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Original poster

Children knowing when their birthday is?

33 replies

LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 15:47

Went to the park this afternoon with DS 3 and a little girl was wearing a birthday badge saying she was 5 today. My child whilst playing together told this little girl when his birthday was and was asking the other children when there birthdays were, several of the other children didn't know and the conversation moved on.

Whilst supervising DS and making small talk with the other parents a few of them they thought my child was very unusual in knowing what month his birthday was and that it wasn't actually that common for a 3 year old to know what month they were born in. I appreciate it would have been more unusual if he knew the exact date or how long it was until his birthday but surely between 3-4 most children know what month they were born in?

So I'm curious how old were your children when they knew what month their birthday was?

OP posts:
Facem81 · 11/04/2023 15:49

In your own words, they were just making small talk

doubt they really though it was “very unusual” if they’d given it more thought

liveforsummer · 11/04/2023 15:57

I work in a school with 4-7 year olds and am always surprised how few know when their birthday is. At 3 mine certainly did including the number. It's kind of an important one (and to them presents and cake day so they want to know)

Singleandproud · 11/04/2023 15:58

The best way to get on a parents good side when making small talk is to praise their child. "Wow, he's really sturdy on his feet", "how clever is she for sitting up so well" all things I've heard in the park or toddler group.

It's not unusual to know month and date providing the child's been taught it but not all parents would bother mentioning it until the birthday was approaching. Once they go to an education setting they often have a birthday wall to with the children group by birth month which they might pick it up from.

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Mycatisfatafatcat · 11/04/2023 15:58

Mine knew by 3 easily, not unusual

Quveas · 11/04/2023 16:02

Wow - all the children I know have their birthday memorised just about the same time as they can talk. Alongside any other date at which they can expect to get presents. In fact one young lady I know (now 22 years old) celebrated her birthday, Easter, Christmas, two Eids, and we used to joke that she'd have celebrated Hanukkah if she'd ever met someone Jewish!

Original poster
LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 16:02

Facem81 · 11/04/2023 15:49

In your own words, they were just making small talk

doubt they really though it was “very unusual” if they’d given it more thought

It just seemed like such a random thing to make conversation about though. I'm genuinely surprised another poster has said that children in primary school aged 7 wouldn't know.

OP posts:
Facem81 · 11/04/2023 16:04

LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 16:02

It just seemed like such a random thing to make conversation about though. I'm genuinely surprised another poster has said that children in primary school aged 7 wouldn't know.

Show quote history

by its very nature, small talk is random!

they sound nice and friendly

LettingMySouthSideShow · 11/04/2023 16:08

At 3, one of mine knew, one probably didn’t. Does it matter? I’m sure they’ll all know their birthdays in the end. 😅

Flev · 11/04/2023 16:09

I'm not sure my 4yr old consistently gets the month right, and she definitely doesn't remember the date.

Mycatisfatafatcat · 11/04/2023 16:12

I’d assume a 7yr old that didn’t know their own birthday was non NT

Aylestone · 11/04/2023 16:16

LettingMySouthSideShow · 11/04/2023 16:08

At 3, one of mine knew, one probably didn’t. Does it matter? I’m sure they’ll all know their birthdays in the end. 😅

This. I didn’t even consider the fact my 4yo didn’t know his birthday until someone asked him and he said he didn’t know. He couldn’t even tell them the month or whether it was in summer or winter. However at 4 he did know his full address and postcode, plus mine and one of his sisters mobile numbers 🤷🏼‍♀️

katmarie · 11/04/2023 16:17

My dd 3 1/2, is currently obsessed with her birthday, she mentions it at least a couple of times a day, talks about the party she will have and what cake she wants. I've just asked her and she knows her birthday is in October.

Reugny · 11/04/2023 16:22

Mine knew what month her birthday was in when she was 2.

She could tell you the day of the month when she was 3.

She had no concept of the order of months of the year until she was 4.

CryHavoc · 11/04/2023 16:25

This reminds me of when I went to look around a potential primary school when my daughter was 3. The head was showing us around and asked my daughter when she would be 4. She gave her a withering stare and said 'On my birthday' as though it was a ridiculous question. We chose a different primary school.

I'm not sure she'd have known the exact date when she was that little though.

Original poster
LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 16:27

LettingMySouthSideShow · 11/04/2023 16:08

At 3, one of mine knew, one probably didn’t. Does it matter? I’m sure they’ll all know their birthdays in the end. 😅

Of course they will, I just assumed it was something they learnt pretty young like if they are a boy or a girl, sibling names and how old they are and so was surprised that a few of the other parents seemed surprised he knew what month he was born in.

They did indeed seem like nice people and we had a good chat until we all left because of a heavy rain storm.

OP posts:
LettingMySouthSideShow · 11/04/2023 16:30

LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 16:27

Of course they will, I just assumed it was something they learnt pretty young like if they are a boy or a girl, sibling names and how old they are and so was surprised that a few of the other parents seemed surprised he knew what month he was born in.

They did indeed seem like nice people and we had a good chat until we all left because of a heavy rain storm.

Show quote history

A birthday is nothing like knowing a sibling name at age 3. And it seems like some adults don’t even know the difference between boys and girls so let’s not go there. 🤣🤣🤣

Original poster
LightUpShoes · 11/04/2023 16:33

A birthday is nothing like knowing a sibling name at age 3. And it seems like some adults don’t even know the difference between boys and girls so let’s not go there. 🤣🤣🤣

I was wondering if I should include the latter part 😅. My point was more there's not actually much for him to know about himself at 3 other than his name, that he's a boy, his age, when he was born and where he lives.

OP posts:
Favouritefruits · 11/04/2023 16:40

I think it depends on what children are interested in. my children could tell you their birthdays and addresses at 3, my nephew couldn’t but he could tell you all about dinosaurs and their complex names.

Ithurtsthebackofmyeyes · 11/04/2023 16:42

My two year old knows his exact birthday, and mine, and his dad’s and his grandparents’. He can recite the month and day. It didn’t occur to me that that might be weird.

LettingMySouthSideShow · 11/04/2023 16:47

My child that probably didn’t know their birthday til 5 or 6, just wasn’t interested in finding out or remembering it. It wasn’t important to him until it was nearly his birthday. But he could have repeated every line of Toy Story, told you the backstory of many superhero’s and named every dinosaur. 😂 That was very important information to him, his birthday, not so much until it was happening soon. My daughter knew her own birthday and all of ours at age 3. She knew our address and phone numbers before our son too as she was interested. Different kids.

Retrievemysanity · 11/04/2023 16:52

One of DD’s friends (now 12) told me on our first meeting ‘I’m X and I am 22 months old’ 😂I don’t think it’s unusual for a toddler to know the month they were born if they have parents who tell them, same with any random fact really. DD told me ‘that’s a blue footed booby bird’ when she was about 3 or 4 and I was watching David Attenborough. I thought she was a genius but no, it was on Paw Patrol apparently!

AlltheFs · 11/04/2023 16:57

My 3.5 year old is obsessed with birthdays and can tell you when hers is, her Dads, mine, most of the extended family. She’s known her birthday is xx September since she was 2, but she’s quite far ahead verbally and has a fab memory (not ahead in other things-this is no brag, she hasn’t mastered running yet!).

Every morning she wants to know what day and month it is, she loves a date. She tells me every day when Christmas is too (she basically is a fan of presents) 😂

gogohmm · 11/04/2023 17:00

Not sure when mine knew, dd1 couldn't talk until 4 so not before then, but she (a bit bizarrely) was reading fluently before she could does

gogohmm · 11/04/2023 17:00

Before she could speak go figure. I'm guessing there's no normal for minor things like birthdays

slowquickstep · 11/04/2023 17:02

Out of the many hundreds of 3 year olds that i have had in my class over the years i can't recall a single one that didn't know when their birthday was.

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