Skip to main content
1 of 3
Scribblemacher
  • 1.1k
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14

Four year old started calling me by my first name. Is this problematic?

My four year old daughter recently started calling me by my first name. She's only doing this to me, not her mother.

I found this to be a little strange and don't want to encourage it for practical reasons (e.g. if she throws a tantrum while putting her in the car, I'd rather she shout 'no, Daddy' so people think I'm a terrible parent instead of a kidnapper). Beyond that, I guess I don't care that much. I've told her she needs to call me Daddy, Dad, Dada, or any variation of that, but not my name. When she asked why, I didn't have a very good answer, other than kids aren't supposed to do that.

It's probably a phase so I'm not terribly concerned. But what is a good reason to tell a children that they can't call their parents by their first names?

Scribblemacher
  • 1.1k
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14