How do I answer a 2-4 year old's questions about babies?
When a two year old is asking a question about babies, it's important to know your child who's two, which is different than your neighbor's child who's two, because everyone is different and they develop differently on cognitive and intellectual ways. You're going to try to know your child and answer, but in general, two year olds really do a lot more without language. They can perceive it better, so it's like you want to describe a cup of coffee without using words. You want to use symbols, you want to draw it out for them, so those are the ways you want to describe a baby to them. It's focused on the baby coming and not the actual process. It's not a lot of language. It's a lot of symbols, and a lot of drawing and those kind of things. Non-language ways. If you have an older child, like in the 4 to 7 year age range, you're going to really want to do more language. They can understand a little bit more concepts, so you might want to draw to show them, and you may want to talk to them. Whatever the stage you're child is at, is really how you're going to describe it, but for the 2 to 4 year age of child, you're going to use less language because they're not going to really get the language. The language that they do use is egocentric, it's really about them. The 4 to 7 year olds are much more able to use language that doesn't apply to them. They can look at a concept and use their language. Two year olds are really all about me. The language you use is how I got there, so if you do use language, it's "you were brought into the world this way", or "babies like you were brought in like this". It's best to do it that way, with language, and then draw on it if you can.
