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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

"My baby"

392 replies

tocas · 22/01/2023 20:41

Genuinely not sure if I ABU or not. It makes me cringe when people call their children over the age of about 6 months "my baby". In my eyes they just don't necessarily seem like babies any more. I can sort of understand up until 12 months but definitely not after. I've come across people calling their child of nearly two year old "my baby".
Aibu?

OP posts:
Drywhitefruitycidergin · 22/01/2023 22:14

LongRoadtoNowhere · 22/01/2023 20:42

My DM still calls me her baby, I’m 36. It’s a term of endearment!

Same except I'm 43!

SequinsandStilettos · 22/01/2023 22:16

YABU my 21 year old is still my baby and always will be, even when I have shuffled off this mortal coil!

Lilyyy · 22/01/2023 22:16

tocas · 22/01/2023 20:41

Genuinely not sure if I ABU or not. It makes me cringe when people call their children over the age of about 6 months "my baby". In my eyes they just don't necessarily seem like babies any more. I can sort of understand up until 12 months but definitely not after. I've come across people calling their child of nearly two year old "my baby".
Aibu?

Joke thread. Idiotic question.

FunnysInLaJardin · 22/01/2023 22:17

oh OP, I still call my DS's aged 17 and 13 my baby as did my mum to me right up until she died last year when I was 51. Its fine!

BigPurpleArm · 22/01/2023 22:18

Yabu
I have 2 DC, my 6 year old is as much 'my baby' as my 5 month old baby is!
My children will always be my babies -Regardless of their age!

However saying 'my baby' and 'a baby' are very different so it depends specifically on which one you mean and the context it's used in.

RaginaPhalange · 22/01/2023 22:20

My kids will always be babies regardless of age. One is almost 7 the other will be 2 in the coming weeks.

BreviloquentBastard · 22/01/2023 22:21

Tbh everyone knows when I refer to "my baby" in conversation, I'm talking about the donkey.

My daughter is also fine.

TigerDroveAgain · 22/01/2023 22:22

I call my nearly 21 year old DS "Mr Baby"

Easternext · 22/01/2023 22:22

I know people who say "going to get the baby some shoes" the baby is 10/11 that's ridiculous!! I actually replied what baby when they said it. I have never referred to my child in this term for this reason. Altho they are and will always be my babies they have a name and I use it.

Womencanlift · 22/01/2023 22:24

tocas · 22/01/2023 20:42

So as not to drip feed I have not got any children hence why I think I may be BU.

I also don’t have children and even I think you are being absolutely ridiculous and unreasonable

I don’t think your parental status matters when it’s a completely normal term of endearment for a parent to say about their child, regardless of age

surreygirl1987 · 22/01/2023 22:25

We had a friend stay with her 13 or 14 month old last week. He's a baby (I have a toddler and a pre-schooler myself). I agree when they start walking I often start referring to them as toddlers, and this may be earlier for some kids than others. But I wouldn't care if someone used the word 'baby'!

Kilofoxtrot99 · 22/01/2023 22:25

Think it was blindingly obvious from your post that you don’t have any children

Sharkpenis · 22/01/2023 22:26

Mine are ten and 5 year old and always will be my babies

LookyEre · 22/01/2023 22:27

tocas · 22/01/2023 20:42

So as not to drip feed I have not got any children hence why I think I may be BU.

Yes. Yes you are.

My nearly two year old is my baby (and he still seems much like a baby compared to older kids too).

jmh740 · 22/01/2023 22:27

My youngest will always be my baby. He's 13 now and does tend to cringe when I say it though?

alloutofcareunits · 22/01/2023 22:28

My daughter is saved in my phone as "baby girl" she's 25

BriceNobeslovesMurielHeslop · 22/01/2023 22:29

anothergrievingsister · 22/01/2023 21:51

I don’t have children.

My mother was mentally ill and I helped to bring up my much younger DB whom I loved ferociously. He recently died n a freak accident. There were just three of us at the crematorium, because my mother did not have the mental fortitude to face bringing his body home. I, generally an introvert who never referred to the guy this way in his lifetime, spent 45 minutes stroking his face and whispering ‘my baby’.

Your lack of imagination is shocking.

(We had a grand funeral with the cremains and there are many testaments from before and after my brother’s death to his extraordinary qualities, but if there had been none I would be no less proud of him or less mournful of his death)

I am so sorry for your loss @anothergrievingsister

RosesAndHellebores · 22/01/2023 22:31

YABVVVVVVU. DD us 24. She will always be my baby.

whataboutism · 22/01/2023 22:33

My mum in her sixties call me her baby. Guess my age...

Chocolateandcherries · 22/01/2023 22:33

Of course my 8m old is a baby and she still will be when she is 12m. What a silly post.

JustFrustrated · 22/01/2023 22:34

13 and 10 yr old here.

Still say "where are the babies?" "Taking the babies with me" "the babies are good today"

....it's just what we do. I did use it with the wider family until my sister had her son, then he became the baby. Because he became the youngest

But my two, are my babies. Even when they're old and have their own babies, they're MINE.

Even the 13yr old doesn't mind me saying "hey baby girl" etc because she knows it's endearment.

CalpolDependant · 22/01/2023 22:34

All of my children are my babies. But my 7 month old in particular is a baby. You can tell from the way she can’t talk, walk or shit in a toilet.

78Summer · 22/01/2023 22:35

There are worse things to be called.

HaggisBurger · 22/01/2023 22:38

Fluffygreenslippers · 22/01/2023 20:52

What should I call my seven month old baby then? He can’t talk, has no teeth yet and enjoys blowing bubbles. He’s literally a baby.

😂
I feel bad for you.
An MN 7 month old is speaking in full sentences and can feed the entire family for a week on the chicken they’ve roasted. Themselves. Over an open fire they’ve started from flint and straw.

HaggisBurger · 22/01/2023 22:38

whataboutism · 22/01/2023 22:33

My mum in her sixties call me her baby. Guess my age...

41!