My three year old behaves very oddly after a getting told off?

Question

She starts talking to herself as if there were two of her. One cries and the other is the comforter. Its a strange thing to listen to and I wondered if anyone else had encountered this before. Otherwise she is the usual noisy, marvellous, daft creature.

Answer 1

When my nephew was 7, he had a similar problem. He was neglected a lot when he was younger, and sometimes when no one would talk to him, he'd talk to himself, and answer himself, and when he was scolded in school, his teachers said he would even talk to himself there. He turned out to have a case of schizophrenia.

I doubt this is the case with your daughter, because she's so young, it's probably just an imaginary friend or something, we all had those.  

Answer 2

I still do that, I'm 40.

What are you worried about?

Answer 3

I believe she is just comforting herself after being told off. Maybe you can sit with her after she has been told off, and help her through the upset.

I wouldn't worry, it is just her way of coping with being upset.

I found that explaining why  my little boy was being told off helped a great deal. He began to understand how his behaviour was affecting others, and came to understand why was upset with him.

xx

Answer 4

She is probably trying to work through her punishment.  Instead of doing it internally, she is doing it audibly.  I wouldn't worry.  My daughter talks to herself all day too.  It's funny to listen to her conversations.

Answer 5

My 3-year old niece also behaves like that. Also, my 4 year-old nephew has gone to that. So they say, kids have imaginary friends. I don't know if that's true, but it's more like it.  Try asking questions about that "somebody" she's talking to - What's the name of your friend? How does she look like? Is it a girl or a boy? What does he/she tell you?... She has answers. It's also part of her speech development.

This also happens if the kid doesn't have anyone to talk to and play with. Try talking to her, even of nonsense stuffs, as long as it's her interest. Don't underestimate her, she certainly can talk about a lot of things already. Take this chance to be part of her once-in-a-lifetime phase.



My 4-year old doesn't do it anymore, by the way. He's too busy now with his pre-school and with his classmates and friends (who are for real^^). So, your girl might get through with it, too, in due time.

If it gets worse and you feel like it's not normal and already sounds creepy, try to ask your pediatrician about it.

Hope this gives you quite a peace of mind. ^^

Answer 6

she mite b just trying to calm herself down or she has a imaginary friend my daughter has one called max she plays talks and feeds him all the time

Answer 7

my lil girl does too...i listened closely and i think she's trying to understand why you're mad at her and she's also trying to comfort herself that it's okay.

Answer 8

I highly doubt she is schizophrenic.  Imaginary friend sounds about right, she is probably trying to comfort herself after getting into trouble, the way you would comfort her if she fell or hurt herself.  Its probably the best coping mechanism she knows.

There is nothing to worry about.

Answer 9

She has an imaginary friend - a lot of little kids have

You can only pray she does'nt start talking to her finger and repeating the phrase "red rum"...

Answer 10

That's so cool. Have you got the book Aldo? it's great for kids with imaginary friends. My 5 year son has a friend called Billy and also dresses up as different characters who can be really good or really naughty. He also talks to himself. He and his friends at school have an imaginary country that you access through a special door in the school playground and things always go the way they should do when you're 4/5. The teachers actively encourage them to make up stories about their adventures in this land.

It sounds like she is able to comfort herself, a skill that would go a long way with a lot of adults. She also clearly knows right from wrong.

You could seek advice if you are really worried, but to me it sounds like you a cute child with a great imagination!

Answer 11

Either imaginary friend - or schizophrenic

Answer 12

a mom will always  be biased, but I think that on this row, you've taken to looking at it from an objective point of view too. She is very intelligent, and you and her are lucky that she has the ability and wherewithal to walk herself through her dilemmas and figure out wrong and right, and how to handle herself in the future based on the decisions she reached.

You can encourage her to continue this behavior (and let your husband think she's weird, he'll always be biased for whatever reason, just ignore him on this issue. when he comments negatively on your kid, and you don't agree, such as in this situation, just smile and say cheese) by having a dialog with her once she's done with her own figuring things out, and discuss further ways to improve her behaviour (i.e. what caused her to be told off, how she can avoid such behaviour in the future.etc.)

Enjoy your daughter. She's cute.