Fun Ways to Predict a Baby’s Gender

We’ve collected six of the most bananas ways to predict the gender of your baby. Quite frankly, we don’t really trust any of them much, which is why we recommend waiting for your 20-week ultrasound scan (1) to find out whether you’re having a girl or a boy, but let’s dive in anyway…

Could your cravings have the answer?

Lots of pregnant women have intense or strange food cravings and some people believe that the foods you hanker after can indicate girl or boy. If you crave salty foods you’re having a boy and if you’re having a girl you’ll crave - you guessed it - sugar and spice.

In reality, pregnancy cravings and food aversions are linked to your nutritional needs and hormones (2) rather than an old-fashioned nursery rhyme. You may well crave sugary foods because growing a human being can actually be quite tiring. Those pregnancy hormones can also affect your sense of smell and taste, leading to some strange food choices.

Some pregnant women don’t even have food cravings and morning sickness makes them avoid certain foods, so how do they find out their baby’s gender? Maybe they should ask the Mayans…

Ask the Ancient Mayans

This Ancient Mayan gender predictor involves a calendar and a basic grasp of math.

You note down your age at conception and also the year that you conceived in. If both of these numbers are odd or even, it’s definitely a baby girl and if one number is odd and one even it’s definitely a baby boy. Hmmm. Very odd indeed.

Hit up the web for your answers

Literally. An old Hungarian method of predicting a baby’s gender involves the expectant mom poking her finger into a spider’s web and carefully pulling it out again.

If the spider returns to repair the hole then a boy is on the way and if the web stays damaged then it’s a girl. That scan with its cold ultrasound gel is looking more and more attractive by the minute.

Talk to the hand…

…because if your hands are dry, you’re having a boy and if they’re soft and supple, you’re having a girl. Allegedly.

Which way is the ring swinging?

The ring test is possibly one of the best-known (although no more foolproof than the others) ways to predict a baby’s gender. No one knows where it comes from, but generations of expectant moms have laid down and let someone hang a wedding ring from a piece of string over their baby bump.

If the ring swings in a circular motion, it’s a girl, if it’s swinging in a straight line, it’s a boy. We’ll - ahem - suspend our judgement here.

Which way are you sleeping?

Take notice of your regular sleeping position because it can reveal whether you’re having a girl or boy. If you prefer to sleep on your left side, you’re having a boy and if you tend to wake up on your right side, you’re having a girl.

A word to the wise

These traditional gender prediction methods are old wives’ tales and so while they can be fun to try out (unless you hate spiders) they are in no way a substitute for modern science and sonography.

Citations and References

(1) Cleveland Clinic. ‘Ultrasound in Pregnancy.’ 2022. Web. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/9704-ultrasound-in-pregnancy

(2) VeryWell Family. ‘What to Know About Pregnancy Cravings.’ 2022. Web. www.verywellfamily.com/pregnancy-cravings-5069392