# When is a toddler not a toddler anymore?



## a(TM)?Star (Oct 13, 2005)

I know I have 2 posts on top of each other right now. My brain is so full of useless questions, I have to get them out.








I've heard different things regarding when a toddler is out of toddlerhood. My son is 30 months old. Some people refer to him as a pre-schooler. However, he's not in pre-school. So, when are they out of toddlerhood. 4? Is it different for each child? I think that's what I'm leaning toward. Just curious.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

IMO sometime around 2.5-4yrs old...







Really exact huh?

I still thought of dd as a toddler until she was 3. Then it went back and forth for a few months. These days I think of her as preschool age (even though she's not in preschool and won't go to school







)

-Angela


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

I would say at age 4 they are no longer a toddler but a 'child'.


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## Kessed (Nov 28, 2007)

I think it changes between 2 and 3. I lived with my neice during this period and she clearly went from being at toddler at 20 months when we moved in - to being a 'kid' at just past 3 when we moved out. I've seen that alot at the playgroup I go to. At 2 - they are still clearly toddlers. But by 3 - they are mostly child.

Then again - I think of 'toddler' to mean a mix of baby and child. My DD is 14 months and still mostly baby with a little bit of child mixed in.


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## mommybytheWord (Mar 1, 2005)

When it is quiet and you no longer have fear run through your body insted you relax.......


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## CandyApple (Nov 1, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommybytheWord* 
When it is quiet and you no longer have fear run through your body insted you relax.......









Well said!


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## lmkirche (Jun 7, 2006)

My doctor told me at the 2 year check up that ds is "officially not a toddler any longer". Ds is in an Early Preschool Class in the mornings and he definately acts between a toddler and a preschooler to me. So an Early Preschooler was be quite an accurate description. Just like when he was 1, he acted in between an infant and toddler to me.


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## Logan's Mom (Mar 2, 2006)

My guess is that it ranges based on the child and when the mama is ready too!


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

I would say, generally, around the 3rd birthday. But for more advanced kids, closer to 2.


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## yamilee21 (Nov 1, 2004)

I wonder what were "preschoolers" called when there was no preschool?









My son is 2 1/2, and I think of him as a toddler, and probably will for some time yet. He has a bunch of 3 1/2 year old cousins, and I think of them as toddlers too. But my 4 1/2 year old godson definitely seems more like a child than a toddler, so for me, I guess toddlerhood ends sometime between 3 1/2 and 4.


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## afishwithabike (Jun 8, 2005)

I think of the transition being at potty learning. As long as they're still in dipes they're a toddler. That may be three, four, or five. I am not picky.


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## michellemk (Nov 2, 2005)

I think LOs are toddlers until the toddler board on MDC is no longer relevant... I just realized that I'm ready to move on to the "Childhood years" OMG.


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## EVC (Jan 29, 2006)

I think around 3


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## hottmama (Dec 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *afishwithabike* 
I think of the transition being at potty learning. As long as they're still in dipes they're a toddler. That may be three, four, or five. I am not picky.

But what about kids like mine who potty train at 19 or 21 mos? They're still toddlers, right?


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## Way Up North (Sep 15, 2007)

I always think of 3 as preschool (since our kids go to JK at 4 (or earlier depending on birthdate). I feel 'wrong' when i say my 28 month old is a toddler,more and more she is a 'big kid' (although still in dipes).

L


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## oram (Apr 20, 2006)

I always connected the term with how they walk. My son doesn't toddle any more when he walks and runs so I consider him a "kid"now.Kinda breaks my heart a little bit...


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

Quote:

Originally Posted by afishwithabike
I think of the transition being at potty learning. As long as they're still in dipes they're a toddler. That may be three, four, or five. I am not picky.

But what about kids like mine who potty train at 19 or 21 mos? They're still toddlers, right?
And what about ECers... My son is a toddler - hes 2... He didnt just skip it because hes been going to the toilet himself way before he turned two (or even one!) ! lol


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