Will it be a Boy or a Girl?: Gender-predicting Old Wives Tales

Old wives’ tales are little more than super-circulated rumors. Never proven to be true, they’re sayings and adages that generations of women have passed down to one another regarding family health (“Eating carrots improves your vision”), safe parenting (“Wait an hour after eating before swimming”), and — most popularly — pregnancy.

Little is known about the origins of the following old wives’ tales regarding how to guess a baby’s sex, but many pregnant women today still swing chains above their bellies and examine how they’re carrying to determine what they’re having. Whether you’re trying to guess your own baby’s gender or looking for shower games for a friend, read on for the top ways women have guessed: boy or girl?

Body Changes

If you prefer sleeping on your left side, you’ll have a boy. Right side? A girl.

Extreme nausea means you are having a girl.

If your hands are dry, you are having a boy; soft — expect a girl.

If you’re craving citrus, you’re having a girl.

If your skin breaks out, expect a girl.

If you feel graceful during pregnancy, you’ll have a girl. Clumsy? It’s a boy.

If you gain weight in your face, it means you’re having a girl.

Craving salt? Expect a boy. A little something sweet? You’re having a girl.

If your right breast is larger than the left, you are having a girl. If the left is larger, a boy.

Feeling extremely moody? Expect a girl.

How Are You Carrying?

If baby is low, expect a boy. High, it’s a girl.

If you’re carrying in front, it’s a boy. All around your middle? A girl.

Dangling Chains

Try These Scenarios:

Dangle a chain with a charm over your palm. If it swings back and forth: boy. In a circle: girl.

How would you show someone your hands? Palms up? It’s a girl. Down? A boy.

Hang a ring on a chain over your belly. Swings back and forth? It’s a girl. In a circular motion, a boy.

If a toddler boy shows interest in your belly, you’ll have a girl. If he ignores you, it’s a boy.

Guess the baby’s sex by eating garlic. If the smell seeps out of your pores — boy. No scent — girl.

If you pick up a key by the round end, you’re having a boy. If it’s by the long end? A girl.

Conception Clues

If your age and year of conception are both even or odd, it’s girl. One even, one odd means a boy.

If the baby’s heart beats more than 150 times per minute, you’ll have a girl. Less than 150, a boy.

A child tends to be of the same sex as the parent who is less stressed at the time of conception.

If you dream about having a girl, you will wind up having a boy and vice versa.

For more, check out our Pregnancy Week by Week Guide and Pregnancy Shopping List

With thanks to our partners over at parents.com for sharing this collection of age-old superstitions and myths about gender prediction. There’s lots more (serious) pregnancy info to check out on their site.