Old Wives Tales Used for Baby Gender Prediction
Posted by 
July 6, 2012 •
Nowadays so many pregnant women find out if they are having a boy or a girl through an ultrasound, usually around 20 weeks. While there are still people who choose to keep it a surprise, I am not one of them. I like to know! And we’ll (hopefully!) be finding out in a couple weeks. Still, it’s fun to try and guess whether you plan on finding out at the birth or beforehand. In fact, it seems women have been guessing for years and coming up with all sorts of methods to predict what mama is carrying in her womb. (Also, I know the proper terminology is predicting baby’s sex rather than gender, but gender prediction is the commonly used term.)
So, I went looking for a list of old wives tales and found a great listing over at Parents.com. There are several I didn’t try to do or I felt didn’t apply very well, so I’m sharing the results I did get and lets see if we can guess what Baby #2 is!
Old Wives Tales to Predict Baby’s Gender
I will share the basic “test” and my result. I guess whichever gets more votes wins?
- Sleep position – I prefer sleeping on my right = Girl
- I’ve hardly had any morning sickness = Boy (I had some with Rissa but not bad)
- Food Cravings – I’m not exactly craving fruit but I am wanting/choosing it more so I guess that means Girl
- Sugar & spice cravings – Cravings for salty food is boy and sweets is girl…. umm I like both a lot.
- Acne – I had a small breakout = Girl
- Graceful or Clumsy - I’m a little more clumsy than usual but was also last time! = Boy
- Mood swings (who doesn’t have those while preggo?!) = Girl
- High or low belly – I have a high belly already (again!) = Girl
- Baby weight – I’m expanding all around my middle (though I’m not technically gaining much for weight) = Girl
- Model Your Hands - I show palms up = Girl
- Even and Odd Numbers based on my age and year of conception – I have mixed numbers (did last time too) = Boy
- Baby’s Heartbeat - If it’s more than 150 times per minute, it’s a girl; less than 150, it’s a boy. (I haven’t been given a heart rate yet!)
- Stress Test - Baby will likely be the same sex as the parent who is less stressed at conception = Girl (Totally wrong last time though! I was crazy stressed at work)
- Dream Meanings - You’ll have the opposite of what you dream about while preggo = Boy (I’ve only had one dream so far about having a girl, but last time I had several dreams about having a little girl!)
Total: Girl – 7; Boy – 4… hmm….
Next week I’ll share some more gender prediction tests as well as the results of prediction tests done by some fellow bloggers!
Did you pay attention to any of the old wives tales? Were they right?
______
Image credit: AJC1 @ Flickr
Tags: Biological Sex, gender prediction, old wives tales
The biggest wives tale I knew, was if the husband had sympathy pains and weight gain = girls. It was right.
Horrible heart burn = girl it was right.
But of course, all the “girl” symptoms from your list I had with my boys too so…I don’t really believe the wives tales, but they are definitely fun to learn about.
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Hubby claims no sympathetic symptoms or weight gain but who knows if he’s hiding it so I don’t blog about it? LolSyrana
I am 35 weeks pregnant and I definitely believe in some old wives tales! Like worse morning sickness for girls and Baby weight. I wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy!!
Oriana from MommyhoodsDiary recently posted..Extreme Heat ~ Tips and Tricks
Some are quite plausible I think while others are kind of silly. But they are still fun! Thank you and I hope the last few weeks go smoothly for you.Syrana
The only one that was ever given to me was how I was carrying my children–high & low. I had six children altogether. The first three I carried high–all three girls. The last three I carried low–all three boys.
Danielle @ Royalegacy recently posted..Einstein MIMOBOT Flash Drive: REVIEW and GIVEAWAY 7/20 USroyalegacy
Wow! I always thought how you carried was really just about your body but you had 100% accuracy with that one. Very interesting!Syrana
These are fun to try while you are anxiously awaiting your ultrasound but none have been proven correct. There are many people who they are accurate for but many who they are not. The heartrate one was accurate for me. My girls were both around 160 and my boy was 135. Also for me, my pregnancy with the girls was exactly the same but my boy was different. However the girls were also closer together and I was 3.5 years older when I was pregnant with the boy so could be that too.
I think you’ll have another girl (but not because of the old wives tales)
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There are so many factors that can affect how you feel while pregnant that I think we forget about sometimes. I did read somewhere (gotta find it again!) that medically there is some truth to the heart rate one but it’s still not a very accurate predictor overall. Next week we should know!Syrana
Have you ever heard of the pencil test? When my friends and I were all in our baby-making years, we all swore by this test. I don’t remember the exact details of how to read the results, but you put a threaded needle into the eraser end of a pencil. Then you hold the needle so that the pencil lead swings over the inside bend of your outstretched arm. If it swings one way it’s a girl, the other it’s a boy (that’s the part I don’t remember which is which;o) But, I have four kids and it was right for me each time. Maybe you could google it. Good luck.
I’ll have to look this one up – never heard of it…though I’ve heard of a few similar ones using wedding rings and another a charm. One you do over the belly, the other your wrist. It’s amazing how many tests are out there!Syrana
The only old wives tale I absolutely believe in is morning sickness for a girl! I have a boy and 2 girls, and both my girls I had severe nausea and nothing with my boy! So excited to find out what you’re having!!!thefrugalette
These are great! I was just as sick with my two boys as with my two girls… So fun!
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Well I was deathly sick with my boy. With my girl, I was slightly sick but no where near what I has with my boy. I craved sweet things with haylet and salty foods with Zane, which I heard does add up. I do tend to somewhat agree with wives tales!
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I think it’s so interesting how differently we all experience our pregnancies! When my results are mixed like craving sweet and salty my dad likes to joke about twins lolSyrana
The only one that was right for me was babies first word. Mama= girl next, Dada=boy next. This was accurate twice.
I’ve never heard that one – very interesting! Rissa said dada before mama so that’d be boy next if true.Syrana
im thinking another girl for you too
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I’m kinda thinking that too ;)Syrana
I hardly had any morning sickness with my DAUGHTER, Amber. :D
Dawn
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Some were right for me, some were wrong.
With my last pregnancy here’s what I got
Slept on right side: Girl
Nausea, but not sick: Boy (I didn’t have nausea OR sickness with my daughter either)
Soft hands: Girl
Acne: girl
Graceful/Clumsy: graceful Boy
Fuller face: Girl
Cravings: I craved juice with my daughter and everything salty with my son
Mood: Boy
High belly: girl
Baby weight: Boy (but I did gain ALL OVER, but you couldn’t tell from the back)
model hands: don’t know
Even and odd: Boy
Heartbeat: girl
breast size: boy (but my left is always larger)
Girl- 6 boy- 6
He was a little boy! So it’s 50% right lol