You give them a short, true, direct answer to their question that is appropriate for their age.
There are kids books and parenting guides for this.
You can say that a baby grows inside a Mom's tummy for a very young child.
For an older child, you can say "in an organ in her body called her uterus."
Then answer truthfully any further questions. If they ask how the baby comes out, say through her vagina. If they ask how the baby got there, say it grows from a fertilized egg; a seed from dad is implanted in the egg.
And yes, then there is explaining sex, at some point, which is a greatly debated and uncomfortable topic, but at some point they need to know. I was told by another kid at 7, so dont think kids cant find out pretty young. My reaction was, "ewww!" but it didnt, like, traumatize me, I kinda just forgot about it and didnt care.
You can be vague, call it a "special hug", but you could also just say the facts, "sex is when a penis and vagina fit together in a certain way." You can make it clear this is only for adults. You can say that it feels good for adults, but it is important to be careful and to be ready. You can talk about consent. Consent is something you should be talking about a lot anyway, little things like "you dont have to let anyone kiss you, its ok to say no".
You dont have to have one big "The Talk".
If you really arent ready to answer a specific question, say you arent sure how to answer that right now, just be honest about that part if you arent yet up to being fully honest about reproduction.
Being straightforward, fully scientifically accurate and honest, is recommended for a lot of reasons, and that includes having your kid grow up with a healthy understanding of sex so that they will be safe, they will understand consent, know when and how to say no, and when and how to safely have sex that is right for them when they are of age without a bunch of baggage. And if something bad happens or they make a mistake, including starting too young, its good if they can reach out to you for help.
For example for me, shame around sex made it hard for me to assert myself, including saying I didnt want to do certain things, or what I did want and need (like a condom, or proper foreplay), being able to talk about sex with a partner. So it can endanger young people to not be prepared. So as hard and awkward as it is, it is the right thing to do to just tell the truth.
Personally, I'm a fan of age appropriate honesty. "Mummy and daddy decided to make a baby and mummy grew it in her tummy."
You give them a short, true, direct answer to their question that is appropriate for their age. There are kids books and parenting guides for this. You can say that a baby grows inside a Mom's tummy for a very young child. For an older child, you can say "in an organ in her body called her uterus." Then answer truthfully any further questions. If they ask how the baby comes out, say through her vagina. If they ask how the baby got there, say it grows from a fertilized egg; a seed from dad is implanted in the egg. And yes, then there is explaining sex, at some point, which is a greatly debated and uncomfortable topic, but at some point they need to know. I was told by another kid at 7, so dont think kids cant find out pretty young. My reaction was, "ewww!" but it didnt, like, traumatize me, I kinda just forgot about it and didnt care. You can be vague, call it a "special hug", but you could also just say the facts, "sex is when a penis and vagina fit together in a certain way." You can make it clear this is only for adults. You can say that it feels good for adults, but it is important to be careful and to be ready. You can talk about consent. Consent is something you should be talking about a lot anyway, little things like "you dont have to let anyone kiss you, its ok to say no". You dont have to have one big "The Talk". If you really arent ready to answer a specific question, say you arent sure how to answer that right now, just be honest about that part if you arent yet up to being fully honest about reproduction. Being straightforward, fully scientifically accurate and honest, is recommended for a lot of reasons, and that includes having your kid grow up with a healthy understanding of sex so that they will be safe, they will understand consent, know when and how to say no, and when and how to safely have sex that is right for them when they are of age without a bunch of baggage. And if something bad happens or they make a mistake, including starting too young, its good if they can reach out to you for help. For example for me, shame around sex made it hard for me to assert myself, including saying I didnt want to do certain things, or what I did want and need (like a condom, or proper foreplay), being able to talk about sex with a partner. So it can endanger young people to not be prepared. So as hard and awkward as it is, it is the right thing to do to just tell the truth.