9 Old-Fashioned Ways People Determined If You Were Having A Boy Or Girl

Dying to know if you're going to have a boy or a girl? Recruit a friend or family member and have them watch how you walk. According to Mental Floss, the Distaff Gospels, a book of women's health information from the late-15th century, mentions that the way a pregnant woman walks can tell you if she's having a boy or girl. If you lead with your right foot when walking, you're said to be having a boy, while if you lead with your left foot, the baby is a girl.

You've probably heard about this one once or twice before (or maybe even given it a try already yourself). According to Momtastic, you'll need a ring and piece of string to predict your baby's gender. If the ring swings back and forth, the baby is a boy, while if it goes in circles, you're having a girl.

Next time you're at the grocery store, pick up a head of red cabbage. According to Livingly, red cabbage can help predict if your baby is a boy or girl. Bring the cabbage home from the grocery store and boil it in a pot of water. Save the water (and maybe, you know, eat the cabbage if you feel so inclined) and mix the water with your urine. If the water turns purple, you're said to be having a boy, while if it's pink, the baby is a girl. Of course, it might be difficult to tell, considering red cabbage is already pretty purple to begin with, but still, it's something different to try if you've already tried others.

You might not think that it matters how you're situated when you sleep, but if you're hoping to predict your baby's gender, it might give you some insight. According to Baby Post, if you sleep on your left side and the pillow faces north, you're probably having a boy. If you sleep on your right side and the pillow faces south, you're likely going to have a little girl.

Your skin and hair can go pretty much one of two ways while you're pregnant: you'll either be radiant with lustrous hair or dull-looking with thin hair. According to Red Tricycle, your hair and skin can tell you if you're having a boy or girl. If your hair is thin and your skin is dull, you're said to be having a little girl, while if you're glowing with thick, shiny hair, you might be having a baby boy.

According to the previously-mentioned post from Red Tricycle, the Mayans developed a calculation to determine whether the baby might be a girl or a boy. To do this, take the mother's age and add it to the year that the baby was conceived. If the resulting number is even, you're said to be having a girl, while if it's odd, the baby might be a boy.

There seems to be some confusion about this "test," however. According to the previously-mentioned post from Livingly, you just have to look at the age of the woman and the year the baby was conceived. If both are either even or odd, it's a girl and if one number is even and one is odd, then it's a boy.

If you have salt, you can too can try out an old-fashioned way to predict your baby's gender. According to the aforementioned post from Mental Floss, the Distaff Gospels, if you sprinkle just a tiny bit of salt on a sleeping pregnant woman's forehead, the gender of the name that she says after waking up will be the same as that of the baby. So, if she says "Luke," the baby will be a boy, whereas if she says "Caroline," it'll be a girl.

Want to know if your friend or family member is having a girl or a boy? Have them pick up a key. According to the aforementioned post from Livingly, if they pick up the key by the thin end, the baby is a girl, while if they pick it up by the thicker end, the baby is a boy. While it sounds easy enough, this one seems more easily attributed to chance than to the baby's gender, though.

Similar to the Mayan gender prediction test, the Chinese developed a gender prediction chart. According to the aforementioned post from Red Tricycle, if you look at your age and the month that your baby was conceived in, the chart will either tell you if you're having a boy or a girl. Whether you buy into the truthfulness of these methods or not, at least you can have a little fun while you wait.

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