Toddler constantly telling me to 'look'

[mamacitas90]

Now I've tried telling myself one day he will be a grumpy teen and I'll look back and miss this but it's starting to get a bit irritating and happening more and more. I can't tell you how many times in a single minute he tells me to 'mummy look'. Whether he is watching tv, in the car, doing everything and anything everything requires me to 'look' non stop. He has just turned 3, any other toddler go through this stage? Am I being mean getting irritated by it?

They all do this, op. It will stop when they are around 11 or 12.
You need to grow a swivel neck.

Yes this is a really common stage! It will pass, but it may take a few months / years so try not to get too irritated!

Yes lovely sweetheart and carry on. You don't have to look every time. Presumably you are actually looking in the first place much of the time.
Or ask him what he can see.

You need to watch @bernie_yesss on Instagram, you will feel seen.
www.instagram.com/bernie_yesss?igsh=MTU1ZnBjMW8wcDlnMQ==

My 5 year old came over to me and physically moved my head so that I could better see what he was trying to point out because I'd ignored the request to look.

I wish I had "looked" more! And kept some of the bits and bobs they would give me on walks, like pebbles or feathers. And not turned the radio up in the car to drown out the relentless chatter. That's hindsight though. It's highly irritating when you're going through it!!

I usually say ‘what am I looking at, sweet?’ Then at least he has to elaborate. If he knows I’ll ask that and can’t be bothered he doesn’t keep saying ‘look!’ It does take a few goes.

It is very normal and it’s just a way for him to reassure himself that he can have your attention at any time.

Yes totally normal, set boundaries for it especially in the car if you're the driver, I used to tell my son "mummy can't look while driving, it's not safe" and then if it was the same show/film etc I'd look a certain number of times and then say "mummy has already seen 5 times sweetheart, it's great isn't it? But I don't need to look anymore!" With a big smiley face. The only one I didn't set boundaries on was when he was doing something himself that he was proud of - like art work, dancing, new skill etc.

They all do it. It is very annoying.

I look if I can. If I can't, I will say "I can't look now because I'm doing xyz. What do you think would happen if I looked now?". The result is we have a conversation about looking at what you're doing/concentrating/paying attention/health and safety multiple times a day, but it has reduced the "look" command a bit.

He’ll pick some other conversation starters like “why mummy?”

You wait until "Why?" hits!

I would pay hard cash to have my child want my attention. He's 14 and has absolutely no use for me at all.

He was a chin grabber too, how dare I look at anything else but him 😂 Oh god how I miss it, but yes it drives you mad. They do grow out of it, I promise.

All kids do this. They want and need your attention. You don’t have to glue your eyes to them every second but I do see a lot of parents ignoring their young child’s bids for attention and conversation while they scroll on their phones.

I work with small children and have my own too, and they really do all go through the same phases for the most part. I once read that when they constantly ask why, or repeat themselves or tell you the same things over and over after any sort of event

‘mummy there was a big puddle. That car drove through it. There was a big puddle on the road. Did the car drive through it mummy? The puddle was big. It splashed. Did it splash mummy? Did the car go in it? That was a big puddle on the road. Did you see that puddle mummy?’

They just want a back and forth conversation with you, they see adults and older children having this kind of conversation and the attention being fully on the conversations but they just haven’t figured out how to do it yet. It’s a huge part of grasping communication and language.

Same. I miss it so much.

It's just endless curiosity at that age, the 'look' is also a 'what's that', 'why's that', which they will get fully into soon!

Is someone in their life doing a lot of ‘Johnny, look!’?

Because we often do all sorts that we don’t like when it’s turned on us. It’s one of the reasons DC grow up into disrespectful adults. They think it’s normal to issue demands and interrupt and nag and shout because they experienced little else.

This isn’t aimed at you, just something I notice about how some people talk to children. They seem to grow up into people who aren’t interested in other people. It’s all about hierarchy and who gets to impose on who. It’s ‘impose or be imposed on!’

It's normal development. Do you take the conversation further?

Parents worry when they don't do this!

Aah... the "look" stage... shortly to be replaced by the even more annoying "why" stage!

This too shall pass!

Then the "poo" stage when they shout poo or willy and then go into hysterics.

Sometimes some parents are too preoccupied with their phone, so children say 'look' cause they know parents are on devices and they actually do want your time.

I would focus on quality play time/121 with them, when they are satisfied with attention, the 'mummy? Look' may calm down.

Or you do do all this, and they just love to involve you with everything in their world. After all, you're their favourite.

You are the centre of his universe right now.
Before long it changes to "Bruhhh..."
I'm currently "Cuz" 🤷🏼‍♀️

Try having an autistic 3 year old who recites the alphabet 50 times a day.

Aww. You made me have a solid memory of my babies little hands on my face physically trying to turn my head to look at whatever had his interest. I see now that it's just because they want to share their joy with you. It's beautiful. Not at the time though, highly irritating. But I promise you will remember this time and wish you had looked x

😂😂