Why do people say their DC's age as '23 months' instead of 'almost 2 yrs'?

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WTF????
Children are only aged in months until they turn 1 year old, then surely they should be aged in years, not bloody months !

I work in a medical profession, and just today I asked ' how old is your child' and was told ' 36 months'. No they're bloody not !!!! They're 3 YEARS OLD !!!!!!!

I really don't understand why parents do this and I get so sick of it ! Is it done to try to keep them as a baby perhaps ?

I would assume that a medical professional needed a more accurate age than "1" for a 23 month old. Is it really very hard to work out that 23 months is nearly 2? I wouldn't think many people would need to think particularly hard unless their mental arithmetic is particularly poor. That said, the health visitor's trainee tried to use the wheel for several minutes and declared DS as 11 weeks old while looking sparkily happy as though she'd finally got it right. HV asked if she was sure, "Yes!". HV laughed with me and I clarified 14 months for her. Could have gone with 15, it doesn't matter either way at that point. Saying "1" clearly wouldn't be the correct answer and 63 weeks would be even stranger.

With other mums in classes, playgrounds etc we all know roughly how old the little ones are so if someone asks they want specifics. The child's in a 1-2yr old class, saying "1" is unfriendly, you'd say the months. If they're very close in age then sometimes swap birthdays to see which is older.

I think we're similar to the "rules" above;
Days until 2 weeks
Weeks until 3 or 4 months
Months until probably 2
Quarters probably until 3 or 4
Halves probably until 8.

I have a poem I wrote as a kid that states I was 6 3/4, so I'm sure OP would have despised me as a child.

It makes a massive difference in terms of development ds cousin is the same age as him for 2 months of the year but actually is 10 months older. Should I expect the same development from a just turned 2 year old to a nearly 3 year old.. No offcourse not.

^No, actually it's a fairly recent 'trend' for people to say their child's age in months. It just irritates me, and I wondered if others felt the same.
Still, it's quite amusing to see the reaction this got ^

Is it? I'm sure I used to do it even though DS is in his 30s now. Some of us just like to be precise.

Why does this bother people so much?

23 months is the last time you can say it I think, after that it’s, 2, 2 and a half etc.

People only do this with their first child

I do months up to around 20 months and then it’s ‘almost 2’ then it’s just age or age-and-a-half

Then eventually the and-a-half is no longer relevant either, although it stops being relevant to adults around the same time it becomes important to the child (ie the child would call themselves seven-and-a-half while the adult just says they’re seven)

If another mum said their child age in months past 12 months I'd be trying to work it out for ages. That's another reason I didnt do it with mine.

She apparently had an assessment at 30 months. What's wrong with saying 2.5 year?

To be fair, my health visitor talked to me about 13-16 month checks and now 27-30 month check so, given you could class her as a medical professional, it's not just us plebs that do it.

I swear it’s to make the child sound more interesting and so that you have to think “huh?!” and ask more questions to understand the answer fully. People being pedantic.

Because it's just as quick with the added benefit of being more precise. Why does it bother you?

I don't understand how you (and others) can get so worked up about this?

A lot of apps/ methods of tracking development refer to babies in months, clothes are 12-18 months etc.

Live and let live!

If you want something to be mightily furious about, have a Google of what's going on in Sudan.

It’s generally used by some parents to excuse the frankly appalling behaviour of their toddlers.

I think it’s a recent trend and is intended to avoid expectations on children to mature and grow up, it’s fine for a ‘toddler of thirty six months’ to be nappies; it’s less fine for a three year old pre-school child.

Describing a child's age in months is not recent. My oldest is 22, it wasn't new then.

Anyone who describes their child as 42 months is a massive bellend.

I get referring to medical professionals if needed but amongst general conversation? No need at all, most definitely not after 2 1/2 years old.

They're "2 1/2", or "3 next month".

Where does it stop? I'm 470 months old.

Yabu there is a lot of difference prior to 3 with 3 or so months. If it causes you mathematical issues you must have some kind of block about numbers...

My ds is 64 months

Months up to 18 months. After that, a year and a half, or nearly two, or "he'll be two in August' or whatever.

Definitely no months after two.

I did it in months until 18 months and then I switched to 1.5, nearly 2, 2.5, nearly 3 etc. I suspect it bothers people because instead of instant understanding they have to work it out into a unit that makes sense to anyone who doesn't have a toddler or baby. It is irritating! I also roll my eyes at anyone doing it over 2 years.

You really need to relax, OP.

And I think months are still useful up until the age of 2. There is a big difference between a 14 month old and a 20 month old - developmentally.
See also - toddler clothes sizing.