We all have a friend who talks like a baby and has that annoying baby-like voice and she does it on purpose. At times she may look like she is throwing a tantrum or acts like a two-year-old that’s about to cry.
This can be so irritating especially when you want to talk about something serious and your friend turns on her cringeworthy “3-year-old” persona. Why can’t she act her age all the time? Why must she switch between personalities and become a toddler?
You must be asking yourself if your friend has a psychological problem or if she is just plain childish, well we have the answers and solutions you are looking for, the last solution will have you thinking.
7 Reasons why your friend acts like a child
Your friend acts like a child for two main reasons, the first reason is that she doesn’t want to take accountability for her actions so she is still emotionally immature and the second is that she is comfortable around you enough so she relaxes, and it’s her way of showing you that she can be herself around you.
She feels safe with you
You should see this as a compliment, there is nothing more off-putting than a friend who is always serious and doesn’t know how to relax, the good thing is that your friend does not think that you are mean and feels at ease with your company and the bad news is that because she is so relaxed around you, she acts like a child.
She is immature
Having an immature friend comes with a lot of unnecessary added responsibility. It’s like you have to tell your friend what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Some of the signs of an immature friend are that they laugh at everything around them and they avoid taking responsibility for anything and constantly want others to do everything for them.
Have you noticed how your friend acts in serious situations? When you need to discuss something important does she laugh or make light of what is happening? If she doesn’t act appropriately, laughs at everything, and doesn’t take accountability then she is immature.
She is manipulating you
If your friend is childish it might signal that she is using it as a tactic, she has become a manipulative friend. She uses her “childishness” to get away with certain behavior or not take responsibility for certain things that happen in the friendship.
For example, suppose she has been doing something that you don’t approve of and you have been warning her about, she can use the fact that she is childish to manipulate you so that she gets away with not apologizing for whatever happened. The thing about toxic manipulative friends is that they can play with our emotions and make us feel sorry for them, so watch out.
It’s a response to trauma
People who have gone through childhood trauma tend to have regressive behavior, they can stay stuck at the age where they experienced childhood trauma. If something traumatic happened to your friend when she was young she could be acting childish as a coping mechanism.
Defense mechanism
Once again, suppose he was mistreated or suffered abuse at a young age, acting childish or exhibiting baby-like behavior can be a defense mechanism for her. Being childish around you can help her feel safe, to know that you are there and will take care of whatever happens.
She has a weird fetish
Yup, if you have ever watched TLC, then you would know that people have weird fetishes, she could be what we call an adult baby. Maybe she thinks of you as an adult baby mommy, haha I’m only kidding, but you do realize that there are people who are adult baby mommies. Adult babies love to be treated like children, they enjoy it. For whatever reason being an adult baby makes them happy. Have you asked her if she enjoys being a baby? Has she heard of adult babies? She might be one without even realizing it.
She was raised to be submissive
If you are older than she is or if you are” the friend” who has her life together and you give great advice, your friend might act childish because she sees you as some sort of role model, someone from whom she can learn. She also might have been taught to be submissive to people who are older than she is. In this case, you would not like it if your friend told you what to do but for her, it’s second nature.
Many cultures teach children from an early age to let older people make that decision, your friend might have overplayed this part so instead of you only being a role model, you have now also turned into her mom.
4 Things that you can do when your friend acts like a child
You can speak to your friend about how her childish behavior is starting to affect your friendship, if she doesn’t want to grow up you can choose to get her professional help or keep your distance until she stops acting like a child.
Accept her childishness
If you have spoken to her about acting like a child and she tells you that something happened to her in the past or that she feels safe around you, then accept her behavior, I mean what’s the worse thing that could happen, it’s not like you will have to go and buy her an adult nappy.
Don’t respond
If she acts like a child with no valid excuse and you can see that she is being emotionally immature on purpose, you can ignore her behavior. As soon as she starts with her baby language you can change the subject or not respond to the way that she acts.
Stop spending time with her
If her behavior disturbs your peace to the point that you cannot have an adult conversation with her without her turning into a telly tubby, try to spend less time with her. If she asks you where you have been, you can tell her the truth.
Encourage her to seek help
You can advise her to seek help and get to the root cause of why she acts like a child. A trained professional will help her figure out if she is acting like a child because she doesn’t want to grow up because she experienced childhood trauma, or because she has a fetish and wants to be an adult baby.
Why does my friend talk in a baby voice?
Baby talk is common when it comes to romantic relationships and is rare when it comes to friendships. It’s a way for your friend to feel safe and assured, because she feels close to you, you subconsciously provide her with some invisible protection.
How do you tell someone to stop talking in a baby’s voice?
You can tell your friend to stop by saying something like “ I don’t like it when you speak using a baby’s voice, it’s hard for me to take you seriously” and see how they react. If they get offended, tell them why you don’t like it.
Here are 5 Things that you say to your friend to stop talking in a baby’s voice.
- “ Can you speak in your normal voice”
- “ Why Can’t you stop talking in a baby’s voice?”
- “ I can’t take you seriously when you use a baby voice”
- “Every time you use a baby voice I find it annoying”
- “Can you speak in your normal voice because your baby voice makes me feel like you are making fun of me”
Why is baby talk so annoying?
Baby talk is annoying when it’s done by an adult, grown-ups who do it on purpose come across like they do not take life seriously, it can be frustrating when you are trying to have an adult conversation and your friend responds to you with a baby-like voice.
The conclusion Darling
In the end, your friend acting childish is annoying but her behavior is not harmful, it’s just that you would like her to grow up a little and that is fine if your friend doesn’t act completely out of line treat this as one of those annoying things that come with having a friend, If she continues to act like a child maybe it’s time you buy her an adult baby costume, an adult baby bottle, or even look at buying an adult baby swing, we are only kidding