Monday, January 3, 2011

Baby Questioning: Part 1

 I knew this was going to come eventually and I have been trying to prepare myself but I was caught off guard and failed. Miserably.


Maddie: Hey mommy how does the baby get out of your belly?
Me: uhh umm. Well the doctor takes the baby out.
Maddie: But HOW does the baby get out?
Me: Well when the baby gets big enough and mommy's belly is big enough the doctor says lets get that baby out and then we have a baby.
Maddie: But HOW does the baby get out?
Me: Umm. Well. I don't know.

Yeah I believe that is a big ole mom FAIL. I told my poor innocent child that her clueless mommy has no idea how the baby is going to get out. Crap. 

Thankfully she was rather distracted with Playhousedisney.com and her Chick-Fil-A milkshake enough to not continue with her line of questioning. Clearly this mommy needs to be Googling how on earth to explain to your very curious 4 year old daughter the who, what, where, when and how of baby making. YIKES!

13 comments:

Leah said...

my friend just went through this with her son, he's 5! she told me (for my own future reference if/when) to remember to keep it simple and you don't have to go into the hows of baby making just yet. all she wants to know is how the baby gets out..all the rest is for another time! good luck!!

A Mommy's World said...

My son is asking the same question about his sister (due in April). I believe I told him that I would have to go to the hospital for a few days and that the doctors would help the baby come out. It IS hard to know what to tell them! :-P I am going to get some books from the library soon about having a new baby. :-P That might help!

Georgine said...

B wasn't 2 1/2 when I was pregnant with Charley. I told her the simplified truth. I used the correct terms (she didn't really ask how the baby got there - at that time - she has since and received a simple answer). They really should learn the proper terms, so that they are comfortable with them. There is a book by Dr. Sears - Baby on the Way. Though I cannot remember if it says how the baby comes out. B really liked the book.

Congratulations again on the new baby. I hope you are having a easy pregnancy.

Lila Jo said...

I am due in four months, and my (almost) 4 year old asked the same thing. I have c-sections, and I explained how that works. She is now totally terrified of all of my checkups thinking the doctor is going to start slicing me open at any minute. Not an easy topic!

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

I kept it simple with my girls, we call our anatomy by the proper names and I'm very honest and say the baby comes out of there cause that's what it's for-- When it's time for the baby to come out, and it's done growing, the mom's body will push it out of there and the doctors will give mommy medicine to make it not hurt.

I didn't get into how the baby gets inside, I just say it grows from a teeny tiny egg - which is true....the best part, is my oldest daughter calls it, "the baby hole"

Well, the kid does have a point. : ) Good luck!

Krulls in Haiti said...

That is so funny! I actually did the same thing, then finally a few weeks before the big day I broke the news in real terms. My three and a half year old daughter got so upset and yelled, "NO... the baby comes out of your feet, you're wrong Mommy!"... I have no idea where she got that, but boy is she in for a rude awakening!!

Heidi @ Happiness is Homemade said...

Oh man, I totally went through this with my older two a few months ago. I just told them that there's a special place on Mommys' bodies called "the birth canal" that's there especially for getting the babies out lol...luckily they're boys, so they weren't so interested in trying to figure out where that was or wanting to see it! My mom always used that one on us when we were kids, so it was nice to see it still works :)

Lots of Fun with My FaMiLy said...

Both of my girls were delivered by c-section so when they talk about their births they refer to it as the "zipper way". The Dr cut my belly open like a big zipper and pulled them out then "zippered" (sewed, glued & stapled) my belly shut again.
Congrats!!!

I was chosen to receive the Stylish blogger award and I got to pick bloggers I thought deserved the award as well and you were one of my choices

Check it out here
http://lotsoffunwithmyfamily.blogspot.com/2011/01/stylish-blogger-award.html

Anonymous said...

You should ask your daughter how she thinks the baby gets out....first of all her answer probably make you laugh and sometimes their answer will suffice their curiousity for the time being. otherwise like the others said have a plan and explain as much as you feel comfortable with, use right terms and books always help in any situation such as this.
:)
Lauren
(long time reader first time commenter)

Anonymous said...

You should ask your daughter how she thinks the baby gets out....first of all her answer probably make you laugh and sometimes their answer will suffice their curiousity for the time being. otherwise like the others said have a plan and explain as much as you feel comfortable with, use right terms and books always help in any situation such as this.
:)
Lauren
(long time reader first time commenter)

Stacy said...

I think the book we read to explain this was called Babies Don't Eat Pizza. It explained (in kids terms) how the baby comes out. It was really great for us.

Cassie said...

LOL. You didn't tell her the stork drops the baby off? That's my plan.

Brandy said...

My daughter is the same age as Maddie, both being July 06 kiddos (I think we sent you stickers once for sticker club on cafemom and you once sent me a pink bear that is just like Elisabeth's teddy--it is our backup bear). Anyway, we actually just had this same conversation at supper on Tuesday (I'm due with #3 on May 3). When I was pregnant with my 2-year old Elisabeth thought she knew exactly how the baby would come out. She said it would come out the baby belly door. So, that's what we've been calling it. However, she wanted to know where it was and what exactly it was. Fortunately my husband read a book to the girls about babies and it explained how they develop from an egg, all the way until it comes out. Then it skipped the coming out part. So, she already knew all about the placenta (sack in her terms), and the amniotic fluid (water). So, I told her that when he was ready to come out he would pop the plug like in the bathtub (no lie there) and that all of the water would come gushing out. I said then he'd start telling me it was time to come out by moving into position. I told her that I'd go to the hospital and then I'd push him out. She wanted to know where I pushed him out from, so I asked her where she thought. So, we finally reached the conclusion that it comes out the vagina (we use real terms here). I explained that he will tell my body he's ready to come out and then I'd push him out my vagina. She was fine with that answer and hasn't asked again since. She even said she wanted to be there to see it happen--I don't think so! But anyway, good luck and I strongly suggest looking at your library for very kid friendly books. I think Eve Bunting even wrote one.