Why do toddlers ask questions they know the answer to?

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Hee hee...freckle PP, we have the same conversation almost daily in our house!

If your toddler is like ours, she's prompting you to ask the question so she can answer it, kind of like a director feeding an actor the right line. For example, when she asks "are you 2?" I don't think she's truly wondering if she and I are the same age. (She's already told me I'm 3.)


My dd did that when she was 2 also. I miss it!
Anonymous
Make it FUN! Use sarcasm...My daughter asks me why repeatedly sometimes so I started telling her things like.."because the moon is blue in China" or "because three legged dogs can't talk" etc. We both laugh and she realizes that she already knows the answer. WARNING...this WILL keep you on your toes thinking of new things to say! REMEMBER they are only little until they are big! ENJOY them while you can!
Anonymous
My DD asks me, What's that? Sometimes I'll say the wrong answer... actually she was looking at a bug instead of some trash on the ground. She lets me know..
Anonymous
I agree with the others, my son does this and he almost always wants me to ask him the question so that he can answer. His most common questions is "What's that?" when pointing to something. If I ask him back "What's that?" he always answers.

I've even seen him play this game with himself. He will load a whole bunch of toys up into a truck, drive it into another room and then take them out one by one and ask himself "What's that?" "Its a car" "What's that?" "It's ketchup" over and over.
Anonymous
I usually give silly answers she cracks up and we keep the conversation going instead of getting stuck in one point.

DC WHAT ARE YOU DOING MOMMY?
Me I'm driving
DC WHAT ARE YOU DOING MOMMY.
me I'm swimming
DC SILLY MOMMY YOU'RE DRIVING!
Me do you know where we're going?
DC YES WE'RE GOING TO THE PARK!
Anonymous
My 2.5 yo -

him - Where are we going?

me - A party.

him - Where are we going?

me - To Larla's birthday party. (in case he wanted more details but couldn't figure out how to ask)

him- where are we going?

me - To feed broccoli to the dog (or some other complete nonsense)

him - No! We're going to Larla's birthday party.

sigh.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I think my DD(2) wants me to ask the question. i.e.

Her: Whats that?
Me: a freckle
Her: whats that?
Me: a freckle
her: Whats that?
Me: What is that?
her: A freckle!!
Anonymous
Of course what is a freckle, is it an owie, a spect of dirt...
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Sometimes they like a little validation. The world is a confusing and complicated place so it's nice to have a conversation with someone you love and know how it's going to turn out.


+1
Anonymous
In our house it's

DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: Upstairs
DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: Upstairs to get dressed (Daddy comes back down)
DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: I don't know. Where did Daddy go?
DS: Right there!

We go through the entire roster of his social universe at least three times a day, asking where they have all gone. Also any large construction or transportation vehicles he can think of.

The best was when a neighbor asked him where he thought an airplane was going, and he replied, "the airport." Ha!
Anonymous
I think they're practicing their conversational skills and they find it reassuring that we always respond. My daughter sometimes just likes to say "Mommy . . . Mommy" and I say "Yes, sweetie?" there's nothing in particular that she wants, she's just showing me that she knows who I am, she's acknowledging that I'm here, and she seems to enjoy that I always respond. I offer up plenty of positive reinforcement for that sort of thing and have been ever since she could cue. I think of it as the foundation for mother-daughter communication - she knows I'm interested in what she has to say and I make an effort to understand what she's trying to convey.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:In our house it's

DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: Upstairs
DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: Upstairs to get dressed (Daddy comes back down)
DS: Where Daddy go?
Me: I don't know. Where did Daddy go?
DS: Right there!

We go through the entire roster of his social universe at least three times a day, asking where they have all gone. Also any large construction or transportation vehicles he can think of.

The best was when a neighbor asked him where he thought an airplane was going, and he replied, "the airport." Ha!


We get this too. We also do the pp's send-the-question back:

DS: where we going mommy?
Me: to school
(30 seconds later)
DS: where we going mommy?
Me: I don't know, where do you think we're going?
DS (proudly): TO SCHOOL!

sigh.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sometimes I think my DD(2) wants me to ask the question. i.e.

Her: Whats that?
Me: a freckle
Her: whats that?
Me: a freckle
her: Whats that?
Me: What is that?
her: A freckle!!


I've started sending the question back too. After about 3 WHAT'S THIS? I say "you tell me"

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