What is a good way to tell a kid when he asks "How do people make babies?"?

Question

The kid is 7.

he is not my child, Im the babysitter.

Answer 1

If he isn't your child, tell the parents what he said so they can properly address the issue the way they want to. You don't want to tell him too much or in the wrong way. It is best to leave this issue with the parents. Just tell him that he needs to ask his parents about this, even if he persists. You could play dumb and say you don't know or can't remember until they return home.

Answer 2

Keep it simple! Most children of this age are not looking for a detailed explanation. depending on the maturity of the child and how well they understand. Follow the child's lead; give an easy answer first. Explain how two people fall in love and how they want to share their love by starting a family. Tell him how much he is loved. Explain how he was a gift from God and how God allowed him to grow in your belly. This age is a little to young for the Birds & Bees speech. Like I said, follow his lead and as he gets older you can then explain the facts of life in a more detailed manner. Good Luck!

*** Didn't know you were the babysitter! You should not answer this question but you should definately talk to his mother and tell her that he has been asking these questions. Maybe you should share the answers you received here with his parents.

Answer 3

speaking as a parent, I would be terribly upset if my babysitter told them anything, I would appreciate it if the babysitter told me that they were curious and allowed me to give them an age appropriate answer. If you work for an agency you can actually get a lawsuit if you tell the child more than the parents are ready for them to know.

When you are a parent I recommend the book "so that's where babies come from" It's age appropriate for about 5-10 year olds, with discrete pictures.

Answer 4

Whatever you do, please don't use the term "seed". We aren't in the 1500's and have a much better understanding than a man planting kids in a woman. That said...

I use animals to explain things. I have a neutered male cat and a 6 month old female that isn't yet fixed. She went into heat (they start fast!) and my daughter wanted to know what she was doing. I told her (she is 5) that Minnow wanted to make babies and she was looking for a man-cat to help her. Dolphin (our male) couldn't do it because he was a boy-cat. She seemed satisfied.

She asked later on how people made babies. So, we went out and got a children's encyclopedia and discussed boys and girls and how when they become adults, sometimes they want to be mommies and daddies. So, like the old tale goes, "when a man and a woman love eachother, they get married and decide to have babies." I didn't go into any graphic 'penis'/'vagina' deals, but put the emphasis on adulthood and married. For now, at 5, the answer was satisfactory. I went into detail more on pregnancy - babies inside and how the baby grows and then comes out. Thankfully, they haven't asked yet how the baby gets out. LOL. I'll cross that bridge soon enough, I suppose.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Explain to him honestly. Being open and strighforward about what sex is REALLY for will give him a healthy idea of what sex is. Then he won't be as confused when he comes of age and gets all sorts of weird mixed messages about sex, nudity, etc. He'll know that this act is for making babies, and there's nothing about it that is what the music videos and porn and adult stories make it out to be.

I would stick to a biological explanation. Then afterwards, if I felt it necessary and/or he asked questions that prompted it, I would explain that even though sex is for making babies, different people use sex for different things, and sex means different things to different people.

For the bilogical explanation itself, it really depends on the age. You need to show him pictures that demonstrate the penis going into the vagina, and the bit about the egg and the sperm. You'll proabably want to get detailed enough to show him the cut-away diagrams of the sex organs. Keep in mind that the cut-aways are confusing to look at (WHERE in the body is this??), so try to find something that shows the whole human body so you can be like, "see, this is this, there's the uterus and there's her belly button and here's where her legs start.) You can even show him with Barbie and Ken, and just point to where the sexual organs are supposed to be.

The bottom line is, no age is too young to hide sex (for pregnancy) from. Saying "the baby came from god" only increases the mystery of the mysterious thing called sex. It is not dirty to explain to a child how a baby is made. Masking it only promotes the social taboos that lead to irresponsible sex later in life.
They have a good point about keeping the answer as simple as the child wants it, but do not lie or skirt around the truth, because doing so will not accomplish any good.

Answer 6

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, I asked my son what he thought. I told him, first, that my tummy would be getting bigger and bigger as the baby grew, because that is where it was. My son asked THE QUESTION. "How did it get there?" I asked him if he could think of a way and he said, "I think that God put a baby seed in your belly button for it to grow big." I told him, "Yes, God did help put the baby there and you are so smart."

(Of course, the next question is not as easy for everyone to answer as it was for me. "How is the doctor going to get the baby out?" I had a C-section with the first baby, and knew this one would be the same way, so it is not so invasive for the answer.)

For your predicament, speak with your child's parents before speaking to him, but don't officially lie to him. It is not good in the long run. While I didn't tell 100% of the truth, it is all he needed to know, and he came up with the answer all himself.

Answer 7

My friend gave me this advice: tell them as much as they WANT to know. Start off with something easy, like "we prayed and god put her there" or Mommy and Daddy wished really hard and because they love each other, yadda, yadda. If they're happy with that answer, they'll stop asking. You'll know when they want more.

Of course, my husband's neice (4 years old at the time) asked me how the baby got in my belly, and I said we prayed real hard and god put him there. She thought for a moment and then said "well, my sister keeps praying for a horse, but I don't think she's got enough room, that's why god hasn't given her one." She dropped the conversation after that though, but we all had a good laugh!

Answer 8

I agree that it's not your place to answer that question. His parents should be the ones to talk with him about it--you never know what kind of explanation they want to give. Maybe they want to explain in terms of religion instead of science; maybe they'd rather have him read a book.

In any case, I know I'd be furious if the babysitter decided to teach my children about something as personal as baby-making.

Answer 9

If you're the babysitter, I would tell him that is a question he needs to ask his Mom. Tell her when she gets home that he is curious about where babies come from and you told him to ask her. She can take it from there.

Answer 10

first of all your answer must be age appropriate.
The truth always works, and don't veere from it.
The younger the child, the less technical you need be.
Since you're on the internet there are many sites that will help you with this. Just make sure the site you choose to use is reliable.