# Trying for a girl, Shettles method after having a boy and coming of microgynon



## kate87

Hello ladies

I would like some advice please. I have a little boy. Next month he will be 6 months old. I would like to have my babies close together and want to try for a girl. My son was only 4.10lb when born and we was worried about him because he was so small. I know it is a miracle to have a healthy baby regardless of sex and i would not change the fact that he is a boy for the world. Buuuut it would be brilliant if we could have a girl next. 

I was just wondering if anyone has used the Shettles method. My friend has used believe it or not an app on her phone to keep track of her ovulation days. Shettles says to try for a girl 2-3 days before ovulation 70-80% chance that way where as i looked on some websites and they said to try unto 5 days before and not to try 1 day before and unto 2 days after because that favours boys. And she has conceived a girl using the method of trying 2-3 days prior to ovulation

Annnyways i was just wondering if anyone has experience of tying for a girl. :)

Please nice comments only :)

xx


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## Mummy Bean

Never heard of it...but good luck!


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## Tournesol

I honestly can't see how "methods" of trying for boys or girls could possibly work. 
The babies sex is determined by the chromosomes in the sperm, not the egg. 
Surely it's just a fluke? Nothing you do can determine which sperm makes it to the egg.


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## counting

Apparently female sperm are slower but live longer(because an x chromosome is heavier than a y as it has the extra little piece of genetic material). Male sperm are faster because they weigh less(y being smaller) but they have a shorter lifespan in the body.

Shettles isn't a very effective method(only has influence maybe over a few percent, much less than 10 percent), and it can make it difficult to get pregnant at all because you are missing your peak fertile days. It's probably just chance your friend had a girl. I mean, by all means if you aren't worried about getting pregnant quickly have a go at shettles, but be prepared that you may still conceive a lovely little boy, or you may have to switch to a more conventional method in order to get pregnant closer to OV if you keep missing it with shettles.


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## sausages

Oh i have heard of this and i will be interested to see if it works for you! :) Try looking at the chart galleries on FF and TCOYF. You can see from them what days people had sex according to when they O'd and i think you can see sometimes what the sex of the baby was. 

The theory behind it is that sperms who carry the X chromosome are slower, but more hardy whereas Y chromosome sperms are quick, but don't last long. Sooo, i you want a girl you have sex well before ovulation and hopefully the quicker boy sperms will have died off leaving only the slower, but longer living girl sperms to make it to the egg. 

Don't know how much of it is science fact though! :lol: 

If you're having a go at it i would suggest only DTD 5 and 4 days before O, as sperm can last up to 7 days in the right conditions. Then if you are unsuccessful for a few months perhaps creep it closer? But of course this in theory increases your chances of having a boy. :)

You would need to keep very accurate records of ovulation though. I don't know what your friend's app is, but if it's just one that counts days it's no good. You need a proper charting account so you can monitor CM, temps and maybe do OPKs as well or it wouldn't work even if it were true.

Good luck!! :)


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## Tournesol

I stand corrected! I didn't know that the XX's live longer than the XY's and all that, honestly thought you have a 50 50 chance of either. 
Let us know how you get on, I'd be interested to see if it works...


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## sausages

Tournesol said:


> I stand corrected! I didn't know that the XX's live longer than the XY's and all that, honestly thought you have a 50 50 chance of either.
> Let us know how you get on, I'd be interested to see if it works...

I think it's just a theory, not sure if it's actual science fact. If you google "is the shettles method scientifically proven" there are loads of conflicting sites. 

So you may well be right yet! :D


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## sausages

Just got sidetracked for a minute on google there and was reading this: https://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/archives/archive134/newposts/2638/topic2638360.shtm

It looks all sciency and that, so could be interesting. People arguing both sides of whether it works or not. I haven't read it all through yet though so sorry if it turns out to be rubbish. :lol:


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## Gunnhilde

I thought it was like a 70% chance of getting the gender you wanted?

We'll be trying the Shettles for a boy, if only because it'll make sure that OH actually makes sure I orgasm. :haha: I'll not tell him that is the reason, though.

Ohhh Castleford? I know where that is! The last 1000 years or so of my relatives have all lived in the Kippax/Wakefield (and occasionally Spofforth) area. We're a little inbred. :blush: :haha:


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## kate87

Gunnhilde said:


> I thought it was like a 70% chance of getting the gender you wanted?
> 
> We'll be trying the Shettles for a boy, if only because it'll make sure that OH actually makes sure I orgasm. :haha: I'll not tell him that is the reason, though.
> 
> Ohhh Castleford? I know where that is! The last 1000 years or so of my relatives have all lived in the Kippax/Wakefield (and occasionally Spofforth) area. We're a little inbred. :blush: :haha:


lol ye kippax is near me.. funny how were all connected in some way :)
x


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## brenn09

I've heard conflicting opinions, but I think Shettles has been disproven. In fact, several studies that I read about/saw stated the exact opposite were true- sex 2-3 days before O= boy and sex day of O= girl. I'm certainly not an expert or a scientist, though so I don't know!! I personally think it's all chance. 

I read some good information in "The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant" about what the studies say work/doesn't work, etc. The author listed the studies so the reader could look them up later, so that might be a good place for you to start. :shrug:

I've also read some sites dedicated to ttc a boy or girl, and they suggest using diet and vaginal pH to sway sex. 

Good luck!


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## JessinChi

We are going to use Shettles to try for a boy, but I have heard mixed reviews about it. Some people say it can be particularly risky for a girl, because (as has been mentioned) you miss your most fertile days and it can take much longer to get pregnant at all. While researching this, I found some forums totally devoted to gender "swaying." Apparently one component that people often overlook is the mother's diet- research has shown what the mom eats in the 6 weeks up to conception has a big effect. My diet is already pretty much a "boy diet" plus we aren't too worried about swaying for a boy (we will definitely sway "harder" for the opposite gender either way for #2). Another thing to take into consideration is your body's Ph level- acidic favors a girl, alkaline favors a boy. 

You can check out these two forums- but beware, there is an insane amount of theories and info and it can drive you crazy! I've skimmed it over, but as I've said, just plan on "lightly" swaying (a boy-ish diet plus sex on O-day). If you are really, really dedicated, it looks like the vast majority of people who are dedicated end up with their desired gender... 

https://ingender.com/cs/Forums/
https://genderdreaming.com/forum/forum.php


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## RoryandKirby

Wow, interesting... I never really believed a whole lot of this. I'm fairly scientific by nature and though I'd love to try these things, this isn't exactly the sort of thing where you can just try again if it doesn't work out as you wanted <D I think I might do some research on the dietary differences in particular. I've always wanted girls, so as much as I know I'd love a boy no matter what (and no doubt daddy would too) I'm inclined to try my luck with something like this... I guess if nothing else it'll keep my mind busy =p


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## missbinks

Hi,

Just my two cents I have succesfully conceived one of each using the shettles method.. For my son we DTD the 2days before OV and the day of... for my daughter we dtd from when af left until 4days before OV... Worked perfectly for me but I had cycles that you could set a calendar to... I may have been super lucky but I like to think it helped lol... now trying for #3 not tracking anything we want a surprise his time GOOD LUCK !


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## luvmyfam

I have heard that shettles works 50% of the time. 

A friend of my used smartstork.com which is similar to the sites JessinChi mentioned. If you read their "whys" on how their methods work it does make scientific sense. In short... they say that we have always thought that the male determins the sex of a baby because the sperm is the deciding factor. If this were the only thing that was true, the shettles method would work 99% of the time. 

Basically, they say that it is completely based on the womens "environment" down there. If a woman is more acidic...she has girls, more alkaline...boys. They say that the acidic environment kills off all of the XY sperm and vice versa. And they say that it is the reason you see some families have ALL boys or ALL girls. 

So the diets, douches, and supplements that they recommend are all to help you to become more acidic or alkaline in order to get the sex you want. 

My friend had 3 boys and wanted to try for a girl. She got her girl using this method! :flower:


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## Pearls18

luvmyfam said:


> I have heard that shettles works 50% of the time.
> 
> A friend of my used smartstork.com which is similar to the sites JessinChi mentioned. If you read their "whys" on how their methods work it does make scientific sense. In short... they say that we have always thought that the male determins the sex of a baby because the sperm is the deciding factor. If this were the only thing that was true, the shettles method would work 99% of the time.
> 
> Basically, they say that it is completely based on the womens "environment" down there. If a woman is more acidic...she has girls, more alkaline...boys. They say that the acidic environment kills off all of the XY sperm and vice versa. And they say that it is the reason you see some families have ALL boys or ALL girls.
> 
> So the diets, douches, and supplements that they recommend are all to help you to become more acidic or alkaline in order to get the sex you want.
> 
> My friend had 3 boys and wanted to try for a girl. She got her girl using this method! :flower:

This was really interesting thank you :)

I am worried the diet thing is true because we will be TTC in January (2014) and I don't want to be on a restricted diet for Christmas haha!!


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## MelliPaige

I read an article lately that said the more healthy calories you eat at conception the higher the chance it will be a boy. The article said it's hardwired in our brains that the less healthy calories we eat or the empty calories that junk food provides make our bodies think that our food sources are low. This makes our bodies think we need more females to repopulate the earth. It made more sense in the article, but I can't find it again.


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