3yo DD says she's a boy

[eversomuch]

xposted to lgbt kids

DD very, very often refers to herself as a boy (i'm a big boy, I'll be a daddy when I'm big, etc). sometimes she says she's just pretending & says she's a girl, other times she is more insistent. DH & I just tell her that it's ok & we love her whether she's a boy or a girl.

she has a younger brother who is 20mo but I don't think there's any sort of jealousy of him that would cause her to think it's preferable to be a boy.

I'm just wondering how accurate her gender identity could be at this age (i've read that it starts to develop around this age) & how to proceed. I'm guessing we should just wait & see how things evolve.

are there any age-appropriate books that might be useful to introduce?

any other suggestions?

thanks.

[AMumInScotland]

At 3, they don't really know that gender is permanent. Plus of course, many children insist that they are actually a dog, or a cat, at this age!

Just let her be whatever she feels like from one day to the next. In the vast majority of cases, that has no impact whatsoever on their view of themselves in later life.

[Theyaremysunshine]

There's a hilarious mumsnet thread here that your post made me think of.

I hope it helps. Think you may have got off lightly judging by some of the posts! In all honesty she's just pretending. I wouldn't worry.

[IAmAPaleontologist]

Around 3-4 dd was convinced that when the sun shone brightly her hair would go curly and she would turn into a boy. This was vital so that she could go to school with ds1.

One day soon she will start growing out of all the funny stories so enjoy it while it lasts :)

Now dd is just convinced she was alive in the dinosaur times, created God and has a pet dragon.

[TweenageAngst]

I know a transgender teen, she identified herself as female from toddler although born in a boys body. Her mum went with it and as a result she is a pretty happy transitioning teenager. Anecdotal reports suggest that many do know that early. I think you are making the right decision not making a big deal out of it. She will be what she is in the end.

[BeyoncesCat]

Angelina Jolies daughter Shilo does this too. No advice sorry maybe google them and see

[gutzgutz]

My almost 4 DS hasn't done it for a while but he used to insist he was a girl. I just agreed with him and/ or ignored it. These day he's either spiderman, peter Parker or a pirate