I think of the 2-3 range as kind of a transitional stage from baby to kid. Like others, that’s the age I usually refer to them as a toddler (though it might be earlier if they’re walking). For me, the line between baby and toddler depends a lot on parenting and the kid’s mental development. In my experience with my son, he ceased being a baby when he was able to start following some simple commands and to disagree with us in a manner we understood (i.e., not only crying, though screaming was sometimes involved on his part when he got overwhelmed or didn’t have the words to tell us). Now that he can follow more complex commands, disagree with us in a manner we can understand and use a modicum of calm persuasion to dissuade us from a given path, he’s a kid.
As far as the smoking kid goes, I’d say he’s a toddler, though depending upon how his parents have handled him (i.e., providing him boundaries that he has learned to respect, at least sometimes), he might be closer mentally to a baby than a toddler.
I’m the youngest of five kids; I was 27 when my mother died, and until that day, I was still her ‘baby’; my ‘baby’ is 10, but since she’s my last, she’ll always be my baby.
But there is a big difference between being someone’s baby and being a baby. The dividing line, according to some parenting mag I read some time ago, is the ability to walk. When they can walk unassisted, they cease to be babies and become ‘toddlers’.
I consider them no longer babies when they can speak and I can understand them. Mothers can understand their kids babbling long before a “real person” can
As a non parent I love kids, till they learn to talk. The first word they always learn is “No.” Ever hear a four year old tell you the plot to a movie or TV show. They start in the middle and make most of it up and it never ends
So once a kid can talk so strangers can understand him clearly I consider him all grown up and ready for employment
Then my sister was never a baby, as she was born with a full head of hair.
I think the walking method makes the most sense, seeing as i believe toddler was derived from the way they walk. In fact, I was told it had to do with how they walked in a diaper, so I’d think potty training would make someone no longer a toddler. However, in practice, it seems easier just to say they aren’t a toddler once they no longer toddle.
Pre-walking = baby
walking - 3 = toddler
3-4 = preschooler (even if they’re not in preschool)
5- 9 = kid
10-12= kid or tween (I hate that word, but it’s actually a very useful distinction)
13-18 = kid or teenager
I’m the younger of 2 kids. For years and years, whenever we’d meet someone who hadn’t been around for a long time, it was always “Oh, so this is the baby!” I think this continued into my 20s.
I was astonished when, practically overnight, my then about 15-month-old daughter’s body type changed dramatically. She’d been walking for a few months, but she looked like a baby who could walk. Then suddenly she looked like a little kid.
Some months later was the first time she broke out with “I not a baby anymore Dad.” sniff
While I define a toddler as a small human who can walk and hasn’t yet had their third birthday, I also consider toddlers to be a subset of babies, just as preschooler and teen are both subsets of child/kid. So basically, a toddler is still a baby, and a kid is three or older.
Clearly you’re not getting a concensus, maybe you should do a poll?
My take:
Babies are babies until they walk and then they’re toddlers.
They’re only toddlers until they can talk enough to get their point across, not have tantrums and are potty trained…at that point, they’re little kids.
They become big kids when they start wearing a backpack and carrying a lunchbox.
They’re tweens when they start to stink and get acne but aren’t actually a teenager.
Sue - mother of an 11yo tween (yes, she stinks) and a 2yo toddler (yes, he has tantrums).
