How do I get my 3.5 year old to stop calling me mum?

[whistlers]

Started a couple of days ago and it's constant.

I would like to be called mummy again. Mum sounds dreadful.

My advice to you is to choose your battles. This shouldn't t be one of them!

My nearly 2.5 year old calls me mummy, mum, and my actual name (because that’s what she hears everyone else call me). I sometimes correct her if it’s the latter.

My mother was adamant that I caller her mummy, to the point that I got quite anxious about calling her mum when it was more age appropriate for me to do so.

Oh good lord, does it matter?

Mummy makes me cringe personally. As they grow up they will call you Mum, it's normal.

Lord you’re a precious one OP

It's not disrespectful, it's an appropriate term. "Oi wench!" And you may have a point!
My mum gets called wench more times that I'd care to admit (not just me, but all of us). I have no idea why or where it came from.

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy

I definitely prefer mummy for the next 1.5 years at least

Sorry, but part of being a parent is realising you cannot control every single thing your child does.

This...

How unkind for people to ignore their children calling them a perfectly normal name. Your kid loves you and wants you around, that's the important thing.

Weird, creepy, controlling replies in here... how's about let the child call you what he wishes?

Imagine ignoring them for using the 'wrong' name! Bloody callous.

For older kids Mummy's for Jacob Rees Mogg anyway, can't surely be insisting on that after the toddler years.

My 5yo has recently started with Mum. Before that I was always Mama (not in UK, bilingual). I also have teens who have switched to Mum and that's fine (though i do think Mama 'wears' better than Mummy in terms of it still sounding OK from older children), but I do struggle a bit with it coming from the little one. I even asked her a couple of times to please call me Mama I'm fairly certain in my case it's because they say it so much at this age and for some reason 'Mum' on repeat is very wearing to listen to. I was surprised at my own reaction, and I do realise that I need to let her call me whatever she wants (within reason) and am now accepting it with grace.

Sounds like your child is very bright and sharp with his language skills. He has realised that older children and adults use mum and therefore has progressed. To him mummy sounds babyish and he doesn’t see himself as a baby. Go with it and embrace it.

It's sweet being called mummy, but refusing to acknowledge children for saying mum and not mummy is bizarrely controlling.
It's polite and it's clear who us being referred to so why are adults trying to score points against young children? Weird.

Aww i miss being called mummy.

Its sweet. At 3, or thereabouts.

At 14 and 17 its creepy@Slashandcut
Still, if its the only thing you will answer to, i guess they don't have much choice.
Poor buggers.

Just don't answer to mum (unless they really need you, of course). My two year old does it but with a cheeky grin because he knows I don't like it. I won't make him call me mummy forever, but I think mum sounds horrible from a pre-schooler.

My mum (who I still call mummy, or mamaa), always refused to answer to mum, even when I was an embarrassed teenager. I wont do that to my child, but I do understand why she did it.

Surprised how many people here have sickly sweet sentimentalism surrounding entirely arbitrary forms of address. Your child is just as much your child if they call you ‘Angela’.

Yeah well @Wonderbox I had plenty of people to call me Angela through my many years of infertility and IVF. So sue me for taking a bit of pleasure at finally having someone in my life to call me Mummy.

I dont think any of my kids called me Mummy ever.

My 3 year old cant even physically say Mummy yet as its fairly complex word but Mam, Mama and Ma is quite easy.

Frankly I would cringe at the whole Mummy thing. Its quite a toddler/pre-schooler doing it if they want but forcing it after they grow out of it is wierd and when does it stop, its awful when you see 20 odd year olds talking about Mummy and Daddy.

Gosh. Saddest thing I've read. I won't answer to mum because I don't like it. It just sounds snobby. Just ignore your child until they get it right OP.

I do find it weird when people say calling their own mother mummy is creepy. It's her name? I'm nearly 40 and my mum is 74, but she is mummy to me and always has been.

I wouldn't say 'My mummy...' in conversation, obviously.

Mum's great for an older dc but I would have been sad if my dd had stopped calling me Mummy when she was only 3.

OP. both of mine went through early phases of this that only lasted a couple of weeks then switched for good at an age I was happier with! You are getting a hard time for this on here & of course in the big scheme of things it’s pretty minor, but I’m with you - it made me wince when they were tiny - it’s inexplicable as to why & probably unreasonable but it’s definitely a thing!

I’d recommend ignoring it, like most things if it gets a reaction it’ll continue for longer - just pretend it’s fine when they do it then reinforce ‘Mummy’ subliminally (like when you are praising them or reassuring them or telling them you love them go back to the third person phrasing you use with babies and toddlers - like “aren’t you clever, well done, come and give Mummy a cuddle” etc.)

Quite a few people seem to have missed that this post was not in AIBU.

After a decade journey to hear mummy I totally get this.

I wouldn't worry about it, it doesn't mean anything, he has just heard the word. You can say 'we say mummy in our family' but really it would be better to just focus on the bond between you rather than a word.

I had a preference for mum as I dislike mummy, but I got mummy and it was fine.

@5475878237NC

After a decade journey to hear mummy I totally get this.

Surely hearing your much longed for child say mum, Mama, mammy, mom or any other varient is just as special as hearing them say mummy?

Better than being called Yo my g ! 🙄

I told DD I didn't like it and she hasn't done it since. She's 4. She has years to call me Mum. My DN (2) calls my sister "mum" and my sister doesn't mind at all. A few kids I know call their parents by their first names.

Could be worse…
‘Mom’ makes my toes curl