Are Repeated Statements By A 34 Month Old Child Normal?

Posted on Wed, 19 Apr 2017

Question: My 34 month old has a habit of repeating himself a lot . Is this normal . He has a lot of words and can make sentences and his speech is easy to understand e.g. He will say what are you doing 3 times even after I answer him . Also sometimes he talks to himself e.g. Repeats something like I'm a boy and my sisters a girl over and over in a whisper or I'm a good boy . He may repeat this for a few minutes . If I distract him , he moves on to something else . He is meeting al his developmental milestones .

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (39 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Looks like a habit - if you keep distracting him he'll grow out of it

Detailed Answer:
Hi..... I understand your concern.

By what you say I feel that your kid is having a habit disorder. This is quite common in this age group. Nothing to worry about it.

At the same time if you keep distracting him with the positive reinforcement then he will forget this habit and eventually grow out of it. You can try this distraction technique for another 6 months and if he is still not out of it, I suggest that you can meet at paediatric clinical psychologist regarding this.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (46 minutes later)

So is it best to ignore it and occasionally distract him?!
Thank you

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (6 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You have correctly understood, ignore andoccassionally distract

Detailed Answer:
Hi.... yes please....you have correctly understood. This is exactly what I meant. I don't think this is a major problem. Please ignore and occasionally distract him, it will get better in due course.

Regards - Dr. Sumanth

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj