3 year old girl says she is a boy

[Sharonkh76]

My 3 year old girl has decided she is a boy for about a month now. She has been getting fussier and fussier about what she wears. At first it was simply no dresses. Now it is no pink, hearts, flowers. Even a pink button on her jeans causes a tantrum. Mickey mouse on clothes is great but Minne is hated. She won't go near knickers. Just underpants. She will only have stories from books with a boy on the cover. Before she would sing 3 blind mice she asked me if it was a 'boy song'. She raids the spare clothes box at nursery for boys clothes. She is currently drowning in an age 5-6 T-shirt of her brother. The whole thing might be trying to be like her brother, who has a friend I mind a few nights after school so they are often termed 'the boys'.
She has a wardrobe of nice girl clothes (tend to buy ahead in charity shops).

Do i go along with the whole thing? Has anyone else's little girl with a big brother done this. She is adamant that she is a boy. If you say 'good girl' she says 'I am not a girl.'

Her brother on the contrary is 6, and would be too busy prattling on about Pokemon to notice what you are dressing him in.

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Yes, I think I'd let her wear clothes she likes and not make a big thing of it. I'd also just keep gently repeating that there aren't boys things and girls things, stories are for everyone, songs are for everyone, clothes are for everyone etc.

It probably is related to wanting to be like her big brother, and wanting to be one of "the boys" as well. She may well just be destined to be a not very feminine girl, which is not that unusual.

[scoopmuckanddizzyrollytoo]

It's no biggie, I was like this, had a boys name, wouldn't answer to anything else 😀

[KateDaniels2]

I did this. For years insisted i was a boy.

Looking back i hated wearing anything 'girlie' and pink. At 3/4/5 it made sense to want to be a boy and say i was a boy to avoid 'girlie' things. Mum hated it. She always wanted a girl to dress up. Whoch caused me more issues, but that another thread.

I am 35 now. I dress in skirts, jeans dresses, hoodies. Anything goes now. I have always let the kids wear what they want without a fuss. If ds wants a flowery clip in his hair, if dd wants ben 10 lunchbox etc its all fine. No fuss made either way. Just let them get on with it.

[ScrambledSmegs]

It's an essential part of being 3, being contrary and confusing the hell out of your parents. Just go with it.

[gamerwidow]

Let her wear what she wants but dont call them boys clothes or girls clothes. They're just clothes. She probably just doesn't like 'girly' stuff rather than thinks she is a boy.

[ThornyBird]

We had this the other way round - dc4 (ds) spent years wearing his big sister's clothes and asking to be called by a girl's name. Not all the time and not at school but certainly in school holidays. From about 3 to 6/7.

He's almost 8 now and hasn't worn his sister's clothes or asked to be called the girl name for a good 6 months now.

[uhohspaghettiohs]

A friend of mine said she was a boy when she was 3 for about a year, so she tells me. She is very thankful her parents didn't decide to treat it as anything other than a phase.

[3littlebadgers]

My dd1 has two older brothers and when potty training was desperate to wee standing up.

I teach a little girl (3) who is also obsessed with all things boy. When we come in from playing outside in wellies, she tries to sneak on boys shoes.

I think it is quite normal and you'd be better off just going along with it.