we have been babysitting my husband's 2.5 year old nephew, and he keeps calling my husband "daddy". It's probably because my daughters refer to him that way, but we have to keep reminding him he's "uncle". anyway... I remember reading something that by a certain age, kids should understand the difference between "daddy" and other men (or mommy and other women), and what it means if the kids doesn't. Does anyone know? thanks!!!!!!!
Update: I'm not saying it's hurting anything... I just remember reading something about kids should know the difference by a certain age, and I can't remember why. i think it was on babycenter.com
I wouldn't worry about. I have high school students accidently call me mom sometimes. I sometimes call my own kids by the wrong name- I think the phase will pass.
Kids in the toddler room and 2 year old room still call their teachers momma quite often, by 3 they usually just start calling them teacher or they start calling them by their correct name.
I'm not sure, but I can tell you my son called ALL men Daddy. "That Daddy said." or "That Daddy over there." Just because your nephew calls his uncle Daddy doesn't mean he thinks HE is HIS Daddy. Hope that makes sense.
Hi, J.:
Be patient. In time he will learn. Just think how great it is for a child to love a man enough to call him Daddy!.
Just wanted to share. You are a loving family to care enough to take care
of your nephew.
Good luck. D.
Our 2 1/2yo calls my husband by first name most of the time or calls him "honey" because my 8yo calls him by his first name (he's my son's step-dad) and I call him "honey". There isn't anything wrong with this. It can be confusing for the little ones. He'll grow out of it.
My 3 brothers and I were very close with our cousins, all of us with a same-age, best buddy cousin. We were always at each other's houses. Early on, we started calling the two daddies "Uncle Daddy". No one was confused over who was whose dad, but maybe it made us all feel part of each others' households. No worries.
Encourage the use of the word "uncle" if you want, but I think this is no big deal for now.
It's no big deal. You don't have to correct him. Men are an archetype. Just like little kids call all old ladies gramma. Just refer to him as uncle when you talk to the nephew..."Give Uncle a hug, go see uncle, where's uncle?" He can refer to himself as uncle too. Play peek a boo "Where's Uncle? There he is" It'll pass and as long as the real daddy doesn't mind, what's it really hurting?
My 2 year old does the same thing to our sitters. Also one of the sitters have 5 yr old twins and she calls the girls sissy and the boy "Jin Jin" which is strange considering his name begins with a P. She hears the twins call them Mommy and Daddy, but rarely if ever hears the first names.
My 2 year old calls most men "daddy". My husband found her pointing at Beast on the cover of Beauty and the Beast the other day, and calling him "daddy" even. She gets very excited when Beast turns into daddy at the end. They grow out of it. Don't worry about it.
My kids call our next door neighbors pap pap Tom and Dada. Our kids play together ALL of the time. When I mistakenly called my husband "Dada," my 3 year told me, "Mommy, THAT is Daddy. Mike is Dada."
They know who Daddy is,,,and their mom, grandma, etc...
It is just a stage they will eventually grow out of. (Daycare providers get called mom all of the time.)
I think around age 3-4 he will start to understand who is who. I would say it means he is also quite comfortable with him and that is a great thing!
My 2.5 year old son calls ALOT of stuff 'daddys' including motorcycles (he has one) firetrucks, ambulances, and helicopters (he is a paramedic)
He also confuses his grandmothers and grandfathers quite often. He used to call me Mommy-daddy-mommy and call him Daddy-mommy-daddy. I think it was his way of calling to us and getting it right no matter what LoL
My son is also refering to all men as daddies. He will point and say "daddy too, daddy too" I know he knows that they aren't his daddy. But he just thinks all men are daddies and all women are mommies. He also calls every little boy his size by his name :) They are just learning to figure out this big world!
My daughter was just like Patty's son. All men were "daddies". It was very cute! She knew they weren't her daddy, that's just what they were. I wouldn't sweat it.
I think this in totally normal. Its not that he thinks its his daddy it just what he hears your daughter call him. The little boy I watch has called me mommy for the past year and a half then out of no where the other day he started calling me by my first name.
It all has to do with developement you can't put an age on it when that light bulb goes off in his brain he will start calling him uncle.
Within the same week the little boy started using the dogs name, my name and my husbands name. He also would always call my son D but started to call him by his name too. It is amazing how their brains work.
Good Luck, I am sure it will pass soon.
I've not heard about what you read, but it is normal for him to do this at this age. One of my triplets, age 5, still yells "Daddy!" when his teen brother comes home, lol. Partly to irritate him but partly because he looks at him as someone special. He knows the difference. I'm sure your nephew at just 2.5 knows his uncle is not his "daddy" but probably uses it as a name. I wouldn't worry a bit.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
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I have 21/2 yo daughter and a 3 year old neice who we spend considerable amount of time with and these two girlies do the same thing all the time. Either my neice will call my husband and I mommy or daddy or my daughter will call us by our first name...whatever. At first we tried to correct it all the time but then gave up, as they get older it'll be easier for them to understand but right now it's so hard because they do share SOME family members as in their MomMom and PopPop, other aunts and uncles and greatgrandparents. They both call them all the same name so why not us. As long as your nephew is still referring to his parents as his parents when he's alone with them I really wouldn't worry. Family dynamics and relationships are so difficult to understand. It's difficult for us too because the girls are only 7 months apart so when we refer to eachother it's like do we say daddy or do we say Uncle Chad? Sometimes we just say Daddy Chad and if the girls repeat it they repeat it.
I am a single mom and my daughter calls me daddy sometimes...lol. Understanding the difference is different than choosing to express the difference.
