Child age definition

[~PurityLake~]

I'm just curious...
My oldest daughter is 2.5 and even though she was toddling at 8 months and walking by 10 months, I don't see her as a child, I don't see her as an infant, so toddler seems the only word that applies to her.

At what age does a toddler become a child?
I define children as 4 yr old through 9 year old.
I've seen people call 3.5 year olds children and I've seen people call 12 year olds children.

I think of 10-12 as preteen, preparing to become a teenager.
It would be hard for me to see a 10 year old in the same light as a 5 year old by referring to them both as children.

And obviously, teenagers are aged from 13 through 19. Of course, comparing a 13 yr old to a 19 yr old still shows vast differences developmentally, but the word 'teen' is in the age.

[Kessed]

I see toddler as the time when our LOs are part baby and part child. I think that most LOs are fully 'child' by about 3. So I use that age to define a child.

I think that 10 is the 'preteen' age - but before that term came out I would have said that children went up to 12.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by Kessed

I think that 10 is the 'preteen' age - but before that term came out I would have said that children went up to 12.

Up to 12? Or including 12, and up to 13?

I don't see 12 as teen-aged.

[Kessed]

Depends on the kid.

[~PurityLake~]

Originally Posted by Kessed

Depends on the kid.

How so?

[Dar]

I think that 9ish through 12ish are preteens... they're dealing with some teen-type issues but not yet teens. Some 9 year olds are entering puberty and dealing with the physical and emotional changes that brings, so they would better fit into "preteens and teens." Others are still all-child.

I see the transition from toddler to child in the same way....

So, 1ish to 3ish for toddler, 3ish to 9ish for children, and 9ish to 18ish for preteens and teens...

Dar

[Ruthla]

The age definitions of the forums are intentionally loose.

If you feel that your child is doing "toddler" things, then post in "toddlers". If you feel that your child is doing "childhood" things, then post in "childhood years." Some 3yos are very "toddlery" and some 2.5yos are very "childhoody" so a general "cutoff date" for each forum wouldn't make much sense.

As for moving from "childhood years" to "preteens and teens" it really depends on when your child starts puberty and how mature they are in general. An 8, 9, or 10yo could belong in either forum, depending on that child's specific growth and personality. By age 11 most kids are in the "preteen" mode (though I'm sure there are some exceptions.)

And who cares when they go from "preteen" to "teen"? Technically it happens when they go from 12 to 13, but what issues they're facing at what ages can vary quite a bit.

[~PurityLake~]

Thanks Ruthla and Dar, your thoughts were helpful.

Ruthla, now I wonder, what is a toddlery thing as opposed to a child thing.

My 2.5 year old is my oldest child, and I had no expectations going into motherhood, so I'm not even sure if she is behaving like a toddler in some areas or a child in another.

However, I have noticed many age-related questions about toddlers seem to be things that relate to my daughter when they are talking about children 1-3 years older than her, yet verbally, she is not talking the way the children from 3-5 are, of course, since she is only 2.5.

[~PurityLake~]

I am still interested on other thoughts from more members here on the subject.

[kblackstone444]

I consider toddler around 12-13 months, when they start walking, and preschool aged, or "real children" around 2 1/2. Pre-K age around 4, schoolaged, between 5 and 10, preteen from 11 to 12 and teenager from 13 onward. But then again, I worked in daycare for more than half my life now, so I've pretty much grown up on how they're "classified". And for the record, both my 12 year old and my 7 year old are still my "babies".

[limabean]

For the purposes of these forums, the loose age categories in my mind are:

LWAB: birth to 1 year
Toddlers: 1 to 3 years
The Childhood Years: 3 to 10 years
Preteens and Teens: 10 to 19 years

That's how I loosely think of them, but even though DS turned 3 in October, I sometimes post stuff in Toddlers and sometimes in Childhood Years, depending on my question. For instance, if I'm asking for two-wheeler recommendations, I'll post in Childhood Years, but if I'm asking about potty training I'll post in Toddlers.

[mamabeca]

Yeah, my ds is not quite 3, and I usually go to childhood years, but occasionally I post in toddler because, well, some of his behaviours are still more toddlerish. Also has to do with who you want a response from - moms of older babies, or moms of younger babies. Ideas for snacks, for example, will vary wildly between the two forums. kwim?

I think I mostly agree w/the above stated stuff, except I'd say I think of children as children, or kids, from 0-16ish. Within that large category, you can break it down into babies (0-1), toddlers (1-3), preschoolers(3-5), school aged (6-12), and teen (13+). It may be that our society is moving toward putting 5yo's into school full time routinely now, but in most parts of the world that is not the case, because many 5yo's still have separation issues, and will resist the move. Otoh, it's easy to determine if your child is no longer a toddler by being in tune w/them, and knowing for your dc's sake whether they need toddler type activities, etc. or more preschooler type stuff. hth. andy

[pigpokey]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

How so?

Some children develop childhood abilities at a faster rate, some at a slower rate. How could it be otherwise?

[dianna11]

I was wondering that when DD was about 2 3/4 - She literally grew up overnight about two weeks before her third birthday, and clearly was all of a sudden very much "child".

[MtBikeLover]

I've considered my youngest a child since she was about 22 months old. She has always been very mature and with a huge vocabularly. Any time I would go into the toddler forum, it just didn't fit her.

My son was also about 2 when I considered him to be a child. He was very physically advanced, potty learned and very independant.

[limabean]

Originally Posted by MtBikeLover

Any time I would go into the toddler forum, it just didn't fit her.

I think this is a great gauge for where you should post about your DC -- if you aren't that interested in the topics being discussed, or feel that they're mostly irrelevant for your DC, then you should probably move up/down a forum. It's about going where you'll get the most useful feedback/be able to provide the most useful input.

[hempmama]

I am kind of surprised to learn that I have Extremely Strict delineations of ages in my head- I have absolutely no sources or necessarily logic behind these, but anything else strikes me as wrong, wrong, wrong. Also, some of those categories overlap for me.

0 to11-14 months baby/infant
1 to 2.5-2.75 toddler
2.5ish to 4 preschooler (regardless of actual schol status. )
10-12 preteen
13-19 teenager generally, but I think I would call most 18-19 year olds "college aged."

I call "children" people between the ages of 2.5ish to 12, when they become teenagers/adolescents. So for me I guess the big categories are baby/toddler/child/teenager, with a couple of those other categories subdividing the main ones.

But that has nothing to do with where people should post.

[~PurityLake~]

It seems the majority consider a 3 year old a child, so that is most likely the age at which certain skills are normally developed.

Originally Posted by MtBikeLover

My son was also about 2 when I considered him to be a child.
He was very physically advanced, potty learned and very independent.

So, then I wonder, my daughter is quite physically advanced, but is not potty trained.
I've just been really relaxed on it, sometimes she pees on the toilet, most days she doesn't.
Her vocabulary in the past couple months has really expanded, though.

And Sophia, she is picking up the words Abigail uses and is far more advanced verbally at 15.5 months than Abigail was at that age.
Sophia has only shown a little interest in the toilet, mostly just the process of putting toilet paper in, closing the lid, and flushing it, and has only actually peed on the toilet once.

For us, I can see using the toddler forum for many questions, but not so much the child forums, but then, I have no idea what is discussed on the child forums because I never have read them.

But I still find it interesting reading everyone's responses and the reasons they have for differentiating between infant, toddler, child and teen.

[boatbaby]

To me -- once they are potty learned they are no longer toddlers.
I am so happy to be there in "kid" world!

[425lisamarie]

I just call them "kids"

I guess my youngest is still a toddler