Usually, this is the first question a child will ask across the globe irrespective of the society and its culture. This is because a child is curious and he wants to know about the facts of the life, about himself and his uniqueness as a person.
mother should be simple and straightforward in answering the questions
The mothers need not get ashamed, shy, or angry upon hearing this question from your child, because he is neither being naughty nor crossing the boundaries of your cultural values.
In such situation the mother should be simple and straightforward in answering the question as thereafter his curiosity would be satisfied, and he would have the right information and knowledge.
Mothers should never tell them that they were brought into this world by a ‘Babaji’ (priest), that he has fallen from the sky, or that he was found in the garbage, so on and so forth.
And at the very same point, its not necessary to go into the technicalities and complexities of the sexual relationship and the nature of the reproduction system. At this point it gets important to answer the question as per the child’s age and capabilities.
These questions tend to occur in the child’s mind during the mother’s pregnancy
Usually, these questions tend to occur in the child’s mind during the mother’s pregnancy, or when he has heard about this in his school, from his friends or maybe watched something on the TV or mobile phones.
It gets more important for the parents of this generation to be careful due to the increasing popularity of the technology and social media as it becomes an important factor for a child being curious.
If the child is a between the age group of 2-4 years, the answer should be very simple; “my dear, you came into the world from your mummy’s tummy. You grew their until it was time for you to come out and enjoy.”
Whereas, if the child is between the age group of 4-6 years, then the answer should be, “My dear, if you are being told that you were brought into this world from some magic, then it’s a false information.
You were made with the help of your father’s seeds and mother’s eggs. Both joined together in your mother’s tummy and stay there until the time you were born. Dear baby, we both love you and the mixture of both of us in you.”
If the child is between 6-8 years of age, the answer should be:
“My baby, you were born out of your mother’s womb wherein your father’s seed which is called sperm entered through his testis and joined with your mother’s eggs to become you.”
Whereas if the child is 8-11 years of age, then remember that they are aware of the body parts, anatomy, and physiology of male and female.
Therefore, few terminologies could be used to describe the process such as, ovary, uterus, penis, breast, intercourse, pregnancy, and others.
There is nothing to feel embarrassed while discussing the sexual relationships and reproduction process with the children.
In my clinical practice of nearly 4 decades, my observation has been that when parents ignore the conversation relating to sex education, the curious child would try his hands on to different places to get the information and such people are usually strangers.
Here the risk of child abuse increases as they would try to explain through touching, fondling, and displaying of the genital to the child.
Therefore, I humbly request to all the parents to be transparent in giving sex education to your child, because sex education starts from home and should be from you only.
Thank you.