[Yash]

I need some help. My son, Jory, will be 16 months on the 25th. He has started calling me "Ash." It's odd because whenever someone is talking to him they refer to me as mommy or mom. He can say mommy, but he has never called me that.

I've been calling myself mommy more trying to reinforce it. I sign when we are signing. What am I not thinking of that I can do?

If I ask him to bring something to mommy, he does. And when other people say give this to mommy or where is mommy, he comes to me. So he knows I'm mommy.

This morning he was calling for me. And I said, I'm mommy, not Yash. When I got to his room. I repeated, I'm mommy. And he countered back, Ash. I repeated mommy again and he nodded his head and said Ash again.

Help.

[brandydawn]

I would imagine he is hearing others call you this while he is around (but not talking to him). Especially since this is the age they really begin to mimick adults.

I have made the mistake of calling my daughter "Mama" and even though I use the correct term for a baby when we see a baby,picture of a baby etc... my daughter now refers to all babies as "mama" and I just continue to reinforce "baby".

Regards,
Brandy

[Yash]

Thanks Brandy. I'll keep reinforcing it, like I'm doing.

[mommatomm&m]

My daughters called John by his first name for the longest time and i would ask them why and they would say "becasue that is his name" and when I would say what about mommy "they would say your name is mommy" so I would say but my name is rachel and they would say "ya...that's your real name...you don't understand mommy". Smart Cookies! One day it just stopped. Just recently they have changed from daddy to dad. I think he liked John better. His little girls are growing up r

[Maggie Beth]

My son did this with my husband for a while. I think he just got a kick out of calling daddy 'Brett' because we would laugh or my husband would look surprised, etc. I personally think it is a sign of intelligence -- they recognize you are mommy and "Ash"... just keep reinforcing mommy if it is important to you.

[Yash]

Thanks Rachel and Alex.

[momofmykids]

It can also become a game if your child knows you want him to call you mommy. Keep reinforcing. My husband calls me "mom" in front of the kids and my mom and dad call me "mommy" in front of the kids.

There's this family at our church. The kids are all teenagers now and call their parents by their first names. I think that is very strange and very disrespectful. jmho

[Yash]

Thank you so much. I think it's disrespectful also when kids call their parents by their first name. I'm ignoring my son when he calls me by my first name and when he stops. I remind him my name is mommy.

[mrsfig]

I was just thinking that you can reward him when he calls you mommy with a sticker or something else like that or you can simply make a big fuss or give him a high-5 when he does call you mommy.

[Yash]

Marie,

I will definitely make a big deal out of it when he calls me mommy. I'm looking forward to it. I still remember the first time my eldest nephew called me Aunt Yash for the first time. I get chills just thinking about it. He got tons of hugs and kisses and tickles for that.

Thanks.

[xillini]

You could always bribe him with M&M's

My mom told me I did the same thing to her until I heard my younger brother calling her Mommy.

[Yash]

Susan,

Can you still be bribed with M & M's?

Yash

[blessedbybug]

Do you have lots of people around alot who call you Ash? I just ask because DD has done this often esp when she is with our family... I have 10 nieces and nephews who all call me Auntie Tammy, not to mention the adults who of course call me by my first name. She is better now but she used to look so confused like... "have I been using the wrong name all along??" She is figuring it out now, that I am Momma and even tells people they can't call me Momma... just a thought that he might be hearing it from others and repeating what he hears...

[Yash]

I have more people than I thought calling me Yash. I just didn't realize someone so young would pick up on it. He's only 16 months. But he has. So I'm just reinforcing the mommy thing and ignoring him when he calls me "Ash" which has now turned into "Ya." LOL! With you guys I can laugh, in front of him, I keep the straight face.

[Sarah0518]

You'd be surpries what they do pick up. I've always been careful to refer to dh as daddy in front of my son so names wouldn't be confusing and the gparents & sitter normally do the same. Then at 18 mos we were moving. Someone asked where dh was and I opened the basement door and yelled down the steps "lloyd!" Ds runds up behind me and yells "daddy!" He knows his daddy has 2 names. They really are little sponges.

about 2 weeks ago ds changed my name from Momma to Mema. No idea why but he was quite determined. I tried correction, but too much emphasis on the correction and he'd think it was a game. Since I've corrected some, and ignored some - depending on the situation. More often that not it is Momma again now, but Mema does still pop up now and again.

The biggest thing to remember is at their age "mom" and "dad" are names. They don't understand the difference between title and names yet. It's easy for us to forget that. Calling us by our different names they hear us called is their way of trying to figure out why and how things fit together. Definately correct them and let them know your preference, but don't be discouraged. They are not trying to deny or make less of our status of parent.