My 2 year old son is calling me by my first name

Danielle - posted on 05/31/2011

My best friend's son went through a stage like that as well and she did what Jennifer said...she didn't respond to him unless he called her Mommy.

Anne - posted on 05/31/2011

My husband and I call each other Mommy and Daddy around the kids. It's fun for us adults, too. ;)

Emma - posted on 05/30/2011

Most children at this age call their parents by their first name cuz they pick it up from others around them. My son will be 2 in July and he calls me Emma all the time. When you're talking to him, refer to yourself as Mommy. It will help him understand that that is what he should be calling you. Eventually he will grow out of this stage.

Brandi - posted on 11/22/2009

My nephew did this to his dad for a little while around two. His mom always called his dad by his first name, not daddy. When she noticed that he was doing this, she would correct him and say "not Jeff, Daddy" and she began referring to him as daddy as well. My nephew got the point pretty quickly. In my house, my hubby and i call each other mom and dad, it helped our kids to know that In our house I am mommy, my husband is daddy. We then taught our oldest what our names actually are just in case she should ever NEED to know i.e. she gets separated from us in the Wal-mart or grocery store or something. (i don't know how this could ever happen as I do not let her out of the cart, but better safe than sorry). He'll outgrow it. I wouldnt' worry too much about it.

Sharon - posted on 11/22/2009

Deal with it.

Really. He'll switch back if you keep correcting him and ignore the "missy". My own son went through that too. Funny as hell to be greeted with "hi mrs. grey!" from my own 2 yr old... oy vey

Stina - posted on 11/22/2009

My dd and ds did this when they were 2 and 4 yo. The first time they called me Stina, I told them that was not the name for them to use for me- that to them I am "Mom" I didn't make a huge deal out of it, but after a few times of telling them this, I just started ignoring them when they called me by my first name. After they used the name a few times with no response, I'd look up surprised and say. "Oh, I'm sorry, there isn't anyone here by that name. Did you mean to call me Mommy?"



it took a few weeks of ignoring them/acting oblivious when they used my first name, but they don't do it any more. It's pretty normal for them to try out using the name other adults use with us.



About the same time, they experimented with thier Dad's name too. Especially if I called for him from another room. Two little voices would echo me. "James? Jaames?" It helped that between the two of us, we both corrected the kids. As much as I would tell them- His name is Daddy to you, my husband would also tell them -Her name is Mommy.

Lindy - posted on 11/22/2009

None of my kids tried that, but all the above ideas should work.
You can always refer to yourself as Mummy. "Mummy is dressing you" etc.

Lori - posted on 11/22/2009

Not a big deal. They all do it. They hear Daddy and others saying it, so it's natural they pick it up. If it bothers you a lot, have Daddy call you Mommy when they're around.

Sylvia - posted on 11/22/2009

My daughter did that for a while -- at around the same age, I think. We didn't make a big deal about it (because, frankly, we didn't consider it a big deal), and pretty soon the novelty wore off and we became mommy and daddy again.

I think it's a phase kids go through when they're figuring out that, hey! you have an independent existence apart from being their parents! -- which is actually a really important thing for them to understand, if you think about it ...

Lindsay - posted on 11/22/2009

Just have you and your husband call each other mommy and daddy in front of the kids at all times. They will catch on soon enough! =)

Firebird - posted on 11/22/2009

He'll grow out of it soon, it's just a phase that many kids go through. My daughter called me by my nickname Jojo for almost 2 weeks last year (she'll be 5 in a couple weeks). I didn't have everyone I know calling me mommy, everyone just carried on as usual. her dad would say "go give this to mommy" like he always has and I'd say "come see mommy" as I always do. He's just testing the waters, no worries. =)

Edith - posted on 11/22/2009

You should not answer to Missy and correct him by stating that you are mommy to him. Children that call their mommies by their name do not have the respect that they would if they are mommy to the child. We are never to be on a first name bases with our children because children think that there is no difference between us. I have seen two of my friends that allowed their children to call them by their first names and these children have no respect for their parents! It is a sad situation to witness.

Melanie - posted on 11/22/2009

Im going with same thing with my two year, but she does because my step son called my by my name. When my daughter does it I tell her that I'm mommy not Mel and I make her say mommy.

Melanie - posted on 11/22/2009

my daughter went through the same stage because her daddy kept calling me Melanie not mummy. I eventually ignored her (cruel but she got the point). We made a point of her daddy calling me something other than Melanie and i refused to answer him. We explained that different people call me different things (like my friends call me Mel not Melanie). it may be cruel but only answer to her when she calls you mummy and make a fuss of her when she does. She will soon grow out of it. xx

Mandy - posted on 11/22/2009

My son was doing that with to my husband. My oldest daughter has a different daddy, so she calls my husband by his name. (we don't make her call him daddy, but she does occasionally and when she is talking about him to other people) Anyway, my son who just turned three had picked up on calling him Eric instead of daddy. We didn't make a big deal of it, we simply said "do you mean Daddy?" and he would say yes. After a while he just went back to calling him Daddy all the time. I think it's just their way of sorting things out, like he knows his sister's names but calls them sissy.

Tess - posted on 11/22/2009

my son did that to me as well and I found that if I just ignored him when he said it he'd end up getting frustrated and yell mum thats when I'd smile sweetly and say yes dear what do you want I only had to do this a couple of times before he caught on good luck.

Linnaea - posted on 11/22/2009

You can also try not responding to him when he calls you Missy, and that should help him understand that he doesn't call you Missy he calls you Mommy.

Linnaea - posted on 11/22/2009

sit down with him and point at yourself and say "Mommy". I have to do it with my son because he likes to call Grandma MOMMY. So we sit down with him and point at ourselves and I say "Mommy" and my mom points at herself and say "Grammy". He's now gotten to the point of calling me "Mommy" and Grandma "MeMe". Every time your son calls you "Missy" say "No, I'm Mommy". I'm sure he'll catch on eventually.

Marsha - posted on 11/22/2009

My daughter did that too for a while, it was just a phase for her and grow out of it. I bet he will too. Best Wishes.

Emma - posted on 11/22/2009

He will eventually go back to calling you mommy but he's going to need help. Everyone is going to have to refer you to as mommy though, your parents, friends etc can say to him, "go to your mommy" or "your mommy will get it for you". When you say goodbye to an auntie or his grandparents you say by "grandma" and they can say "bye mommy".



He will grow out of of it and call you mommy but you can help him do it quicker by involving your family or close friends.

Jennifer - posted on 11/22/2009

Don't respond to him calling you Missy, only Mommy. He may not understand the concept of why he calls you Mommy but at least he'll call you by the right name.