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Original poster

At what age is it normal to remember childhood from?

108 replies

user40816 · 12/04/2023 22:43

I realised today that I have almost no memory before the age of around 7 and even afterwards, things are hazy. But then I also realise I don't know what's normal so I'm interested to gain some perspective...

OP posts:
Bouledeneige · 12/04/2023 23:58

I think 4-ish. But I had a male friend who said he didn't remember anything before he was 11. But when we discussed it he realised he had a lot of traumatic surgery throughout his childhood and it seemed possible that he'd blotted his early years out.

whatalovelydayontheintergoodlord · 13/04/2023 00:04

My first memories are from age 3. I have loads of memories of nursery when I would've been 3 and 4.

TheOtherBennetSister · 13/04/2023 00:10

I remember meeting my baby brother in hospital a few weeks before I turned 4. We moved house when I was 7 and I have some memories of being in the old house and more, clearer memories of being in the new house.
I think some of my memories from when I was young are actually just photographs I've seen or stories I've been told and think I remember.

Memory is absolutely fascinating. I listened to a podcast recently about an experiment where they planted false memories that people thought were real.

Jux · 13/04/2023 00:22

Dd definitely remembers things from when she was about 2. I can really only go back to 3ish, though I've a few images/impressions which we all put our heads to gethe and decided they couldonly come from before that. My brother claims to remember nothing at all from before age 12.

Jux · 13/04/2023 00:25

They do think that the laying down of memories accords with language acquisition. Were any of you early talkers? (This doesn't account for peoplelike my brother though, who could certainly talk before he was 12!)

Forever42 · 13/04/2023 00:26

I have one memory from when I was 2. Several from when I was 3. The early ones are of very specific moments, eg a scary moment, a gift, a house move.

Forever42 · 13/04/2023 00:27

My DD was 2.5 when her sister was born. She doesn't remember meeting her but she does remember a man giving her an orange while she was in the hospital!

mamabear715 · 13/04/2023 00:28

I remember back to before I could walk. I shuffled on my bum instead of crawling & remember looking in Nan's bag to see what she'd brought for me.. ;-)

SausageinaBun · 13/04/2023 00:30

I remember things from when I was in a buggy - so I assume not older than 3. I seem to remember more than most of my family - they are surprised by the details I remember.

CountingMareep · 13/04/2023 00:32

I can remember places from 2 and a half, events from 3. I think memories are linked to language development and ‘episodic’ memory to the ability to sequence and order thoughts. It’s interesting that women on average seem to have much earlier memories than men - there are far more men in the ‘can’t remember anything before the age of 7’ camp. Would be interested to see if there are any links with ND conditions.

SquigglyGum · 13/04/2023 00:34

I remember going to preschool when I must have been 3, because I didn't like the teacher and we moved to a different one that I also remember (it had stairs, and a kind of mezzanine area, which was very exciting!). I remember the feel of things and people when I was little but not actual events, like I know exactly how my granny smelt and the softness of her upper arms, and my grandpa's whiskers.

There are family stories of events that my mum loves to repeat ad nauseum (as if it's the first time we've heard them, and she does expect surprise and laughter from us, each bloody time), so those memories are a little more consolidated than just my own ones.

FetlocksBlowing · 13/04/2023 00:36

I have a male friend who has a particular type of memory (can't remember the name). He can remember everything from every single day of his life but only as far back as 18 months. It's not as good as it sounds, he calls it his curse.

SabbatWheel · 13/04/2023 00:37

I have one memory from being in my cot (so less than 2) and loads of very clear memories from 3 upwards.

Whichnumbers · 13/04/2023 00:37

I have a couple of memories from before I was 2, one is from my cot & the other a world event at 23 months. Then various memories around 3, and my 4th birthday, going to school, holidays, my mum in hospital aged 5 & a holiday to Croatia & Italy I have vivid memories of.

newtb · 13/04/2023 00:41

I can remember walking down a road in Hanover when I was 18 months old, the coat I was wearing, the brooch pinned to it, and the sound my feet made. Have memories of my grandfather who died before I was 3. So, quite a lot really.

cherish123 · 13/04/2023 01:00

I have some, albeit hazy, memories of being 2. I am over 40. I still remember glass tiles from a holiday house in 1980.

PippaF2 · 13/04/2023 01:08

A few very patchy memories from around 3yrs - being at nursery. I remember having to lay on a mat on the floor for nap time, but no one wanted to sleep. And I also remember this little pretend shop we had there. Everyone used to fight to use the pretend till.

I also remember my Mum getting a perm and picking me up and I ran to the teacher and cried that's not my Mum and everyone laughed and I didn't understand why!

So yeah a few memories from 3-4yrs but not many.

Weird what you remember vs what you forget. Why do some banal memories get stored but more significant ones don't.

milkysmum · 13/04/2023 01:14

Gosh you all have such early memories. Im in my 40s and have so few early memories. Certainly non from before starting school, a tiny amount ( snap shots) from primary, and huge chunks missing from secondary that seems odd ( I don't remember things like my first day at high school, can't picture the classrooms, nor do I remember sitting my gsces! ). I did them, I did well, went on to college, university etc. I just don't seem to store memories well for some reason. Anyone else similar?

nex18 · 13/04/2023 01:18

I have a memory of a couple of months before I was 2, going in my pushchair with my grandmother to buy something specific for my grandfather. I remember seeing my sister in the hospital cot when she was born, I was 2. I have a few memories of playschool when I was 3/4. They’re really random things that I remember though.

User1438423 · 13/04/2023 02:03

I have a couple of memories from being 0-2, and loads from being 2-4. I know I was 2-4 because I moved house when I was 5, and I have loads of memories from the old house, and some from the one before I was 3. Memories from playgroup (3) and a couple from nursery (2) preschool (3-4) then reception (4). Definitely not from photos because we lost all our family photographs. However, my memories are actually less the older I got, and my memories of older childhood up to early 20's are very poor. When friends I still have from that time talk about memories or people I rarely have a clue what they are talking about, it's weird.

Nismet · 13/04/2023 02:16

Around 7 does sound quite late. I remember all my classrooms from YR onwards and quite a few little things that happens in YR and Y1.

I seem to have a couple of very early memories, but I suspect they have been manufactured later by my brain mashing up photos and stories my parents tell. Whereas infant school stuff can't have come from photos or what my parents said.

ColinRobinsonsFart · 13/04/2023 02:17

I can describe my baby walker - it’s colour etc so I would be younger than 1. We do have photos but they are black and white. I remember being held by my grandpa in my grandparents kitchen - I will be about two.
i know what it feels to lie in a pram and look at my mum as she pushes me.
I have lots of memories before I turned 4 - I can describe the layout and decoration of our house which we moved from when I turned 4.

i tell my parents and they are agog I remember this stuff . Age stops me from remembering what I had for lunch today but I can remember our living room wall was navy blue and I can describe my dads art degree show that they took me to - I was three!

Nismet · 13/04/2023 02:18

milkysmum · 13/04/2023 01:14

Gosh you all have such early memories. Im in my 40s and have so few early memories. Certainly non from before starting school, a tiny amount ( snap shots) from primary, and huge chunks missing from secondary that seems odd ( I don't remember things like my first day at high school, can't picture the classrooms, nor do I remember sitting my gsces! ). I did them, I did well, went on to college, university etc. I just don't seem to store memories well for some reason. Anyone else similar?

That's interesting. Can I ask if you were a poor sleeper during exams? I feel like I have few memories of my second mat leave, and I put it down to having been so sleep deprived that my brain couldn't lay down the memories.

Blankmine · 13/04/2023 02:29

@milkysmum I am similar.

I have 1 memory of my childhood - it is a vague flash of a door opening on to me and the lock part cutting my forehead open.

I have no other childhood memories, not of school, siblings, holidays, grandparents, anything.

I have 1 memory of a moment of the final day at my highschool before I moved 1700+ miles away, where I knew no one and had never been.

I don’t remember my wedding, my DC’s birth, their milestones, nothing. I have to work out my age every time I need to know it.

I can sometimes recognise the events that old photos show, but I have no associated memories of the actual events depicted.

I have no visual memories, no mind’s eye, no pictures in my mind, I have never remembered a dream.

I didn’t realise for the longest time that this was different to most other people. It is very isolating, lonely and impacts greatly on my life.

DinosApple · 13/04/2023 07:33

Yes I remember lots from around 2 onwards, and a few hazy memories before that.

Definite things like my 2nd birthday, what I ate, presents, family I saw, even a present. Play school, naps at my grandparents house, walks with my grandad, the swings at my other grandparents house. Getting the bus to primary school.

Less tangible things too though, like the feel of my toddler towelling babygrow and the carpet I learned to crawl and walk on. It was ruined in a flash flood and replaced with a much thinner carpet before I was 2.
We were sent out to the garden when that happened (no idea why!) and my big brother persuaded me to have a bath in a puddle! I don't remember that part, but my mum and brother do 😆.

DH only has vague memories from childhood.