does your 3 yo repeat themselves excessively?

[OldieButGoldie]

I know repetitive speach can be common in toddlers but does your 3 yo repeat themselves in excess of 100 times with an individual sentence or request even if you answer it?

My DS is 3.2 and apart from driving me crazy I am beginning to wonder if he has a problem. No matter how I respond to his repeating he just keeps going. Sometimes he even wakes me in the the night and starts "I want a .....whatever" and just keeps repeating it. eg. "I want to go to the shop now" ad verbatim

What is the best way to handle this?

THat does sound a lot, my dd3 used to repeat herself a lot and not listen at that age, but not 100x. We thought it was cos she was the youngest in a rather verbal family and she struggled to get heard.

What we did was tell her to stop, and start again, and say it once, and we'd answer once. And stick to it. But stop them, and don't answer til they've stopped.
no idea whether that is officially correct advice but it seemed to work for dd3.

I've tried that, asking him to stop and ask once, but he already has it out several times before I can answer and just keeps going. I must add he doesn't do it with anyone else or really when anyone else is around. I'm on my own with him

I'm not sure then. I do know other children besides dd3 who repeated themselves obsessively. Language is very new still to them at 3, so I do kow that the repetition is normal, but I don't know when it stops being so.
Maybe you need to post this on SN to catch someone with speech therapy expertise.
We did get a bit worried about dd3, the other dds used to tease her when she did it which made her worse, and I was concerned for a while that she might get quite a bad stammer longer term. We had to all make sure we stopped and listened to her properly, so she got less anxious at getting a word in edgewise. and she doesn't do it any more, she's just 7, but I think she's only stopped in the last few months.

If it's just you and him it isn't quite the same issue.

Fennel, thank you for your replies. I don't think he's trying to get a word in edgeways, it's more like an impulse. I'm ashamed to say i get really cross with him. I need to do something about it

only when he's really, really drunk....

sorry couldn't resist. I just repeat the opposite back until he is in the game, then say what he said until he says the opposite and looks confused, then carry on as if nothing has happened - I am sure its cruel but it seems to work...

yes, ds1 did this at three, and I don't want to worry you but he now has a diagnosis of ASD.

This is not to say your child has ASD.

Please don't get angry with him. he's not doing it on purpose to piss you off.

make sure that when he's trying to tell you something, you are looking at him, so he knows you are listening, and then repeat back to him what he has just told you.

so

"Can i have a biscuit?"
"yes you can have a biscuit.
"Can I have a biscuit?"
"Do you remember what I said?"
"No"
"I said that you can have a biscuit. What can you have?"
"A biscuit."
"Well done"
"Can I have a biscuit?"
I'm not going to answer that question again, I'm going to give you your biscuit."
"Can I have a biscuit?"
"-"

Missing...GAFFAW!! I do know a man very like that but he's not my son's father

Colditz, yes it's just like that but it goes on and on no matter how i reply. I'm sure my father would have been diagnosed ASD if diagnosis had been better in his day. i just feel I am handling it very badly

well if its any consolation i can also remember doing this when i was a kid - just because the words sound more and more odd the more you say them