"Baby" as a petname for my kids

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I feel as if I'm not being unreasonable but I just wanted to check.

I call all 3 of my children the pet term "baby" - 19 year old son, 14 year old daughter and 5 year old daughter.

I met an old friend recently and when I referred to my 14 year old as this she looked me horrified. And asked if I said this to all my children. I said yes, it's just a habit really and they don't mind/don't notice me doing it at all.

She said I should have stopped for my teens ages ago, and should be considering stopping for the 5 year old as none of them are "babies" and this is a term used with relationships.

I don't agree personally because of course I know they're not babies but they'll always be MY babies. And if her argument is that surely it makes no sense to use this term in a relationship because your partner is not your baby??

Please tell me if I'm wrong though and I've missed something.

My DS is 19months and I will call him baby until if/when he tells me to stop!!

I sometimes refer to mine (13 and 16) as 'Bambino'. No idea why or when this happened and we have zero Italian in us. Kind of did it as a jokey term of endearment to begin with I think, but it's stuck.

Surely it is much more weird to use it in a romantic sense, than to use it for a child, even an adult child, given the semantics of the word.
I agree with you, although because it's been used so much in a romantic sense it's become something i'd not use as a pet name.
Some of the nicknames on this thread are lovely and I'm starting to think my DC are going to find their silly pet names embarrassing by their teens so we'll need new ones.

I have about 257 pet names for my dc. One of them is baby. I had no conception I was weird! 😂

yiur friend would hate the Black Country where “bab” is used regularly by everyone to everyone. At a wolves football match you’ll often hear someone shout “go on me babbies!”

I call my kids baby, to the point if my 18 month old is meeting someone whose name she doesn't know she'll wave and say "hello baby"

@trussedchicken have you watched Friday Night Dinner? The dad character always says “hello bambinos “ to his adult sons.

I sometimes call my adult kids baby boy and baby girl. Never in front of others though.

I would suggest for clarity, and to avoid any confusion when they are together, you add a number to the name 'Baby'

ie: Baby 1, Baby 2 etc.

Pleasingly, this will work ad infinitum should have any further 'babies'.

If you’re not embarrassing them in front of their friends and they haven’t told you they don’t like it I don’t see the problem. Teenagers these days seem very confident telling everyone how they should be called!

I call my pets baby. One of them is a 20 year old parrot. But he will ALWAYS be my wee baby. 😍

Your friend is dead inside.

I call DS baby or bab more often than I use his real name! He's 4 and doesn't mind at all, he's insistent he's still Mummy's baby, although definitely a big boy with anyone else nowadays 🤣

My Mum still calls me babe or duck on a daily basis and I'm 38

That is SO cute. I’d love to be greeted like this by her!

I use baby, babe, bubba and bubs 😂

I don't know if living in Essex makes a difference but it seems fairly common around here

I have two DS, 21 & 20, my younger son has always been called baby, at home. He is so used to it, never bothered him.

Aww so gorgeous. That would make my day!

It's absolutely non of her business and to openly remark her opinion on the matter is just odd. Call your children what you like, if they don't like it they'll soon tell you, but for now enjoy it. I call my toddler baby too and no plans to stop doing it! Just say to your friend I'll call them what I like but thank you for your unwanted opinion.

I call my 14 yr old ds Piggy! Because he looked like a piglet when he was born, he was prem and really pink and had a nose just like a piglet. He doesn't seem to mind 😊

I always say baby, my eldest is 16. I probably wouldn't say that in front of her friends but I would definitely use her other pet name without even thinking.

They're 16,14 and 9 but will always be my babies.

They have never objected.

One of my friends refers to her youngest as the/her baby " got to pick the baby up" etc

It does make me cringe a bit, mainly because he's a jumbo sized 14 year old who I know well ( DS's best friend since toddlers) and I can't imagine he would like to know his mum refers to him in that way

No, do not stop. I call my 9 year old baby and still will when he’s 18! The mums that get it, get it!

This!

yes, see, absolutely no hate at all but I would not call mine honey as it’s just not a word I use feels a bit cringe saying it but I would never disrespect you and ask why you call them that and it wouldn’t of crossed my mind until this post!

My youngest aged 25 is still 'the baby'

Mine is 3. She has additional needs and is only learning to talk at the moment. I call her baby that much I've started to notice she responds to baby but not her actual name 🙈 but I'm a single parent so I suppose she hears it more than her actual name. I will continue to use my pet name for her until she personally either asks me not to or displays some form of behaviour to suggest she doesn't appreciate it

Your friend needs to get out more.
I had a colleague in her late fifties call me 'Bubba' the other week. That was odd. I am 37......