# When is a kid not a "baby" anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637 "2010-06-02T13:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/1 "2010-06-02T13:33:32Z")
Just curious. I was reading [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565241) about the cigarette-smoking 2-year-old, and several posters described him as a “baby” or an “infant.” 2-year-olds can walk and talk, at which point I would tend to stop calling them “babies” and start calling them “children” or “kids.” But I can’t say for sure what age the cutoff is (or if there is even a bright line), and dictionary definitions are vague at best. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/2 "2010-06-02T13:41:35Z")
By the time they are 2 or 3, I don’t consider them babies in the traditional sense. However, it is a common slang around here to call all youth ‘the babies’, all the way up untill they are 21! It is so funny at work, sometimes I’m talking to my boss and asking her, “How are those babies?” and she’s like, “Um, Nzinga, they are 18 and 19.” When my husband or I come in the house, the first thing we ask is, “Where is the baby?” referring to my 11 year old daughter. I also love it on the rare occasion that I am out with my mom somewhere and she bumps into an old friend she hasn’t seen since me and my siblings were kids, and she introduces me as ‘the baby’…letting the friend know that she is looking at the youngest. I happen to be 36. But enough of my hijacking. Babies are done being official babies at 2 I think. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/3 "2010-06-02T13:43:58Z")
When they learn to argue and say ‘no’. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/4 "2010-06-02T13:44:19Z")
I think they turn into kids at some point between their third and fourth birthday. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/5 "2010-06-02T13:48:15Z")
You know, for me it was the feet. Somewhere around 18 months - two years her feet went from being little lumps to these long things with arches and such. They were just not baby feet anymore, they were kid feet. I still called her my baby though, until just last night, when she (just turned three) informed me that she’s not a baby anymore. So there’s that. ::sniff:: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/6 "2010-06-02T13:49:46Z")
I keep hearing about this odd phenomena of “babies having babies”. I’ve never seen any evidence of it, however. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/7 "2010-06-02T14:29:56Z")
I’d say a “toddler” is to “baby” as “teenager” is to “child”. The smoking kid is a toddler which I would consider an “advanced baby, not yet a child”. Kind of like a teenager is an “advanced child, not yet an adult”. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/8 "2010-06-02T14:51:18Z")
I consider an infant a baby who can’t sit up, roll over, etc. Then it’s baby until they walk, then toddler, then 4 or so child. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/9 "2010-06-02T14:55:51Z")
Walking seems to me to be the Rubicon between infant and toddler. The line between toddler and tot is a bit more vague. Perhaps functional language use might be considered. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/10 "2010-06-02T15:05:16Z")
For me - they stop being babies and start being toddlers when they can walk unaided. They stop being toddlers and start being little kids when they start talking full time. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/11 "2010-06-02T15:06:23Z")
Often it doesn’t happen until you have another baby. Or it goes like this: Both my girls (21 and 5) are my babies, but other 21 and 5 year olds are not. But honestly I think the transition comes around the time they start toddling. Then they’re toddlers. My 5 year old was walking at 8 months so she was a bit of both for a while. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/12 "2010-06-02T15:23:17Z")
They’re babies until their first divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/13 "2010-06-02T15:24:46Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > They’re babies until their first divorce. Funny - my mother said the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/14 "2010-06-02T15:35:15Z")
\<1 = baby 1 - 3 = toddler 4 - 12 = child 13 - 19 = teenager 20 - 30 = young adult 30 - 60 = adult 60+ = fogey ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/15 "2010-06-02T15:40:41Z")
Until they stop being cute. That’s why I’m still a baby deep down. Also, the smoking kid isn’t a baby (to me). One, he’s not cute, and two, he’s just not child-like. To me he feels like a tiny middle aged person or an ape that someone taught to smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/16 "2010-06-02T15:42:10Z")
To me, the dividing line is hair. You know that wispy duck-fluff many babies have — or even no hair at all? That’s a baby. When the kid gets hair that looks like hair, then it’s a kid. It’s all about hair. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/17 "2010-06-02T15:49:54Z")
What if they were born with hair-hair? I didn’t have wispy baby hair as a baby. According to my parents I had long, thick hair. The same hair I have now but it’s wavy not curly. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/18 "2010-06-02T15:52:59Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Funny - my mother said the same thing. I’ve been divorced, am 43, and I’m still my mother’s baby, and will be until she dies. Even then, I’ll still know I’m my mother’s baby. But yeah, with the exception of mother’s who get to cry “Its my baby” at the weddings of their adult children - and “I can’t believe my baby’s baby is getting married” at the weddings of their grandchildren - walking makes a baby into a toddler. In pissy moods when I had small kids of my own and people were playing the “mommy one up” game with “my baby walked at ten months!” I’d coo sympathetically “oh…you didn’t get to have a baby for very long!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/19 "2010-06-02T15:54:25Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Until they stop being cute. .. Girls start being cute around 16. That must be why we call them ‘babes’. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637/20 "2010-06-02T16:32:36Z")
To me a baby is any child under school age. Although my 11 year old I still refer to as the baby since she is the youngest. “Did you pick up the baby?” She likes it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-kid-not-a-baby-anymore/541637.md?page=2)