Do all toddlers/children do this?

[StandingAlone]

I have two lovely DD's. DD1 is 4yo and DD2 is 2.5yo.
Mostly they are lovely, nice, kind etc. Then at other times they drive me insane. They do this thing where they say 'mummy' to get my attention, I answer them, then they ignore me. Sometimes they will ignore me completely other times they will leave it a few seconds and say 'mummy' again and ignore me again once I have answered them. DD2 especially does this several times a day over and over again, until I can take no more and have to remove either myself or her from the room so I can calm down.

IT IS DOING MY NUT IN!!!!

It is like a red mist descends and I feel all unreasonable. I want to shout and scream, I sometimes do
I have tried ignoring, reasoning with DD1 (DD2 doesn't understand reasoning much, yet), rewarding, praising when they do speak to me, telling them both that I wont answer them if they say 'mummy' again without actually telling me what they want/need etc.

It makes me cry, I cannot stand it. I am sick to fucking death of hearing my own fucking voice.

Yup... I do it back to them :)

Maybe they just want some attention? DS does this sometimes, he's 2.4, so I'll see what he's doing then comment on it. I try and see what he's doing and show an interest regularly so he knows he gets attention from me.

Do you leave them to play a lot? Let them get on with it? Or do you get involved every now and then? Or let them come and "help" with whatever you're doing?

I like the sound of doing it back to them. I do play with them, read books together, build dens and they help me when I bake (which is a lot) I get them helping when I am doing the tidying/cleaning. DD2 especially likes helping to sweep up while I run round putting bits and bobs away. We do all sorts throughout the day. Once DD1 is at school in the afternoons DD2 and I spend time together then one on one. I think I might have to brave the dreaded parent and toddler groups a couple of times a week with DD2, try and help her to see that she doesn't need me to entertain her all the time like she seems to think she does.

I have just got back from taking DD1 to school and all the way home DD2 is saying 'mummy', I answer yes DD1 then she says 'mummy' again, all the way home. I stopped answering her after about the fifth time as I could not do it any more. She is napping now so I actually have peace for half an hour.

I get that they probably want attention but they cannot have 100% of my attention 100% of the time. Even if I didn't need to eat and go to the toilet, I do need to feed them and wash up and bung a wash in the machine otherwise we would have no clean plates/cutlery/cups/glasses or clothes.

DD2 is especially like this, she has a will of iron. She is okay as long as she is attached to me while she is awake. I would like her to learn to occupy herself for occasionally 20 minutes or so, so I can get things done/eat/pee etc.

Thank you for replying, it makes it easier knowing that it isn't just me

If its any help my 2.4 year old dd is also doing this.
Mummy?
Yes
Mummy?
Yes
Mummy?
yes
...

Im a sAHM and she has me to herself all day, I dont know what oher attention I could gve her!

That is exactly what I mean swimming I don't know how much more attention I can give them both, especially DD2 as she gets lots of one on one time with me while DD1 is at school in the afternoons.

Its a new thing for us, and at the moment (it wont last), Im secretly enjoying it!! Its like a competition with me thinking, right, lets see if I can win. Winning is either her following the mummy with an actual question or getting her to laugh or toddler herself saying yes.
For variation we also go:
Mummy
Littleswimmer
Mummy
Littleswimmer...
In this game, toddler saying littleswimmer is me winning also.

Wierd? Not me.

caveat.
I do hope im not encouraging it. Totally unchartered territory here!!

My two DSs are exactly the same age as your DDs, OP. They go through stages of doing this, and it drives me (inwardly) crazy as well! I must admit, I do Swimming's trick as well where I just say their name each time they say 'Mummy?' I also just carry on with whatever I am doing until they actually say something that needs a response.

They are not doing it at the moment, don't know why. It seems to come in waves.

If it helps at all - I tried to think about it as them 'checking in with me' in the way that you might catch another adult's eye and smile briefly when you're both in the same room doing something but not having a conversation. That seemed to make it less enraging :)

Also, I think with two of these ages, they tend to get a bit competitive over you. So when one starts wanting you, the other does too even if they wouldn't have otherwise.

I think you have to play a double game and not show them that it's getting on your nerves, because that just makes them want you all the more. I am trying to put a couple of rules in place:

1. No whining or shouting - I don't respond to whining
2. Talking in a polite, calm voice with 'please' and 'thank you'

(actually, they're much the same rule). But clinginess is less annoying when it's manifested in a polite, calm way.

I really think that it is a phase of behaviour that will pass. You can't (completely) control what they are doing here, but you can control your response to it. You have to find a way to make it less annoying to you. I also sometimes picture, silently, in my head some really inappropriate response to them which makes me laugh, and then I'm not annoyed IYSWIM.

My dd2 had a phase of going "Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy" in tones of increasing frustration that I hadn't answered-but with no gap between them for me to answer.

I started going back "dd2, dd2, dd2, dd2..." as she tried to say what she wanted to say. When she got frustrated because I wasn't letting her talk, I'd point out that I was doing exactly what she did. She stopped doing it.

yep... frustrating isnt it!

DD1 is 3.5 and thankfully has mostly grown out of it. DD2 is 20mths so im sure its coming! :)

yep.

this.
too.
shall.
pass.

you just have to try not to hoy them out of the window in the interim.