If you’re looking for the secret for how to conceive a baby boy naturally, you’ve come to the right place.
We know that all moms want a healthy baby and pregnancy. We’d also be lying if we didn’t admit that sometimes we have a gender preference.
While we at ‘The Moms At Odds’ don’t really disagree on this topic, the issue itself is pretty controversial. Is it even possible to increase your chances to conceive a boy?
Well, it just so happens that you’re in luck because your chances of a baby boy are already slightly higher since there are more boys born each year than girls.
You don’t have to completely leave it up to chance though. We’re going to talk about it all – from the foods to eat to conceive a boy, to the best timing of intercourse, and even the more “out there” ideas like the best month to conceive a boy. Some of the ideas may involve a lot of time and planning, but others are simple adjustments you can make to put the odds ever so slightly in your favor.
So if you’re desperately trying for a baby boy, check out these tips. Since we’re mainly science and fact driven, let’s start there…
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Is There a Proven, Scientific Way That Tells Us How to Conceive a Baby Boy Naturally?
Short answer: NO, there is no proven 100% guaranteed method that will tell you how to conceive a boy.
Long answer: There are multiple suggestions and recommendations that are based on scientific fact.
Let’s do a quick review of sex-ed. The sex of a baby is determined by the male partner, namely by his sperm.
A fertilized embryo gets two chromosomes, one from the female egg and one from the male sperm. Women have two X chromosomes (X,X), so mom will always provide an X for baby in her egg. Men have an X and a Y and can pass along either one. Each sperm has either the X -or- Y chromosome.
So if you want to have a baby boy, you want to increase the chances that one of those Y sperm make it to your egg first. Sounds easy enough, right?
The Y chromosome is physically smaller than the X chromosome (since they lack that extra leg the X has) and that makes the Y sperm faster. This suggests that you have a higher chance of conceiving a boy on ovulation day, as the male sperm swim faster and would be more likely to reach the egg first.
X sperms, by contrast, are heavier and therefore slower swimmers. They are also more resilient and can remain in a woman’s body longer.
This is an extremely important point to understand, as almost all theories that explain how to conceive a baby boy naturally are based on this concept of Y sperm being smaller and faster.
This goes hand in hand with understanding the timing of your ovulation. While you can technically track your ovulation with nothing more than your fingers and a journal (namely by evaluating your cervical mucus on a daily basis), technology has ways to make this soooo much easier.
For all families trying to conceive (no matter the desired gender), we highly recommend investing in the Clearblue Advanced Digital Ovulation Predictor Kit
Skip the regular strips (like these
Another good idea is to track your cycle (and even things like cervical mucus and/or basal body temperature) with an app on your phone. There are even apps specific for ovulation calculation for a boy! While this doesn’t have the physical information like the aforementioned digital tests, it can give you a rough idea of when you are ovulating.
READ 5 Important Considerations on When to Announce Pregnancy
The Shettles Method
When talking gender prediction, the Shettles method is definitely the most well-known and popular.
How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby
The beauty of the Shettles method is that it’s thorough and easy to understand. The book goes into a lot of detail explaining anatomy, reproduction, and ovulation tracking. They use science to give recommendations about everything from diet, to timing intercourse, and even sex positions.
The biggest point, however, of the Shettles method is timing. Remember that since Y (or “boy”) sperm are fast swimmers, if you have sex the day before or even the day of ovulation the chances are higher you will conceive a boy. The fast Y sperm will beat out the slow X sperm in the search for the egg.
On a similar note, avoid having sex 2-4 days before ovulation. Those are the days most likely to conceive a girl. This is because the resilient X sperm can hang around for almost a week in a woman’s body while the smaller/weaker Y sperm are likely to die off before ovulation even occurs.
I highly recommend reading How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby
One nice bonus of using the Shettles method to conceive a boy is that it will overall increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Peak fertility is the day before ovulation, which means it’s both the best chance of becoming pregnant and for conceiving a boy. Win-win!
READ I’m Pregnant, Now What: The Best First Trimester Checklist
What Foods to Eat to Conceive a Boy
Perhaps you’ve heard the old wives’ tale that eating bananas will make you conceive a boy.
Well, it turns out this may not be as odd as it sounds.
One theory behind eating certain foods is that it will create a more alkaline vaginal environment which would favor Y carrying (boy) sperm. That said, there is a lot of conflicting information about which foods create alkaline and acidic vaginal conditions as well as how much your food actually impacts vaginal pH.
Don’t write off the baby boy diet yet. There is some scientific research to back up the claim that certain foods can impact gender.
In fact, this study found that women who ate a diet higher in potassium and nutrients (and oddly enough, breakfast cereal) were more likely to conceive boys than the women who ate fewer calories and skipped breakfast.
Another baby boys diet possibility could include high sodium as this study showed a correlation between a low sodium diet and conceiving girls.
So if you want to try out a baby boy diet, consider increasing your calories with high sodium and potassium foods. This would be foods like bananas and potatoes – and don’t skip your breakfast cereal. While not a particularly healthy way to eat, I wouldn’t turn down a reason to eat more fries.
Also, talk with your doctor before making any big dietary changes.
Increase Sperm Count
Higher sperm counts could favor conceiving a baby boy.
There’s even some science to back this up. This study showed that as sperm count decreased, so did the proportion of Y carrying sperm. So lower sperm meant even less boy sperm.
Unless your partner has low sperm count, you don’t really have to worry about increasing it so much as simply not lowering it.
Good overall health, exercise, and enough sleep can help keep that sperm count up. Avoid the common causes of lowered sperm count like smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, and stress.
Another common cause to avoid is heat. In this study, X carrying sperm (“girl” sperm) were able to survive better under warmer temperatures than the Y carrying sperm.
Switch out those briefs for boxers to keep everything cooler and that sperm count up.
The best part is that increasing sperm count also increases your chances of conceiving in general, which is the ultimate goal.
READ Midwife vs. OB GYN: Which is the Best Option for You?
Sex Positions to Conceive a Boy
While the suggestion of your sex position determining baby’s gender may seem crazy, there’s actual science to support the idea.
Remember what we said earlier about the difference between the X and Y sperm: Y sperm (or “boy” sperm) are smaller and therefore swim faster. This would imply that if sperm are placed deep inside of the vagina (ie. near the cervix), the swimmers have a shorter distance to travel to reach the egg. Therefore those sprinting Y sperm get a running start and are more likely to complete the journey first and fertilize.
So when evaluating sex positions for how to conceive a baby boy naturally, think of ones that involve deep penetration. Having sex “doggy style” is often recommended as the best position when trying to conceive a baby boy. The second recommendation is girl-on-top straddling.
Some also believe that sex standing up can increase your chances of conceiving a boy. The thinking is that male sperm can do better against gravity as they are stronger swimmers.
The Ever-Important Big O
While we’re on the topic of sex, let’s just get into the thick of it. Dr. Shettles also explains in his book that female orgasm creates an alkaline environment in your vagina. If you read the “foods to eat to conceive a boy” earlier, you know this can make those Y sperm live and last longer (thus increasing your chances of conceiving a baby boy).
Talk about your win-win situations! Both partners can get off and you increase your chances for conceiving a baby boy naturally.
The Chinese Gender Chart
The Chinese Gender Prediction Chart uses a woman’s lunar age and month of conception to predict a baby’s gender and is most often referenced as a “fun” way to guess during pregnancy.
It can also be used to select your preferred gender. Based on your age, you can determine the best month to conceive a boy this year.
But that all depends on whether or not the chart is accurate. The fact of the matter is that we couldn’t find any real research, but anecdotal claims range from 50% to 93% accuracy.
Part of this discrepancy could be because there is a lot of confusion about lunar age. I had seen these charts posted in mom groups and had no clue that I was reading it all wrong because I didn’t realize this distinction.
Now that we understand how to read the chart better, it is 75% accurate predicting the gender of our combined four pregnancies.
Want to give it a try? This website makes it really easy to read the charts by showing age using a Western calendar.
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