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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Do your children always call you mummy/mama etc..?

35 replies

alilang · 04/04/2008 20:46

My ds (2.3) has started calling me by my first name.
I assuming he's just copying his father, and testing out his (limited) language skills, but it sounds odd and I feel a bit rejected, almost. Silly, I know.

Anyone else's little one doing/done something similar?

OP posts:

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lalaa · 04/04/2008 20:51

Yes, this happened to me. Tis a phase.

CoteDAzur · 04/04/2008 20:51

A friend's DD started doing this. My friend explained to her that while her name was indeed XXX, only her DD had the privilege of calling her 'mummy' and that nobody else could call her that.

Seems to have worked.

McDreamy · 04/04/2008 20:52

Yes dd does this sometimes, just being cheeky, I agree with lalaa tis a phase!

kel29 · 04/04/2008 20:55

My daughter calls her dad his name all the time, at 1st was quite cute as she found it funny because he would make a game of it and say whats my name and she would just giggle because I thought she would just stop it, that was nearly a year ago and she still does it sometimes now, especially if he ignores her she will say dad a couple of times and if he is on the phone or shaving and doesn't answer quick enough for her liking she will call him by his name it is definatly to get a reaction with him. She tried it with me and I just ignored it and pretended I cant hear her until she says mum then answer her that seems to work a hell of a lot better.

PinkTulips · 04/04/2008 20:57

both mine call me and dp by name sometimes, dp more than me though. they're 3 and 20 months.

doesn't actually bother us though, i think it's cute and dp laughs whenever they call him 'do do' (joe)

if it bothers you though make sure ds doesn't realise or he'll use it to annoy you.

cotedazur's suggestion works well enough, just tell him how special he is and that no-one else is allowed to call you mummy

poodlepusher · 04/04/2008 21:05

My son calls his daddy "daddy" or by his first name.

I get called "da" which I take to mean the less imnportant, deputy version of daddy.

TheBlonde · 04/04/2008 21:14

My DS called DH by his name for quite a long time - probably my fault for yelling it so much

He also called my mother, mama for about 9 months but she is now Grandma finally
Granddad is still called by his first name though

Madlentileater · 04/04/2008 21:15

what's the problem?

PinkTulips · 04/04/2008 21:15

more weirdly though.... ds likes us to call him dada some days and mama other days he refuses to answer to his own name when he's being dada or mama. it's an odd sensation calling your one year old dada!

ProfYaffle · 04/04/2008 21:19

My dd1 had a phase of calling me by my first name, it's just experimentation (I found it really spooky though, she said it with really grown up intonation) Now she calls me Mama, don't know where she's got that from, it makes my teeth itch.

squeaver · 04/04/2008 21:22

My dd calls dh by his first name - but only when she's telling him off...

I get called Mama too. I think it's from Dora

calsworld · 04/04/2008 21:23

Totally off subject - but my gramps are still mama and dada coz my big sister couldn't say anything else (she was first grandchild).

Now we're grown up and they have great grandchildren, they're still mumma / mama (sp?) and dadda to everyone - long may it continue!

beansontoast · 04/04/2008 21:23

my son went through a very long phase of calling me by my first name..and dp by his...more than a year.only just stopped at four and a half.

everyone thought it was because we wanted it that way (and we do look teh sort)...but it was just a little foible.

IorekByrnison · 04/04/2008 21:48

Yes mine does this a lot to me (not to dp so much) - she's 2.6 now, think it started about 6 months ago. It's quite sweet I think.

HonoriaGlossop · 04/04/2008 21:48

just like you beans, my ds went through (still in it sometimes) a very long phase of this too.

I don't mind at all. I know it's short lived. I don't see why children shouldn't use our names really, I certainly wouldn't ignore my son when he talked to me politely and happened to use my actual name!

I love to hear his dear little voice saying my name

Am mum most of the time now though.

jollydo · 04/04/2008 23:11

My ds sometimes calls me and particularly dp by our names & we don't mind at all - he just hears others calling us those names so it's natural he'd use them too. He often does it if daddy hasn't heard him say 'daddy'- he tries the name instead. Why not?

Meeely2 · 04/04/2008 23:16

me and dh never use our own names in front of the kids! We did once in a row and DT1 picked up on it and used it once, but never since.

I find it weird calling DH by his name when kids about, dunno why, just always use mummy and daddy.....

Lubyloo · 04/04/2008 23:17

My dd (2.6) sometimes does this but recently she has started calling me Babe (copying DH)

Meeely2 · 04/04/2008 23:18

the boys KNOW we have names they just don't use them, btw (they are 3)....they have friends at nursery with the same names, when they hear them they say 'thats like mummy', or 'thats like daddy' but they don't address us with them.....

MsHighwater · 04/04/2008 23:18

My dd also copies her dad and me calling each other by our names. However, we have made a point of making sure she knows our names and her own full name (she's 2.8). I have occasionally noticed that if she calls "Mummy" and gets no response, she'll repeat a number of times but then she'll call my name! She does the same with dh.

edam · 04/04/2008 23:23

ds went through a stage of using our first names - the look on his face was clearly 'ooh, this will be interesting, let's see how they react'. I was Not Impressed and kept reiterating that he was the only person in the world who could call me Mummy. He got bored, eventually.

Then, when he went to school, he decided to try out 'Mum' for size. Managed to sort that one out by abbreviating his name back to him. (I've no objection to Mum as such, but I'm not ready for a 4yo to shift from Mummy to Mum).

dingdong05 · 04/04/2008 23:36

Yes, my ds has called me by name a couple of times "that's mummy to you" was my reply

nappyaddict · 05/04/2008 00:21

the blonde how old is your lo?

TalkroundupElf · 05/04/2008 00:24

My nephew calls his parents mamma and pop! 'Tis very cute

LilyMunster · 05/04/2008 00:28

i make mine all call me mama.
no real reason, just a whim. i like it.
dss called me Lily, as his mum told him he wasnt allowed to call me 'spare mum' which he jokingly used to call me... ho hum.
and ds1 went through a time of calling me Lily, to see if id rise to it.
but im really quite bossy and insistant about it, for no good reason at all other than i like it. mama's prerogative

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