# Does your toddler talk about him/herself in the third person?



## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

My 21mo talks about himself in the third person a lot. It is really cute but a little unnerving.

He can't pronounce his name (Phoenix - comes out Feegan) very well, so he'll refer to himself by "tiny baby" "little baby", or the nicknames we use for him. :LOL

For instance - "Sweetie guy... fall down!" (meaning he fell)

More often... "Tiny baby want pretzels!" or "Tiny baby... tired! Tiny baby... go bed!"

Anyone else's toddler do this? Is it just a quirk of the age, or is my guy just peculiar?


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## konamama (Jun 1, 2004)

yup! dd says "baby see", "baby boo" - I believe that it is totally normal and VERY cute.

she also says "carry it" when she wants me to carry something, including herself


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## Daffodil (Aug 30, 2003)

My 2 1/2 yr old still refers to herself in the third person pretty often. More than you might expect, given how well she speaks in general (good grasp of grammar, fairly complex sentences.) For quite a while, she had "you" and "I" confused, and I think she realized she was confused about them and that calling herself "Lindy" made it clearer to all of us who she was talking about. But I have the idea it's a pretty normal thing that most toddlers do at first.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

DD is 20 months and calls herself "you" at this point. As in, "You want some more pasta," means "I want some more pasta." When she actually should use "you," she uses the person's name ("Mama do it.") It's making me a little nutty! I think I'd prefer it if she did use the third person.

Vey cute about him calling himself "Tiny baby!"

Funny story: for a while when she would say, for instance, "You want some more pasta," we would say back, "'I want some more pasta,' said DD's name." Then, of course, she started saying it just like that right back to us (complete with, "said DD's name.")


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## PinkSunfish (Oct 20, 2002)

That's pertty normal isn't it? I know I referred to myself as "The Girl" when I was a toddler (I have a 4 syllable firstname)!

Afterall when do WE stop talking about ourselves and them in the third person?

I suppose it is just a natural transition. Your DS sounds very sweet







.


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## Nate (Sep 3, 2003)

My dd is almost 30 mos & refers to herself in 2nd & person all the time. She refers to herself as you, your, and by name (and uses them all perfectly grammatically, too!) and refers to me as Mama, I, me, my... after a while you just get used to it & automatically make the correction. If she ever figures it out I'll be VERY confused.

Classic moment--long car ride last summer, 4 pm, she still hadn't napped & was of course pretty grumpy about being confined for that long.
me: Green Bean, just close your eyes & try to sleep!
dd: You don't want to close your eyes!


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## sinistermommy (Oct 2, 2004)

I would imagine it's pretty normal until they master the use of "I", "you", "me", etc.

Mine has a pretty good grasp of it but he does mix them up a bit and call himself by his name too. We'll be getting ready to go somewhere, and he'll say something like, "Is Ozaiis going too?"


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## Tine (Jan 12, 2005)

DS still calls himself "you" most of the time, though he is slowly starting to use "I" sometimes.

We used to get some great looks when we'd be out and about, at the grocery store (or somewhere else public), and he'd shout, "You have poopy pants!" to let me know his diaper needed changing. :LOL


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## Starflower (Sep 25, 2004)

nak

My DD is 27 mos. & she refers to herself in third person a lot. Also says "I" sometimes. She calls herself "Amie" and "Amelie" - the first is her nickname, then second her actual name. She has a pretty good grasp of language for her age. I have noticed that I refer to myself in third person when I talk to her and I am trying to stop doing this. I'm not really worried about it, but I think that's one reason DD does it - because I do.

And she wants the happy face that goes boing so this is for her -


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## crunchyconmomma (Feb 6, 2003)

mine still does it and he was 3 in july. he is starting to use first person, but slips back often and jumps around. it makes sense when you think about it - when you and DP (or anyone else) talk about him, you say, "did you see him?" or "where is his toy?" so he is very confused trying to sort out appropriate pronouns for himself because he knows himself as "him."

what i think is interesting is how quickly they comprehend SECOND person...


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## crunchyconmomma (Feb 6, 2003)

after that post i noticed another mama's account of her kiddo using second person for herself...never encountrered that but sort of want to because it's funny! these things are so short lived. i love all these cute quirks because they are so fleeting. they're precious!


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## rgarlough (Jul 18, 2002)

My ds refers to himself as "YOU" :LOL He'll see a picture of himself and yell out YOU!


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## eksmom (Jun 29, 2004)

DD will be 2 next week and she mostly refers to herself as "Emma Tatie" or just "Tatie" (her name is Emma Kate). She refers to us in the third person to, as in, "Mama sing it." and "Daddy do it." She also says "pick you up" or "hold you" when she wants to be picked up or held. Very, very rarely she will use the first person. Recently I have heard her say "I have some juice" or something like that, and things like "This is my toy."

I haven't minded it that much. I figure I talked about myself in the third person to her all the time when she was an infant, so it kind of makes sense.


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## Destinye (Aug 27, 2003)

DD is 20 mo and she says stuff like 'I did it' correctly a lot of the time, and when you ask her "who are you" she says and signs 'me" which surprised me the first time she did it, and when you ask her name she says it correctly, but she has gone from saying a photo of her is her name to saying YOU, ever since I showed her a picture of ME and asked who it was and she said "YOU" well I think she was looking at herself in the picture so now she thinks a picture of herself is YOU, so I totally confused her lol! She says it so proudly though!


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## Alkenny (May 4, 2004)

My 19 month old does this too. He calls himself Bubba, but he also calls his older brother Bubba and his 3 year old cousin (I babysit for) Bubba too. It gets confusing, not knowing which Bubba he's talking about. :LOL


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## ~Nikki~ (Aug 4, 2004)

DD almost always refers to herself in the third person. It's hilarious. She definitely has an odd way of speaking.







Some examples:

"Bin (Brynn) is ready for bed now."
"Oh no, The Bin fell down!" (yes, she calls herself "The Brynn")
"Bin kiss The Daddy!"

Oh, and as I type...

"Oh no, where's The Bin's wipe?" Gotta go! She dropped her cloth and is starting to panic.


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## Rach (Nov 11, 2003)

I used to do this. Even after I learned to speak very well. My mom would say "Who made this mess?!" and I would say "Rachael made the mess." And she would say "You did?" and I would reply "No, RACHAEL did."
For awhile there, everyone thought there might be something wrong with me. But no, sometimes kids just do quirky things.

My daughter does this too, I think it's normal. Of course, she's no where near extreme as I was, but she still refers to things as "At-ta" instead of "mine" "I" or "me".


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