Interesting 3 year old language stuff...

[ktcl]

DS (3 and a little) has always been very verbal. His language is pretty sophisticated (I think...though I do'nt spend a ton of time with other 3 year olds). He says things like, "this weed I just pulled is as long as an elephant's trunk," out of the blue without prompting.

But recently he's been on this "babytalking" kick. Like he'll speak in one word "commands" that don't really make any sense and then get annoyed (though with a bit of a smirk) when I do'nt understand what he is saying. And he'll just keep repeating it. Other times he'll just say, "carry!" or other one word commands. There's no new baby in the house, so it's not about that.

I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced somethign similar. What do you think is going on in their little brains? I'm just always so fascinated by langauge, and this shift has me scratching my head.

[maria423]

My 3-year-old dd does that, but I always thought it was related to her being jealous of her little (21-month-old) brother. She does exactly what you describe, making little one-word commands. She also likes to play baby, where she pretends to be very little and we have to carry her around and coo over her and such. Again, I attributed this to her being jealous of our son, but it could be normal developmental stuff too. I don't know.

[mommyto3girls]

Maia is doing the smae thing. Drives me nuts as she is a very articulate 3 year old. Lots of one word or non-sense babble. But then when she wants to she will come out with these big long stories or observations about things. She has a huge vocabulary as well but love to talk babytalk.

[MamaDimstam]

My son started doing this at around 3...and he too was very verbal early on. He still does it occasionally, now at 4 1/2, mostly when he wants to suck up to me and cuddle when he's been difficult and I've noted it. The rest of the time he talks like a normal 4 1/2 year old. Thing is, when he does it, he makes me laugh, so then he does it more. That old reinforcement thing, LOL.

[Scrubsjm]

Funny dh and I were just having this type of conversation last night. Dd (nearly 4) is dong the same sort of thing, she make words more babyish saying things like butterfwy, rather then butterfly. We think it has a lot to do with her spending time with a friend who is just not as articulate as she is. So maybe it's an age thing to, but it can be pretty frustrating. Glad to know she's not the only kid doing it.

[Daffodil]

Yes, my 3 1/2 year old does exactly the same thing! (And, just like yours, she can use quite sophisticated language most of the time.) I have no idea why she does it, but it seems like it must be a typical 3 year old thing.

[teachma]

My son did this more around the ages of 4-5. He still sometimes does baby-talk at 6 now...Dh and I have marveled a the fact that he NEVER spoke like a baby when he was a baby (verbally advanced like other posters have said of their children) but he does it now. It doesn't bother me at all, bu dh cn't stand it! Like all the other annoying phases, I think this one subsides as you ignore it.

[mummy marja]

My dd started doing this around 3 1/2, and she has just turned 4. She hardly ever does it now. I either just ignored it or joined in the game.

[sciencemama]

Mine does just the same thing-- the short one-word commands and even sometimes just says the first syllable of a word. She's very verbal so I just kind of look at it as another way that she's experimenting with language. Interesting to know that it arises without the influence of a new baby!

[RedWine]

Yup, mine too. She's just over 3 1/2. She also sometimes wants to be carried everywhere all day long, which is both lovely and frustrating (since I have a 17 month old who also wants to be carried a lot).