7 year old acting like a baby

[kneedeepwith1]

Hi, I just joined this group hoping to get some help. My daughter just turned 7 and I am at my wits end the way she has been acting lately. She actually thinks its cute or funny to act like she is 1 or 2 years old again. She will walk around with her thumb in her mouth and constantly doing the baby talking and even coming up to me and flat out telling me she is 2 and laughs! She never does this in front of her friends or at school but will anywhere else and its getting a bit embarrassing. When we go shopping, she always asks to sit in the "baby" seat in the cart because she says she isnt a big girl and cant walk! I just dont know what else to do. How can I get her to realize that being 1 or 2 isnt as much fun or cute or easy as she seems to think it is? Is it even possible? I have tried ignoring it, taking away toys and movies and TV, I have tried talking to her, time outs, grounding.....you name it I have tried it. I am hoping someone here knows what I am going through or has/is going throgh it with their older child. Thank you everyone for your time. Have a wonderful day!

Bonnie

She sounds like she is insecure and wants to go back to a time when she felt safe and protected. I wouldn't get angry or punish her she's acting this way for attention and the desire to be looked after.
Has anything changed in her life recently?

Thank you for your reply. Nothing has changed in her life. She loves school and isnt being bullied there and has lots of friends. I try not to get angry but when she does it ALL the time, its so hard not to get frustrated by it. Like I said, she will actually tell me she is a baby and think its funny. She will do the baby talking and I tell her I cant understand her but she persists on doing it. Like when she wants something she will point and say me want that mommy. How can I get her to realize that its not "fun or cute" to be a baby. My friends tell me its a phase and she will grow out of it but its been going on for almost 2 months now and she is doing it more and more. Just this morning she held up her arms when she got out of bed and said uppy mommy and wanted me to carry her! Thank you again for your reply!

Bonnie

My DD does this. She is 5. Much of the time when she is at home she is either a baby or a kitten which means she can only say 'gaga' or mew. While it can be frustrating, it is just a game, isn't it? She loves hearing stories about when she was a baby too. I usually play along with it although I make it quite clear to her that it is a game and if I haven't got the time or energy I tell her that she has to be her normal self.
If she doesn't want to stop the game, she usually changes her mind when I remind her that babies don't get to eat xyz or to go to such and such a place!

I don't think this is really punishable behaviour, tbh. There isn't really anything 'wrong' or 'naughty' in wanting to be babied...in some ways!

Are you pregnant? Because my dd (was 4/5 when I was preg) became 'baby-fied' in wanting to drink out of a sippy cup, wanting to be carried more, pretending to talk like a baby. But it passed in a few months. The sippy cup I gave into, at home. The lifting I couldn't, the talking I would ignore. Literally....no acknowledgement of it at all.

So, I would do this..

Tell her if she wants to be a baby she needs to go into a cot, wear nappies, wear bibs when she eats. Sits in a high chair. Doesn't get to play with 'big girl' toys or have 'big girl' time with mummy. That she has to be in bed at x o'clock etc.

Sometimes that shocks them out of it.

Thanks everyone. I never thought about actually treating her like a baby hmm that might just snap her out of it. I still have all her old baby things in the basement that I havent got rid of. I just never heard of anyone trying that before at her age. At 2 or 3, just not 7. I will have to give that a try and see how fast she straightens up. I do have to lagh because she is still small enough to still fit comfortably in the cot and nappies!! I am definately going to give that a try as I have tried just about everything else. Like yo said its not a punishable thing but I do want her to know what its really like to be a baby. Do you know of anyone thats done this before with a child my daughters age? Thank you again!

Bonnie

do you think she realises that she is really upsetting you and how embarrassing that is, and realises that she actually has alot of power ?
maybe she is very bright and is just enjoying the control she ahas over you ?

i only ask because my 6 yr old has been very difficult for 18 mths now. and we have realised that he does actually realise the power he has over dh and i to make us so miserable. so we are trying to play down our upset. just ignore and get on with it.

welcome by the way.
yeah maybe play down the things she can do because she is 7. a 2 yr old would go to bed at 6pm ? a 2 yr old wouldn't be able to watch such programmes or go to her friends for dinner ?
she might not like that
but agree with previous posters, be careful, becasue although this is irritating, nits not actually naughty.

I try not to let her know that it bothers me but I have to tell her that she needs to act her age, especially when we are in public somewhere or visiting family or friends. As I mentioned before, I have known a few 2 or 3 year olds that have done this but never 7 so thats why I am having a difficult time trying to cope. I am sure if she were younger I can easily ask other moms I know what they have done but seeing how she is older, I dont have anyone to turn to.

I have told her that if she does keep it up that I will put her back in nappies and make her sleep in her old cot and give her a bottle (I even showed her that I still have her old baby things in the basement). It seemed to of worked for a little while but not even 2 hours later, she is right back to doing it again like everything I said to her went in 1 ear and out the other. I dont really want to but it looks like I am going to have to follow through and actually do it so she knows she cant walk all over me and continue doing it. Like I said, I dont know anyone else thats had to follow through and do this with a child my daughters age thats all. Thank you again and I hope to hear back soon.

Bonnie

Is there anyone eles that is going through what I am with my daughter or has gone through it? I feel like I am the only one with a 7 year old that acts this way. Thank you.

Bonnie

try ignoring it completely or finding out why she wants to do it or try regulating it to certain times. as like a game. and tell her once game is over you wil do/give her a special treat. sometimes bribery is the only thing that works, !!!!!!!!

Hi kneedeepwith1, just saw your post and thought would give my support, as have went through the same thing with my oldest daughter.
We've been through the whole acting like a baby thing, we even done the treat her like a baby (partner has been doing that since she was born-in a good way)and she loved it (maybe that was a mistake?)and expected it everyday.
She is still doing now, although not as much, usually when she is tired, or upset, or when she just feels like it!
My partner hasn't really helped much as he is such a big softy, and just gives into her all the time (no matter what she wants), although she has always been a daddy's girl (the two of them are inseperable).

She seems to be growing out of it now, so don't worry, i'm sure yours will too. Have seen quite a few at school who as soon as they are out of school, they get a dummy stuck in their mouth, and strapped into buggy!(so doing it at home doesn't seem that bad )I'd just treat her like a baby if thats what she wants, and she'll soon tire of it.

Now, if only i could get her off the dummy.....

My ds (now 9)had a nanny when he was 7. There was growing conflict between how I thought things should be done (e.g. to include a bit of homework, piano practice,reading etc) and the way she thought things should be done (lots of shrieking, bloody disney, still bathing him and singing him to sleep).

When she left, last year, after 6 years (and for completely unconnected reasons), the one thing about which he was a bit upset was- and he expressed it almost like this-that nanny had allowed him to be a baby still and not to worry about anything except having fun.

Now, I am not heavy on the school/music/activities/cook your own breakfast front, if anything we're a bit laissez faire; but I think that what we were seeing was a sympton of the fact that at about 7, school and the rest of the world shifts children out of the "tiny" bracket where nothing is expected of them and starts to require that they make a little effort of their own and to stand a little bit on their own two feet. This must feel as though one is suddenly promoted to a new job without any training. I think that your daughter just wants occasionally to relax back into the old "job" of being a tiny. She will grow out of it as her confidence grows; but in the mean time it probably affords comfort when she's feeling a bit insecure.

Even now, when ds (demon tackler on the rugby pitch and gnerally quite grown up)is tired or a bit miserable he'll like to sit on my knee and hear about what a lovely baby he was. Maybe you could try to confine dd's "baby time" to aprticular times and places?

Hi
I've just seen this and want to offer some support if you're still reading. My SS is 8.5 and he loves to act like a baby or a kitten so sounds very similar to your situation. He will say "gaga" and speak in a silly voice and pretend he can't walk properly.
It can get very tiring because DH wants him to a "big boy" and play football and climb trees instead so gets frustrated with him.
He went to a child counsellor and they told us it was because his parents split up when he was 4 and he yearns for that young "security" he had when he lived with his father so at least in some respect we know why he acts like he does.

Now we just try to ignore it and praise him and encourage him when he acts like an 8yo. Its just hard when friends/family look confused/disapproving but we're hoping he'll grow out of it. Strange because his 11yo sister is totally the opposite and is 11 going on 16

My DD does this occasionally (she's 5) I don't have a problem with it, but if it's been going on for too long - and perhaps we need to do reading etc, I find she snaps out of it pretty quick if I say something along the lines of 'Oh, well I can't give you a biscuit/take you to the park/let you paint etc because babies can't do that.'
Suddenly she becomes 5 again very quickly! Good luck.

Ds1's best friend (age 8) came for a sleepover recently and he was doing this. I think he thinks it makes him cute or something. Its a bit annoying, but more so when DS1 started copying him because I was letting him away with it (the friend isn't my child and its not for me to decide what is and is not acceptable behaviour from him).
It went on all evening, until finally he wanted me to help him brush his teeth, and I replied that if he was having trouble he could ask DS2 (age 6) who knows how to do it and would be happy to show him!
That was it... after that he was able to work out all by himself how to dress himself/ b rush his teeth etc and there no more baby voice (which was a relief as it was beginning to be v. annoying!)

hello TheDiary,

I wouldn't worry. I have DS same age and have seen milder forms of this behaviour in him and other children at various stages.

I think it's the kind of thing that you could even encourage for intensive bursts, to see if it eventually wears off (which it will).

DD can almost certainly see that you're bothered. If you can (and it's a big ask) be just the opposite, it might stop sooner than you think.

Sorry that last post was for the OP, kneedeepwith1 !