Is it normal for a toddler to call their grandparents mummy/daddy?

[SpacePug]

My DS is 2.5, he sees my parents for a sleepover once a week and since he's been talking better he calls them mummy and daddy. He calls us mummy and daddy too.
I think maybe he sees adults who care for him as mummy or daddy that's why?

We always correct him "no it's grandad" etc . Just last week he started saying grandma. I said we are going to Grandma's he said "grandma and daddy" I said no grandma and grandad.
Then when he came home, he called me grandma 😂 he's a confused boy!

I guess it's normal and he'll figure it out eventually?

DD used to call the Amazon delivery guy daddy. They figure it out!

He'll work it out eventually.

S1 when he was little had granny and grandad; great-granny and great-grandad; and Carolyn (my oldest sister) and grandad. He did once put forward the hypothesis that we might go to visit great-Carolyn and great-grandad

Do you think the grand parents are encouraging it?

Both my dcs did this for a while at a similar age. Dc1 would get very excited at the bus top if 'a daddy' was waiting for a bus. They soon grew out of it. Dgs, 3 , has done similar. I think it's just that at the moment they don't really understand family relationships, but soon learn.

My DD calls everyone mummy, even the cat 🙄

I remember studying this phase of language acquisition. It's called over extension and it's when they are still figuring out the range of things each word applies to.

Eg. "Van". They might call all 4 wheeled vehicles a van, or think it's just the one specific van that parks on their street that can be "van". Or maybe all red vehicles are a van.

It must be hard to figure out, "man" can be any adult male but "daddy" is just one daddy. Or sometimes more if someone else's daddy is there too. Confusing!

.. meant to add, it's totally normal and shows how their brains are taking in information and trying out hypotheses by trial and error.

Mine is currently calling various male friends "Daddy", whilst delighting in calling her actual father by his first name. Poor DH is getting very upset, especially when she does it in public, as he says it makes him sound like a step-dad, but the more he tries to persuade her to call him daddy, the more hilarious she finds it.

Totally normal.. My youngest used to call DH, Dada and he called my Dad, 'Dad' because that is what I call him.

He had limited words but was a smart cookie, he used to say, Mumma Dadda, Mumma Dadda and we used to encourage him to say his brother's and sister's names, so he would say, Mumma Dadda, Bob and Mumma Dadda Barbie and then laugh. Our older children are not called Bob and Barbie.

My 20 month old daughter went tearing down the path after the postman today, shouting 'Daddy! Daddy! Come back!' 🤣

DS2 did this. Then he went through a phase of me being "Mummy" and everyone else was "Not Mummy". Toddlers are weirdos.

DD is nearly 2.5 and all men are Daddy. Especially if they have beards. If I forget to epilate I’m Daddy too

According to my 2 yr old a gollum-like alien sticker at soft play is 'Daddy'

The health visitor thought one of my DC were odd as he described another man as a 'man' not a 'daddy' when he was about 2.

I look after my grandchildren regularly and all of them call me mummy on a regular basis even the 7 year old does it when tired /excited. I usually gently say no Granny/Grandma/Nanny depending on what their parents have chosen for me.

I remember the little boy of friends of ours who, when he was little, called his grandfather, "Dad". It was sweet, they adored each other but he knew who his actual Dad was - that was Dad's son who also called him, "Dad".

My five year old calls my Dad "Dad" because that's what I call him. He uses it interchangeably with "Grandpa".

I used to be a childminder. Pretty much every 2 year old called me mummy at some point. They knew I wasn't actually their actual mummy but I was the person looking after them so initially, before they had enough language to use names, I was mummy.

It usually progressed to Mummy Lindy and then Lindy as they figured it out.

My own DD would randomly go up to men while we were out and say daddy in an enquiring way. Most looked a bit panicked for a second and then laughed 😂

Any adult woman is "mummy" until they look vaguely over 45 when my toddler shouts "nana!" Mortifying

I called both my grannies 'Mum' until they died when I was an adult! I heard my parents calling their mums 'Mum' and just copied. My own mum I initially called 'mummy' but then when I got older I called her Mum too so I had three people I called Mum

Some of these stories are hilarious 😂 I've yet to experience him calling delivery men or post man daddy at least 🤣
Grandparents aren't encouraging it btw seems like it's normal toddler development while they're figuring stuff out, phew!