Published on November 19th, 2019
Becoming a new parent comes with a host of exciting things to decide: the name of your baby, the color of their nursery, and later, what advice you’ll give them before their first date. One particularly special decision is when to find out your baby’s gender/sex. This often happens around the 18-20 week ultrasound but can be done reliably as early as 6 weeks. If you want to guess your chances of having a boy or girl for yourself, we’ve brought you 10 fun old wives tales about pregnancy and gender prediction. For a blend of fun and science, try our gender test quiz, which provides insights while you wait for your ultrasound. While these 10 pregnancy myths lack science backed reliability, they can be fun for you and your family to try at home!
What’s Below:
- Ring Gender Test
- Baking Soda Gender Test
- Red Cabbage Gender Test
- Baby Heartbeat Gender Test
- Where you’re Carrying the Weight
- Partner’s Weight Gain
- Pregnancy Acne Gender Test
- Morning Sickness Gender Test
- Pregnancy Cravings – Sweet vs Salty
- Breast Size and Nipples Gender Test
1. Ring Gender Test
What is the Ring Gender Test?
Myth: The ring gender test, also known as the necklace gender test, pregnancy ring test, or ring on a string test, is a pregnancy myth performed to determine the sex of a baby very early. The test uses the motion of a ring on a necklace or string over a pregnant belly and claims to determine if the pregnant woman is having a boy or a girl.
How to Perform the Ring Gender Test
Tie your wedding ring-although any ring will do-to a long piece of string or through a necklace. Lie flat on your back with your baby bump toward the sky. Have a partner or friend dangle the wedding ring inches above the pregnant mama’s belly button. Watch the subtle movements of the threaded ring. Back and forth movement over the unborn baby indicates it’s a baby boy. Circular movement means it’s a baby girl.
2. Baking Soda Gender Test
What is the Baking Soda Gender Test?
Myth: This commonly shared baking soda test is a pregnancy myth that tests a pregnant mothers urine to determine the sex of her baby. This wives’ tale claims that urine reacting with baking soda can determine if it’s a boy or a girl.
How to Perform the Baking Soda Gender Test
Place the two tablespoons of baking soda intoa small containers. Next, take one of the containers with you to the bathroom; it’s time to collect a urine sample. Once you have your urine sample, combine it with the baking soda and give it a gentle stir. If it fizzes, it’s a boy. If it doesn’t react, it’s a girl. In reality, the fizzing is just carbon dioxide gas, a natural byproduct when sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) reacts with an acid. Thus, the more acidic the urine, the more bubbles will form.
3. Red Cabbage Gender Test
What is the Red Cabbage Gender Test?
Myth: This is another interesting gender test that mothers have sworn by time and time again. The claim is that the baby’s gender may be determined by examining the color of liquid after combining urine and liquid from boiled cabbage.
How to Perform the Red Cabbage Gender Test
Cut half a head of red cabbage into roughly one inch pieces. In a medium sized saucepan, cover the cabbage in cold water and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to let the mixture simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and wait for it to cool.Strain the boiled cabbage water into a clear container-it should be a deep purple color.
Next, collect the urine sample. Then measure out equal parts cabbage water and equal parts urine. Combine the two in a third mixing container, stir gently, and observe the color of the chemical reaction to determine your baby’s gender.If the liquid turns to a reddish-pink color, then you’re having a boy. If the liquid remains unchanged or takes on a greenish or purple hue, then you’re having a girl.
Much like the last test, this doesn’t truly determine your baby’s gender, it tests if the urine sample is highly acidic or not. When cabbage water mixes with an acid, the reaction turns reddish-pink; when it mixes with a base, the reaction turns the liquid green.To learn more about this gender predicting fallacy, check out our article on the Accuracy of Urine Gender Tests.
4. Baby Heartbeat Gender Test
What is the Baby Heartbeat Gender Test?
This gender test was once used in medical practice to determine the baby’s sex, but has since been disproven. Nevertheless, this wives’ tale lives on and suggests a faster fetal heart rate indicates a baby girl, and a slower fetal heart rate is a baby boy.
How to Perform the Baby Heartbeat Gender Test
In this test, you’ll need to hear the heartbeat of your baby and determine its heart rate in beats per minute. If you have an at home fetal heart monitor, you can listen to the fetal heart rate at around 16 weeks while having a friend or partner help you count how many beats happen in 10 seconds. Then multiply this number by 6, and you have beats per minute.
- If the bpm is over 140, you’re having a girl
- If the bpm is under 140, you’re having a boy
In 2006, however, a paper was published from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from Wright State University on exactly this matter. In the study, they examined 244 female fetal heart rates and 233 male fetal heart rates and did not find a statistically significant difference between the two.
5. Where You’re Carrying the Weight Test
What is the Weight Carrying Gender Test?
Myth: Where you’re carrying the baby weight will indicate the gender of your baby.
How to Perform the Weight Carrying Gender Test
This pregnancy tale claims you should take a look in the mirror or ask friends and family if you’re carrying high or low.
- If you’re carrying the weight high, it’s a girl
- If you’re carrying the weight low, it’s a boy
Whether there’s a scientific link here or not has yet to be proven. But physicians are not hopeful. Here are some reasons why you might be carrying high or low:
- Your natural body shape
- The baby’s positioning inside you
- Your posture and postural muscles
- How strong your pelvic floor is
6. Partner’s Weight Gain Test
What is the Partner’s Weight Gain Gender Test?
Myth: Examining the weight gain and sympathetic symptoms of your partner will give insight into your baby’s sex.
How to Perform the Partner’s Weight Gain Gender Test
While we’re on the subject of a weight-watching game, here’s another one:
- If your partner gains weight alongside you, you’re having a little boy.
- If your partner stays the same weight, you’re having a little girl.
This, however, has been linked to the empathy levels of your partner rather than to the genetic makeup of your growing baby.
Couvade Syndrome
The real reason behind your partner gaining weight is something known as Couvade syndrome. Men who are empathic and share in their partner’s distress will go through some of the discomforts of pregnancy, including:
- Weight gain
- Morning sickness (that’s right)
- Dysregulated hormone levels
- Trouble sleeping or irregular sleep patterns
7. Pregnancy Acne Gender Test
What is the Pregnancy Acne Gender Test?
Myth:The pregnancy acne gender test givesinsight to your baby’s sex based on whether or not you develop acne during the first trimester.
How to Perform the Pregnancy Acne Gender Test
- If you have acne, you’re having a girl.
- If you don’t, you’re having a boy.
The phrase “pregnancy glow” is often used to describe pregnant women. If your acne gets in the way of your skin complexion shining, then the old wives’ tales gender prediction says you are having a girl. It’s said that a daughter steals her mother’s beauty, thus the reason for acne.
While around 50% of mothers experience acne during pregnancy, the link is not due to the gender of the baby. It’s due to the increase of hormones and oil on the skin-which is specific to the individual mom and can happen regardless of the gender.
8. Morning Sickness Gender Test
What is the Morning Sickness Gender Test?
Myth: having a little girl will cause severe morning sickness due to the increased production of hCG hormones in the body.
How to Perform the Morning Sickness Gender Test
Do you have severe morning sickness? While the production of hCG hormones is known to cause morning sickness, and while it’s higher in women who are carrying baby girls, the unaccounted-for factor is how the woman’s body reacts. Two women could experience different degrees of morning sickness with the same levels of hCG in the same way two women could experience different degrees of pain from a broken bone. Every body is different.
Women carrying either gender can have severe morning sickness. Only looking at one factor doesn’t offer the full picture.
9. Pregnancy Cravings – Sweet vs Salty Test
What is the Cravings Gender Test?
Myth: different types of cravings can predict gender.
How to Perform the Cravings Gender Test
How Well Does the Cravings Gender Test Work?
- If you are having salty cravings, it’s a boy.
- If you are craving sweets, it’s a girl.
According to science, there is evidence that pregnancy cravings are, in fact, real. But is there a relationship between pregnancy cravings and gender? It appears not. Cravings are most often tied to hormonal changes or an indication a pregnant woman is in need of nutrients.
10. Breast Size & Nipples Gender Test
What is the Breast Size Gender Test?
Myth: a pregnant woman can determine the baby’s sex by her first trimester breast size
How to Perform the Breast Size Gender Test
This tale claims that if the mother’s breasts are much bigger than usual, she is carrying a girl and if she has darker nipples, she is carrying a boy.
One study in Poland revealed that there is a correlation between fetus sex and mothers’ breast circumference: mothers of female fetuses had a larger circumference than mothers of male fetuses. However, the study concludes that breast size alone cannot provide an accurate verdict of a baby’s gender as a mother’s breast size shifts as a result of trade offs between energy allocations to the baby that is constantly growing.
The verdict on nipple shade and baby’s gender is also false. Darker nipples during pregnancy are a result of hormone secretion from the placenta that can increase the body’s melanin levels. Pregnant women, especially those with darker complexions, can notice darker spots across their bodies.
Takeaway and Reliable Alternatives
Myths and old wives’ tales gender predictions have proliferated online, the Shettles method has even been developed for parents to try to influence gender. If you’re interested in a fun and alternative method, you can also explore the ancient tradition of the Chinese gender calendar predictor. Although these pregnancy myths and predictors won’t reliably determine the gender of your baby, they can be fun to try – so enjoy and dream about your future baby boy or girl.
Looking to get accurate results sooner? Medical tests, including, ultrasounds, amniocentesis, ChronicVillis Sampling (CVS), and blood tests can all predict the gender of your baby with great confidence. SneakPeek underwent scientific studies and published results proving that our Early Gender DNA Test is over 99% accurate in predicting your baby’s gender. So you can stop wondering, and start looking at gender reveal party ideas.
That way, you don’t have to rely on peeing in cups and mixing it with boiled cabbage. You can know for certain.
Editorial Policy
At SneakPeek, our commitment is to provide accurate, up-to-date, and reliable information to empower our readers. Our content is thoroughly researched, reviewed by medical experts, and fact-checked to ensure its credibility. We prioritize the well-being and education of our readers, and our editorial policy adheres to the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in all our articles.
This post has been reviewed for accuracy by the following medical professional:
Dr. Heather Soper, Certified Nurse Midwife
Dr. Heather Soper brings over 15 years of experience in women's health and obstetrics to her role as the owner of The Genesis Resort for Birth. Complementing her clinical practice, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at James Madison University, where she educates nursing students with a focus on compassionate, patient-centered care. Her advanced training and dedication to midwifery are evident in her contribution to both academia and the wellness of expectant mothers
Sources:
Healthline. Gender Prediction Myths: Are You Having a Boy or a Girl?
Live Science. Can a Pregnant Woman’s Breasts Reveal Her Baby’s Sex?
American Journal of Human Biology. Unexpected changes in maternal breast size during pregnancy in relation to infant sex: An evolutionary interpretation
NCBI. Gender-related differences in fetal heart rate during first trimester. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16354993
NCBI. Couvade syndrome among Polish expectant fathers. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23425940
Web MD. Acne During Pregnancy. https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/acne/acne-during-pregnancy-treatments-causes#1
Web MD. Can You Guess Your Baby’s Sex? https://www.webmd.com/baby/features/predicting-baby-gender#3
International Journal of Pregnancy & Child Birth. Accurate fetal sex determination from maternal blood at 8 weeks gestation. https://medcraveonline.com/IPCB/IPCB-05-00164
Web MD. Pregnancy Food Cravings. https://www.webmd.com/baby/features/pregnancy-food-cravings
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