Your Grandmother's Secret for Finding Out the Baby's Sex

Your Grandmother's Secret for Finding Out the Baby's Sex

Last update: 08 February, 2018

Your grandmother’s secret method for predicting your baby’s sex is rather mythological. While these beliefs aren’t generally backed by scientific proof, they have been consistently passed down from generation to generation.

In any case, you would be lying if you said that you aren’t interested in finding out your baby’s sex.

When it comes to folk knowledge, it usually doesn’t do any harm, which is why many future mothers are encouraged to try out these methods to feel closer to tradition.

These methods consist of unscientific elements which cause curiosity and intrigue, but don’t pose a threat to the health of the mother or baby.

Your Grandmother's Secret for Finding Out the Baby's Sex

Grandmothers from another era as well as in more recent times have claimed to be able to predict what the baby’s sex will be just by taking a simple look at the mother.

The size and shape of her belly, as well as the way she walks and some variations of the pregnant woman’s appearance, are traits that would allow them to identify if there is a boy or girl to come.

Despite the mythological qualities of these methods, many people today claim that it’s possible to know the baby’s sex without having an  ultrasound. This is due to the remarkable number of success stories over time.

Among the most popular methods, some are extremely unlikely, while others have some level of scientific probability. However, it is not the degree of fiction that makes them popular, but rather the level of trust that people give to them.

In other words, these methods from grandmothers have become popular as more people endorse them over time. For whatever reason people have echoed these beliefs and made them popular to the point that they are still in force today.

Your Grandmother's Secret for Finding Out the Baby's Sex

Grandmother’s Secret for Finding Out the Baby’s Sex

As is well known, these methods were commonly used in the times when you had to wait till the baby was born to find out their sex.

No matter how crazy they were, they were popular. However, even today they lack medical basis.

Here are some of the popular methods:

  • It is believed that the position of the belly indicates the sex: if it is pointed upward the baby is female, and if it is pointed downward the baby is male.
  • The belly’s shape can also vary between boys and girls. A more pointed belly shape indicates the former, and a rounded shape indicates the latter.
  • Cravings for savory foods indicate that a son is coming, however if you crave sweets, it is a girl.
  • A woman gets prettier when she is going to have a girl. Her face looks more radiant and full. But if spots, acne, and dryness appear on your skin, you are having a male.
  • Grandmothers claim that the baby will be a boy if the mother gains weight that is concentrated in her buttocks instead of her waist.
  • Dreaming of a male child is an indication that the mother is expecting a girl and vice versa. This applies to any close family members who also have these dreams.
  • When a gold ring on a chain is placed over the palm of the mother’s hand or above her belly, the way that it moves could be an indication of the baby’s sex. If the chain and ring begin to move in circles the child will be female, but it could be male if they swing back and forth like a pendulum.
  • According to grandmothers’ methods of prediction, a female baby will cause more pronounced symptoms during pregnancy.
  • Putting a few drops of oil on the pregnant woman’s belly could be a method to determine the sex of your baby. For example, if the drops flow down very quickly, the baby is a male.
  • Your heart rate is also used as a prediction method. In this case, more than 140 beats per minute may indicate that you are about to have a girl.

All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Kooper, A. J., Pieters, J. J., Eggink, A. J., Feuth, T. B., Feenstra, I., Wijnberger, L. D., Rijnders, R. J., Quartero, R. W., Boekkooi, P. F., van Vugt, J. M., & Smits, A. P. (2012). Why do parents prefer to know the fetal sex as part of invasive prenatal testing?. ISRN obstetrics and gynecology, 2012, 524537. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530785/
  • Larsson, M., Berglund, M., Jarl, E., & Tydén, T. (2017). Do pregnant women want to know the sex of the expected child at routine ultrasound and are they interested in sex selection?. Upsala journal of medical sciences122(4), 254-259. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03009734.2017.1408723
  • McFadzen, M., Dielentheis, D. P., Kasten, R., Singh, M., & Grundle, J. (2017). Maternal Intuition of Fetal Gender. Journal of patient-centered research and reviews, 4(3), 125–130. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6664344/

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.