Anyone else's child do this?

[MabelStark]

My son is 4 and a half and over the last few months has developed a habit of saying something and then repeating the same phrase in a whisper afterwards, he does not do it all the time - but enough for me to notice! None of his friends do it, just wondering why he does it and if it is a normal stage of development.
He does like to learn new things and to retain information - is he repeating things so that he remembers them?

Probably to remember them or maybe because they just sound nice or feel nice in the mouth. I am ten times older than your son (!) and find I do it all the time when I'm travelling overseas.... I see an interesting word written down or hear a phrase and I find myself mouthing it a little later.

My younger brother used to do exactly that! No idea why (must ask him) but he grew out of it and is now 30 and completely er normal

Have been paying a bit more attention to the phrases that he repeats and you are right Chil, he does do it when the phrase is a bit unusual or if it strikes him as amusing, has been playing on my mind that it isn't ordinary behaviour - but can see now that it could just be that he is interested in language - thanks

I used to do it!!! I don't know why actually, but I suspect it was just because I could! You'll be pleased to know I am a fairly normal (on a good day) 28 yr old now! I think I just used to like the sounds of certain words.

Our DS who is 8 has just started doing this! I must confess I didn't even notice but his dad did. It usually happens when he is trying to understand something. So we think he is self checking what he has said to make sure it makes sense when he thinks it an important thing to say.

He has no learning problems as far as we know, in fact far from it. His reading and language skills are very good. We couldn't be more pleased with his reports every year. He's highly creative and musical and has a keen interest in science.

I've only found one other link on t'internet about it but on that it seemed surprisingly common but I have to confess I'd never heard of it. I was worried at first but I'm just adopting a watching brief for now.

If you are still worried you could speak to your doctor?