Julia asks:
Any useful sex/pregnancy education books for youngish kids? I have a 3 and 5 year old. They have a friend whose mother is pregnant and they are starting to ask pregnancy and “how babies are made” type questions. I want to be prepped and not super awkward about this. Any advice? The book “It’s Not the Stork” seems too advanced for 3 and 5 year olds, but maybe I’m mistaken.
I vaguely remember getting a very clinical description of where babies come from when I was five and my sister was on her way. (I feel like it was connected to my mom’s Bradley classes? Or maybe it was something specific for older siblings, I don’t remember… I just vaguely remember pictures of a woman’s reproductive system and one of those 3-d models of a pregnant woman’s belly). I did not at all connect that with the naughty “sex” thing that showed up on tv all the time that my mom would say was a bit old for me and maybe I shouldn’t be watching. (See: Three’s company reruns, Moonlighting, etc.)
I don’t think we did anything for DC1 when DC2 was on the way. Or maybe we checked out a bunch of stuff from the library? I can’t actually remember! So… not the best advice here. Looking at some of the lists a lot of those covers look familiar, so I think we did get the Facts of Life by Miller and Pelham from the library and Baby on the Way by William and Martha Sears, though I think there was something off about it (and it’s for the situation where you are the one having a new baby, not a friend’s mom), and Being Born by Kitzinger and Nilsson. The first and last are quite clinical. I think we got Where do babies come from by Sheffield, but I feel like there was something off about it as well.
Here’s some lists of suggestions from Dr. Google:
In short: Libraries are awesome– see what your library has on the topic and what works for you and your kids.
Grumpy Nation, do you have better recommendations?
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 