Non-clicky poll: talking to LO(s) about birds and bees

luckymrs.

When do you (and/or DH) plan to have "the talk" with your LO(s)?  I just read the title of an article that got me thinking. The girl is 10 and her mom is thinking about having the talk now. 

Is 10 "too old" (potentially too late to have the talk) these days?  

I know this is far in the future for many/most of us, but what are your plans?

tarebear9891

Whenever my children start "showing interest" is when we will be having "the talk." Unfortunately I think that age is getting younger and younger... 

adamwife

When my children bring it up to me or around puberty, whichever comes first.

102503Natalie

Ditto the PP.  I'll take my cues from them.  If they show an interest in it or ask me questions, I'll have the talk then.  I don't set timelines for anything.

CelticWife

When people ask me this question, I always end up thinking about the book Little Women. Meg's parents were shocked that Meg and her husband told their twins everything (well, not everything of course). Meg's husband John stated, "If they are old enough to ask the question, they are old enough to get the answer."

That is what I believe. And we will discuss things periodically as he grows up. I don't want him to learn things from his classmates. It is how I learned a lot of info and a lot of it was wrong.

DH will probably have several talks about various things as DS is growing up.

madhatter2003

It will go in stages as they are ready.

For example,  DD already knows that mommy had a baby in her belly (DS) and that the baby came out of mommy.  Mommy uses her boobs to feed the baby.  This is the level she is at now.  As she gets older we'll give her more, go into puberty changes, etc.

emiliemadison

My DD is four and she already knows the basics. She was curious and I told her -in age appropriate detail- the truth.

I dont believe in "the talk" because that implies that you only need ONE talk, and that it should happen at a certain age. I think kids should get age appropriate info starting as soon as they're old enough to talk- beginning with anatomically correct body parts. Then more content and details as they get older and have questions/are curious.

By ten, many girls are menstruating already and I think it's irresponsible to wait until then to explain how the body works and why. It's far easier to start the conversation at a very early age and keep the dialogue open. Not only will they never get crazy (ie: wrong) info from the playground, but they wont be embarrassed either because by the time they're old enough to BE embarrassed, they already know. JMO.