay. i was so
embarrassed because i had just started my
period and no one had ever really talked
to me about it. i'm going to be a very
different mother than my mother was that's
for sure.
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AyaMiyaki
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Posted: 07-13-07 20:15pm
Well, I definitely don't agree with not
talking about sex at all. But I do think
you should wait until the child is old
enough and mature enough to really
understand what you're saying to them.
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Tylanas
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Posted: 07-13-07 20:26pm
kaerbear
wrote:
Eiri
wrote:
karebear, that's so cool!
I asked when I was six, so I was taught
when I was six, lol. My parents had a neat
book they read to me, a children's picture
book, that explained how puppies were made
(it did in fact have pictures of how dogs
have sex, again, illustrations, not
photos) and how birds were made, and
explained that people are mammals too just
like doggies. They did show full nude
illustrations of a male and female
standing from the front, and explained
that humans are built like doggies (for
the "sex" picture they just had a male and
female staring at each other under the
covers lol). It had pictures of the stages
of pregnancy for all the animals including
people, and side views of birth and the
birth canals.
The illustrations were really cool; they
were sort of like paper collage/sculpture,
and very cute.
I think children should be taught either
when they ask, or by age 10. I think they
need to know about puberty before
it happens.
i think i remember that book! did it have
flowers too? that sounds really familiar
but i don't know when i would have seen
it. omg i just remembered my sister
stealing the joy of sex book from my mom's
closet and showing it to me.
Yeah it did have flowers too!! I hadn't
remembered that until now, but I totally
remember the pictures of the pollen going
down into the flower and stuff...
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kaerbear
Most Diplomatic Poster
Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 1557 Location: ,
Posted: 07-13-07 21:27pm
hey that's the one!! look, i found it. i
googled "picture book reproduction paper
cut outs" lol.
Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 1757 Location: Chicago, US
Thanks: 10
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Posted: 07-13-07 22:03pm
That book is hilarious! I was laughing for
quite awhile when I saw them.
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Tylanas
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Posted: 07-13-07 22:29pm
Lol, that's the one!! Haha XD
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mrsbuzski
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 103 Location: U.S.A. -- Illinois
Book Posted: 07-15-07 02:09am
That book sounds really neat!
Children get gidish when they see animals
"doing it", but I guess that is a good way
to introduce them to the topic. Putting
on the Discovery channel or a book such as
this is great at any age. But, just make
sure there are no horses in the book
because, man oh man!!! That could scare
them! he he or neigh, neigh.
Dating back to my childrens "potty
training years", I always used the
appropriate (physiological) name for their
body parts. Children need concrete
information to work with and making pet
names for body parts, I think, should be
saved for "adult play". You know --- how
babies are made?
Everything I learned about "growing up", I
did not learn from my Mom or Dad. I got
my first period in 7th grade (all over) a
cafeteria bench at school, and "Thank
God", I had an older sister to explain
things about that one.
So, don't fret! Teaching about the birds
and the bees will just fall in place.
Honesty is very important from the
beginning because when they grow up they
will share LOADS of information with you
voluntarily because they know you will
understand, accept, and still love them!