3.5 yr old doesn't say "I"

[mummy marja]

Is this something to be concerned about? He says, "Me want ___" and "Me going to go ____" Should I worry? What's the typical age for them to 'get' this?

[sarahmae1]

My DS, who will be 4 in April, is the same way. He goes to speech 1x per week, and she has told me not to worry about it at this point. As long as he is using pronouns in some form, then she said that's okay.

[funkygranolamama]

that's fine! my 3.5 year old just recently started using "I". he used "my" instead up until maybe a few weeks ago, and still occasionally does ...

[katsam]

My almost 4 year old doesn't either. It is something I've been kind of concerned about. He actually uses his name a lot, like he is talking about himself in third person. He keeps getting better at using other pronouns though, so I've been taking that as a good sign.

[DaughterOfKali]

It's normal. Preschool age kids often have trouble with pronouns.

[Needle in the Hay]

My DS did that until he was around 5.5. Then he started using "I" some of the time and eventually began using it all the time. He didn't go to speech therapy or anything. He has 2 languages to deal with and has always been a bit late on language milestones so I wasn't really worried. Plus it was so cute when he'd say "Know what mama? Me love you!"

It seems kind of excessive how much people worry about their kids' speech (not directed at the OP in particular, but in general). I guess it's good if you're a speech pathologist, though.

[Lingmom]

Totally fine!

Here's something interesting to think about (if you like thinking about language). Actually... Most languages that have a nominative-accusative case distinction (like our "I" vs "Me") have nominative as the default. English apparently has accusative default. Think about it... "Who me?" (not "Who I") "It's me" (not "It's I") "Us Moms are nice..". Plus think about all the times you've heard things like "James and me are going out...".

Anyway... totally normal!

[mummy marja]

Thanks! Now I'm not at all worried. He was in speech up until one year ago, and he was talking so much I decided to forgo the usual re-assessment at one year. He uses 'he' and 'she' properly, and understands when we use the word "I".

[cancat]

FWIW, my three year old is a pretty good talker but always says "Them go", "them are good", etc...

[emaye_to_2]

My DS was still speaking this way when he turned four. His speech was evaluated and we started therapy more for pronunciation/understandability issues. This "me/I" thing and other pronoun mix-ups were something that he got a little before 4 1/2 years.

[Xoe]

Originally Posted by cancat

FWIW, my three year old is a pretty good talker but always says "Them go", "them are good", etc...

I'm in a similar boat. My DD1 speach is pretty good, with the exception of "Her is good," "Her likes this," etc. If I tell her that she should say "She," DD1 brightens up and tells me, "I like saying her!"

xoe

[greeny]

that's fine! my 3.5 year old just recently started using "I". he used "my" instead up until maybe a few weeks ago, and still occasionally does ...

My ds does this too! I think it's so cute, and I haven't met any other kids who say "my" instead of "I." Like, "My want to go too."

[Anglyn]

It's fine. I asked a speech therapist I work with!!

My three year old and I have conversations like this:
him: me want a cookie
me: I want a cookie
hime: NO! ME want a cookie!
me: yeah, I know, but, can you say I want a cookie?
him: no, ME want a cookie!
me: yes, you want a cookie, can you say I want a cookie?
he just states at me, I give up