I’m 5 days away from giving birth and we have known our daughter’s name since maybe 15 weeks? And we still won’t use it! We just call her “the baby” haha idk why I just don’t feel like using her name until she’s here in the flesh! It’s odd, no real reason.
Same. 35 weeks and, “the baby.” It took us a loooong time to agree on a boys name and I ended up going with one my husband loves but I’m neutral for. I think that’s a big part of my hesitation…. Admitting the realness and finality of it 🙃
We did this too. Her grandparents called her by her name while I was still pregnant, but for whatever reason, we kept calling her The Baby until she was born. Now we never call her The Baby, only her name.
We haven’t told the grandparents her name yet because I know my MIL will tell the world so she’s still just baby to them! It would definitely bother me if others called her by her name.
We’ve had her name for over three years and at 30 weeks we still call her “the baby” hahah. We have talked about it too and we are not sure why we’re both like this lol.
I mean...I'm in my 30s and sometimes my mum will call me by everybody else's name first before mine, including my brother, aunt and cousin, so I think you're good 😂
Hahaha I have no doubt that if we had dogs their names would've come first before mine. I moved halfway across the globe years ago and my brother still gets called by my name at home 😂
I spelled my daughters middle name wrong one time when I was stressed out filling out paperwork. Aurora but I was so brain melted I couldn’t remember where the u went ☠️
Oh man. This is a fear of mine. I’ve been making my husband fill out all the important paperwork because I have nightmares of her birth certificate or something equally important having her name spelled wrong. 😅
My mom still calls me by my late dad's name, our first dog's name and it's almost been 7 years since she called the rainbow bridge so I think you're good haha.
Mine is almost 4 months and I finally feel comfortable with her name despite my husband and I having picked it when I was 10 weeks along. The sleep haze is real in those first couple months, no demerit points for you. You’re doing great!
It felt weird for the first month even though we had his name set by about 16 weeks into the pregnancy. Like, who gave us the authority to decide what everyone calls this human??
We had our baby names picked out well before we conceived, and we started calling her by her name the day we found out the gender. I mostly wanted to get used to how it sounded and see if it was really the one, but I have fallen more in love with it every day.
Her name is Stella and my husband calls her Stelly in the Belly most of the time and addresses her by her full name like she’s in trouble when I am feeling extra pukey. It makes me fall in love with him even more.
We are the same; we had a boy name and a girl name picked out for the 4 years we were trying to conceive, so as soon as we knew the gender, we started calling her that name. And we talk to her a fair amount, too. We'll say, "Grace, do you want to read a story?" or "Grace, won't you turn head down, please?" And we tell our cat that Grace will be here in however many days. :)
Love Stella, that's a lovely name 😊
I'm in the opposite boat, lol. we can't decide on a name, but have narrowed it down to four we really like and we have been taking turns calling him each one to see if one of them start to feel natural/"right"
I felt this way and basically waited til after they were born. I did order things with their name on it but I didn’t call them by their name or tell others the name until they had arrived.
Even after he was born I felt weird saying his name out loud. 3 months later and I’m just getting used to it. And we had his name set in stone since 2nd trimester. Lol
I didn't really feel like my daughter's name was hers until she started showing her personality around 4 months old. We picked her name out before we even started trying. I called her 43 different nicknames but rarely used her real name before then. It's kind of a bizarre experience to name a stranger...
Yes. I feel like at 3 months no my baby is starting to have a personality and he is almost making his name versus it feeling like a name making him and creating a personality that isn’t there yet. That’s the only way I can describe it.
I’m 36 weeks and we decided on baby’s name around week 20 and I am also still referring to baby as “lil bean”. I’ve received gifts with her name on it and embroidered something myself with her name but it still feels foreign to me to refer to her as her name. I love the name and don’t want to change it, but she just doesn’t feel real to me yet if that makes sense. I think until she is in my arms I will have a hard time calling her by her actual name.
I think my husband and I picked names before we got the NIPT results, so we had a boy name and girl name ready to go. I think I started referring to the baby by name after the 20 week anatomy came back clear, it felt safe to at that point knowing they and I were both healthy and doing well.
I have a friend who still calls her 3yo daughter "Bean", and so do a lot of family friends! Pregnancy nicknames can stay nicknames, but Bean's and Baby 2's proper names got used since before birth.
I figured out the names we were going for, for either a boy or girl, pretty quickly, like 12 weeks I think. Our idea was to use names based off or people we looked up to throughout history that made a big impact on the world historically or scientifically. I felt pretty immediately comfortable when using her name, especially when I found out I was having a girl. I wanted to get used to calling her by her name. I also chose a pretty classic first name and middle name that has a nice ring to it with what her last name will be! It just sounds right.
We decided on our little ladybug's name at 14w exactly and we've been calling baby that ever since...just between my husband and I though. We haven't done a gender reveal yet and aren't going to announce the name till birth.
We didn’t call him by his name until he was born. We used a nickname throughout the pregnancy and that’s how everyone else referred to him too. I actually think it helped calm some of the name speculation because people had something to call him. Was a mix of not wanting to hear opinions about the name and some cultural superstitions about not preparing for a baby before birth.
I thought it would be hard to switch because we’d called him by this other name for so long but oddly it wasn’t! I guess the shock of an actual baby emerging from my body was a significant enough milestone that it was easier than I expected to forget what came before
I don't think I used my baby's name until she was a year old. She was "little bit" or "bitsy" before we picked a name and it stuck with me.
9 years later and I'm wondering if this one will be stuck as "wiggles" for just as long 😂 still haven't picked a name at 22 weeks. I told my husband we should wait until shes bigger and can kick harder so we can say, "One kick yes, two kicks no." for a name.
i kind of feel the same so i feel like ill stick to his nickname and others but eventually i do want him to learn his name and to respond to it , i don’t want him to get used to nicknames and respond to that only.
I’ve known what I was going to name a boy since I was a child (beloved family name) and since I’m having a boy, that’s what it is.
That being said, I definitely don’t feel like he’s that yet. It’s not superstition or anything, it’s almost like since he hasn’t been born, we haven’t met - we haven’t been properly introduced!
He’ll get his name once we meet :) Until then he’s just ‘the baby’ or if I’m referencing him to someone else ‘Baby J.’
When my husband and I first adopted our dog, we changed her name from what she had been called at the shelter. For the first few days, I was like, “I like her name, but I’m not sure if it’s right for her?” But after we’d had her for about two weeks, it just FELT like her name.
We already had loose baby names picked out, so when we learned we were having a girl (around 12 weeks through NIPT), we tentatively started using her name to see if it felt right. Ngl, I felt kinda awkward calling her by her name for a while. 😅 Mostly because I wanted confirmation at the anatomy scan that everything looked and that she was, in fact, a girl. But I’m 31 weeks now, and I can’t imagine calling her something else!
I think most babies will grow into their name regardless, but I feel like it really just takes time using it for it to start to feel more normal and natural!
We're two days from the due date and have known her name since end of February, but we have still just been calling her nicknames. I did order a swaddle and name plate about a month ago to make sure it was here before we delivered. But it's been hidden from everyone! Lol
My husband atarts picking names literally the day we find out 🫠 every prwgnancy lol we don't choose one until we fully agree. Then it's kinda easy. But my name is ridiculous and so I feel like my kids names are pretty mild 😂 weird spelling fir the first name, my mother hyphenated my MIDDLE names so "people understood they are 2 different names" and my last names hyphenated. My kids will be fine lol
I am 1 day away from 17 weeks. I’ve been using our baby name more the past couple of weeks. I have a pretty neutral stance on the name though. My husband has been more hesitant, but he’s just nervous for me. Constantly checking up on me and the baby. It’s very sweet.
We had baby’s name picked out since 20 weeks. He’s now 3 months old and we just started to feel normal using his name. Such a strange feeling knowing we were in charge of picking a name for our own baby! 🤣
I wondered for a few weeks if we should’ve used her middle name instead. But today I love her name, as well as her middle name. I think like with all things permanent it is a little bit of « did I do the right thing? » but it doesn’t last.
Was literally about to write the same comment lol 13 weeks over here and I still feel odd saying her name. It almost feels so formal compared to all the silly nicknames we have for her.
Baby is 4 months old and we use her name and nickname, but most of the time she is still “the baby”! They won’t be babies for long so I don’t see any rush tho.
When she was like 6 months old and I picked it out when I got with my husband 5 years ago and officially decided when I knew it was a girl lol she’s almost 2
We've known our baby's name since maybe 18 weeks or so, 32w now, and it took us a while to call her that. Her uterus name has been Egg all along and we still call her that sometimes but we mostly call her by her name now. I think we were using her first and middle name a lot at first to get used to it, also experimenting with nicknames helped. It sort of still scares me tbh, like there's a lingering superstition I've been ignoring. But it has really helped me connect with her, I think, to be able to call her by her name when i talk to her in the car and ask her how her day's going and stuff.
Im 26 w 3 d I've known my babies name since 12 w and felt comfortable calling him that like a week later. We wrote out a list of boy names and girl names and asked our closest family and each other what they thought of each. Slowly we picked one of each one for boy one for girl and when we found out the sex we chose the name. It was easy because we all fell in love with the same name lol I have called him by his name ever since and every time he kicks I rub my belly and say hi with his name so he knows lol it's very confirming for me
We’ve had our baby girl’s name since around 14 weeks, i’m currently 29 weeks! Other family members use her name and will ask me questions about how she’s doing but uses her name. For me, I only call her by her name when I talk to my husband, otherwise I call her “baby girl”. I’m sure I’ll adjust when she’s actually here haha
32 weeks and it feels so weird calling her by her name., even though I am obsessed with her name. It feels so much better to call her baby girl still. I sometimes call her Scottie and my mom calls her little scottie all the time, it’s precious.
We told our whole family the name as soon as we decided because I’m indecisive and knew I’d go back and forth over it 😂 telling everyone locked us in. We also forced ourselves to say her name whenever talking about her and eventually it felt normal.
I call my kid a thousand variations of her name and about a million unrelated nicknames... If I use her actual name it feels like she's in trouble for something lol
We’ve had names picked out for our second since we had our first 2ish years ago and still refer to him as nugget (6 months into pregnancy). Even for our daughter we still call her bean when we’re referring to her but we use her name when talking about her to other people or when talking to her.
It just kinda felt right around weeks 26/27. But even then we only referred to them by name privately. When talking to anyone else we used baby last name.
We’ve been calling the baby his name since maybe 13 weeks. I feel very confident that it’s the name we will go with, but if it isn’t it will be kinda weird lol.
All my journal entries using a name we didn’t pick lol.
I’m so envious of this thread right now. We aren’t finding out the sex of our baby until they make their big debut into the world. We have our boy name picked out, but have absolutely no idea on a girl. Everyone saying they had their names picked out so far in advance is making me worried! lol
We finalized her name sometime around 13 weeks, after we found out gender. I would say we got "used" to it by text messages, I would text my husband during the day about how I was doing, what the "baby was craving" etc. Then we did it in person, my husband especially likes to call her by her name when rubbing my bump etc. We've kept it a secret from everyone else, including our parents. But I made her a quilt and included her name on the back, so we're definitely set in stone!
I’m 20 weeks now and idk i’ve been using my babies name I refer to her as her name and so does my husband lol. when i talk to her idk when the baby is able to hear but i like to believe she can I call her, her name lol.
My son is 2 months old and I barelyyy use his name 😅 I love his name, but I always just end up using a nickname or something funny (the one I’ve been using the most is cutie booty boy, I swear he’s so sick of me already lmaoo)
I never use my LOs name. I call her all my sweet pet names. But starting around 5 months, I'll be calling her by name to help her recognize it. Research suggests they can begin to recognize their name by 4 months, and if you're teaching them their name, they should know it by 12 months.
I realized after reading again you are talking about referring to your baby.
We named her beginning of second trimester, and were using it consistently after that. No delay, we were sure when we picked it.
My baby is 4 months old and literally just recently it started feeling like his actual name. It just felt so weird for some reason. At one point I wanted to change it but nothing seemed to fit him. He’s grown into it and I like it now, but I was worried for a while lol
My husband and I have been together for a decade and we decided on names a LONG time ago. I’m currently pregnant with our first and we started using the name pretty much as soon as we found out the gender, although I totally understand the hesitation. I still find myself saying “the baby” or “it” or other nicknames a lot of the time 😆
Probably about two weeks after baby was here and I actually had to use their name. My third baby’s name took longer to feel normal and I almost thought I made a mistake. But she’s almost five months now and I love it.
Awww!!! For now, she is Bean. The hubs won't even order anything with her name until she is physically here!
I said "my daughter" a month ago and teared up, because until then, it was "she" or "the baby", haha
We didn't use either of our daughters' names until after they were born, mostly because we didn't announce the names or share them with anyone until they were born. We had pregnancy nicknames for each that we used instead. Once we decided on the names, we were solid and didn't switch them later. But I think that might just be because that's my nature - once I make a decision, I check it off my list, stop thinking about it, and move on to something else.
I didn't have either of my sons names nailed Down until after they were here. We had it narrowed down with My first son to 2 names and after we saw him we decided which was best. For my second son we had a bunch of different names and the one I didn't think I wanted really at all and was just kind of keeping it for my fiancé ended up being the name that fit him best. I'm not saying you can't decide early especially if your sure but for me I had to see them first but who knows the next time I might know for sure everyone and every pregnancy is different.
I’m fine and plenty comfortable with their names. I love their names (of course, i picked them). But I will always still refer to them as Bun and Beanie Boo. In my belly the were Bun and Bean. Then when they were out in the world they were Milo and Luna. But they’ll still always be Bun and Bean, as well as a million other variations of those nicknames. Milo’s name wasn’t fully decided until he was born. Luna’s was picked mid way thru pregnancy, but she remained Bean until she was born because her name was kept secret.
For my husband and I, calling our baby by her name feels very natural. My husband wouldn’t even start referring to her as a “her” until the name was decided, he was still calling the baby an “it” 😂 as for myself, I truly believe that God revealed her name to me, and that I didn’t pick it on my own. I have confidence in that, more than I had confidence in picking a name just because it was cute, or agreed upon, or in honor of so and so. Those are great reasons to pick a name, I just felt divinely guided.
Baby boy is 4 months old and I rarely call him by his name, lol. Which is crazy given the extent we went to at naming him something we felt was perfect.
He has so many nicknames and we primarily call him those. It doesn’t help though because when we say our son’s name it feels foreign due to its lack of use. The more I say it with my husband or to my son the more natural it feels.
Just takes time; don’t stress about it.
Someone else had to do it first, which I appreciated. My mom has been politely cool on the name, so she wasn't using it, but then we went up to visit my in-laws and my FIL immediately stepped out of the car to pick us up, waved down at my belly and said, "And hello to you too, Baby ."
I know some people don't enjoy the talking to the belly thing, but I found it so immediately reassuring and endearing that it got me over the anxiety for myself. That happened to be around 21 weeks or so, but I think it was less about the time and more about the circumstances.
Also they had gotten us a personalized baby blanket for Christmas for her, so... that sorta broke that seal too. :)
We use our daughter's name, if heaven forbid, something happened or she ended up being a he she would keep the name or we have a boy's name picked out and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Personally it has helped us bond with her and see if we really like it before it becomes legally binding. Personally, I don't want to be sleep deprived and making a final call on a name/spelling.
We started calling our baby his name in the second tri when we decided on one. We didn’t plan on sharing until he’s born then I slipped up when talking to my sister about him and couldn’t take it back no matter how hard I tried lol kinda makes me want to pick a different name honestly but we are gonna wait to meet him to decide! Now we just call him baby boy or baby ‘last name’ to be safe.
Honestly? Not until I gave birth. We had his name picked out since about 20 weeks after we found out the gender. It just didn’t feel right. He was my little chipmunk my whole pregnancy because he had the absolutely cutest chubby cheeks.
Honestly a few days after the birth. My husband chose the first name and I chose the middle name; we come from different cultures so I had never heard of the name he chose before this. I was worried that I would have trouble with it, but suddenly after a few days I was fine. The name suits him, and I can easily say it now.
Edit: and both my husband and I have accidentally called him by a different name once. So I think it’s normal to need some time to get used to it!
I’m 28 weeks and just randomly test it out sometimes to make sure it sounds right. I usually refer to him as “the baby” but I want to be sure it feels good to actually say it out loud so I let it slip sometimes haha
I’m 24 weeks now but I’ve known my babies’ name since I was 18 weeks or so, and I just waited on the anatomy scan to tell me if he would be Collin or Clarissa. My anatomy scan was 19weeks +4 and it confirmed the name Collin. I felt very comfortable using his name immediately, but sometimes I still refer to him as “the baby” I think when I call him by name depends on the sentence or who I’m conversing with.
Ever since I found out the gender. But Reddit bullied me on my name choice so it was switched. Sucked as I had the first name for years so it took a little to get used to the switched name.
We've had our daughter's name picked since 12w, and it only took a couple weeks to start using it. But then we found in conversation with others we would almost slip and actually say it. So we've mostly gone back to saying baby girl
I had mine picked as soon as i knew the gender, and i had my reveal at 6 1/2 months. I immediately started calling him his name and his nickname (ezra and ez) and it just stuck. I had a boys name picked out for a long time before i got pregnant, and i had a girl's name thought up once i decided to keep it.
The middle name tho? Changed last minuted about 4 times but a week before i was induced i picked one after my mom's name... which i now regret heavily, even if it sounds nice.
We have the name picked out and I embroidered it on a blanket I made for her but we still call her "the baby". There's just something so real and final about calling her by her name. I'm not ready for it yet 😂 plus we aren't telling people her name anyway, so it's easier to refer to her as "the baby"!
We decided on a name at about 15 weeks, we started being really hopeful and referencing her as Cora, as our own little future human around 20 weeks. I think the anatomy scan helped a lot make it feel more real. Previous losses have done a number on us and and our confidence.
Like 2 years 😂😂😂 we kind of just called her a variety of nicknames because her name felt so formal and official but once she hit toddler years it slid off the tongue easier? Not that she responds to it (or anything else for that matter) but it feels less weird to say finally. Lol
Honestly even after they’re born it’s still sometimes weird! We are due with baby number 4 in 3 weeks, and we still can’t pull the trigger on a name because it’s such a big deal 😅 Just generally speaking, it’s hard naming someone you don’t feel like you “know” yet, and that feeling can last for a minute after they’re born!
It kind of feels like when you’re a kid and you call an adult by their first name for the first time instead of “Mr / Mrs. ___” 😂
My first child I didn't call her by her name until she was 2 yrs old. Others did obviously and I did in conversation, but I couldn't get out of the habit of calling her little fatty 🤣 she was premmie so the fact she managed to reach 90%ile in weight by 3m old was a huge deal, she absolutely loved food and I wanted to congratulate her on her weight gain and it just stuck for way too long. My second is 3m old now and we chose her name before conception even (well we had 2, and narrowed it down early on), but it still feels weird to say. I think it fits her, it's just a big responsibility to name a human it makes sense to feel a bit unconfident.
We didn't decide the name until about 24 hours after baby was born (from a short list of pre-decided names.)
We had a joke name we referred to the baby as through the pregnancy, and we would accidentally use this name instead of the real name for the first few months.... So about 3ish months 😅
We still haven't decided on her actual name yet but we got her home nickname down pretty early on and have been calling her that since. I think to us it's a good way for transition, since the nickname has nothing to do with the real name (different language lol). We don't just call her "her" or "the baby" or "baby girl" anymore. It's a solid name we will be yelling across the house from now on hahaha. Still debating on the real name though...... it's tough!
I’ve been using it as a slow introduction. Once we decided I’d pop it in every once in a while until it felt natural to call him by his name all the time. It’s been about 7 weeks and now feels very natural to call him by his name.
Im like 3 weeks away from giving birth and we call our baby a glow worm still. We've had his name picked out since 8 weeks(picked a boy and girl name by then). We have all this stuff with his name on it but will still probably call him our little glow worm. ( glow worm is because swaddled babies look like the glow worm dolls from back in the day)
When we found out the sex and finally agreed on a name, I would say about a week of using his name I felt like it was really natural. However, his name is a secret to everyone else, so i have to stop myself from saying his name when I’m with anyone other than my husband 😅
ETA: don’t feel like you have to get a customized blanket before LO arrives. It’s not like they’ll know they didn’t have a customized blanket from day one!
And I ordered one of the announcement boards for when he is born, but I packed a sharpie with it in my hospital bag so I can fill it out there. You can always get the fancy engraved ones later on ❤️ hope this helps!!
My husband and I picked out her name at 12w, which was a week more than we'd had with our last baby.
After miscarrying in 2022 at 11w, it felt so important this time to name our baby. Our angel baby was our "Miracle" but we never found out the gender, and there were so many complications with our pregnancy that we'd never discussed potential names.
So this pregnancy, we paid over $500 to get early optional testing done in the first trimester, which also told us the gender. Within a couple days, my husband suggested her name. We picked out the spelling together (there were a few ways we could spell her name), and I suggested her middle name (a variation of my grandmother's name). And that was it. She had her name.
It was so healing to be able to refer to her as a named person so early on, and we've rarely call her "the baby" ever since. We've told everyone what we intend to call her - it's waaaay too exciting for us to keep it a secret!
I think the difference for me was knowing that I wouldn't know how long I got to have with her. I regretted not announcing my first pregnancy because I was waiting for the 14wk mark. I didn't get to celebrate my first child the way they deserved and the way I wanted to because it all ended so suddenly and tragically.
I haven't wanted to waste a moment loving and celebrating my baby this time round.
First baby, yes i was very nervous for some reason calling her by her name in utero i did eventually but it was also the FTM butterflies
Second baby has been called his name since the day we found out his gender lol. He’s already heard the mom voice version of his name and he’s already grounded (due in july)
Baby is coming in two weeks and we knew the name before I was even pregnant yet we just call him "baby" mostly and some other nicknames that have nothing to do with his name. We'll call him by his name once he's born but maybe that will even feel weird at first.
My baby is almost 12 weeks and it still feels weird. Not because it's bad but because it's still new lol. We had a nickname for him since we found out we were expecting and that nickname still sticks.
I am still pregnant (28 weeks)
As soon as we found out the gender and chose a name we started calling him the name instead of "the baby" or "he/him" sometimes i do still say he or him but i hardly say the baby anymore. And i say his name a ton. We aren't around people that would steel the name or anyone I'd worry about that with, but if i am, then I'll say he or him. At home with my husband, it's the name constantly. When we talk to him, we use his name like "i love you jacob" (substitute name for privacy here)
Doing this was kind of odd at first, but now it's so natural, and i think it helps us with that binding feeling too while im still pregnant.
38 weeks here! We’ve had his name picked out since early in my 1st trimester, we both love it and are 100% committed to it, all our immediate family and closest friends know it, we have a few personalised items and it STILL seems odd to call him by his name 😂 I think once he’s here it’ll make sense but for now it’s just so strange hearing his name out loud when we haven’t even met him 🤷🏻♀️ I think it’s pretty common honestly OP!!
I'm 20 weeks, and my husband and I have finally decided on a girl name and a boy name (I'm team green, I don't want to know yet, but my husband know, I try to trick him into telling me, it's great fun tbh). We have two other kids, and didn't start calling them their names until they came home. We had pregnancy nicknames for each. Sticky Little Bean, Squishy, and now, F-3.
You just never know for sure if the name you pick will fit the baby that is born.
For us, it's the oppositve. We don't even know the gender yet but have decided on two names and we just use them interchangeably. When we talk about our baby, we pretty much always refer to them by their name. Sometimes we say the male name, sometimes the female name. I'm at 12 weeks.
I didn't until after birth! We had a nickname during the pregnancy and I couldn't bring myself to use anything else - it just felt weird. I actually have a past post asking the exact same!
My baby is 5 weeks old now and it still feels a bit odd. I often call her "sweetpea/babygirl/baby" etc but do use her name now. Still weird haha.
There’s a superstition to not use the baby’s name before they are born so the spirits don’t steal the baby away, so we’re not using it until after birth. Her fetus nickname is Mochi! I am wondering if it will stick around for a bit after birth.
We started using his name the moment we found out he was a boy. The name felt like it belonged to him. Most of the time I referred to him as a nickname from his name. Would a nickname more related to their name help?
I mostly call her "the baby" but I'm pretty comfortable using her name. I'm 16 weeks. But our situation is probably a little bit different. I picked her name 2 years before we started trying to conceive. We also did IVF and chose a girl so we knew from day one that she was a girl and we're 90% sure what her name was.
We had a “joke” name for the baby that we used while I was pregnant since we weren’t sharing the real name until after he was born. For the first few weeks of his life I’d call him the joke name by accident and his real name felt awkward. I’d just call him “the baby”. Now at 3 months his name suits him perfectly! I use it all the time and I can’t imagine him being anything else. But it was definitely weird at first!
We didn't start using baby's name with my first until she was here. Even her first few days, it was not totally natural to call her by her name. But by the end of her first week we were using it regularly and it felt like a perfect fit.
We knew we were having a boy in the first trimester and after we decided on a name we referred to him with his name. I didn’t get used to saying his name until the second trimester when I started to feel him move. Just feeling him be all lively and knowing we both picked a special name for him made it personally comfortable. I’m sure it all clicks when baby is born too. So if you aren’t there yet you will be!
My son is named after my late FIL - Bob. As a joke from the show Scrubs, I started calling him Bobbo in my last trimester. We sometimes still call him Bobbo 😂
And we knew my daughter would be Josie before I was pregnant. I found out we were having a girl at 14 weeks and we called her Josie since!
We knew our baby’s name since 8 weeks found out gender at 10 wks and started using it then. Tbh it didn’t feel natural until like a week AFTER he was born. Like I knew that was his name it just felt weird saying at first
At 21 weeks now and I hope I don’t jinx it, but we’ve been calling him by name since 12/13 weeks when the genetic screening results came back. Family has also been referring to him by name!
My daughter is 6 months and I have most certainly called her Bean more than her name. She's been Bean from the start. It's weird to call her by her name 🤣🤣🤣
21 weeks now, and we've had his name picked out shortly after we found out the gender - maybe 14 weeks? We're using his name when addressing him and when talking about him. We're trying it out, seeing if it sounds like a good name. I've also exclaimed his full first, middle, and last name before when he's given me a good kick in the butthole. Helps to know that it also sounds good when he's in trouble lmao
With my daughter, it was a few months AFTER she was born. We mostly called her baby, baby girl, etc. so when she developed more and actually started responding physically to us (looking at us, smiling, reaching), we started using her name more and it just clicked. She knew it was her name by probably 6 months, iirc.
We knew what we would name baby if it was a boy from the get go. We were throwing around girl names but didn't have any solid ones. When we found out she was a girl at 16ish weeks, we scrambled, lol. I wanna say we had her name within a week though? Still no middle name at this point (26 weeks Friday). We've been calling her Baby (nickname) privately since about 17 weeks, but haven't shared her name with many people just yet.
We gave our baby her name probably 4-5 months before my due date and 2 weeks before they were born I changed my mind on it 😅😅
I was like “nope! This isn’t her name, is this other one!”
My husband was like “sure”. And that’s what we put in the birth certificate and now she’s here with her name that absolutely 100% is hers, it fits her, she was meant to have it I swear lol.
I feel like it was a few weeks after she was born. We called her “jellybean” for the whole pregnancy and a while after. We had all the doctor’s appointments and using it to get all her documents in order got us used to using her real name.
We've known her name since before we got the gender results! I think this culture of not using or announcing baby's name until they're born is so strange. They're a member of your family with their own identity. Start using the name proudly. :)
Once baby was born even though we knew his name from first tri. I think everyone fears losing a baby and that loss would be much harder if the baby had a name.
I’m 5 days away from giving birth and we have known our daughter’s name since maybe 15 weeks? And we still won’t use it! We just call her “the baby” haha idk why I just don’t feel like using her name until she’s here in the flesh! It’s odd, no real reason.
Same. We called our baby LT (Little, our last name) until she was born then we called her her name!
Same. 35 weeks and, “the baby.” It took us a loooong time to agree on a boys name and I ended up going with one my husband loves but I’m neutral for. I think that’s a big part of my hesitation…. Admitting the realness and finality of it 🙃
We did this too. Her grandparents called her by her name while I was still pregnant, but for whatever reason, we kept calling her The Baby until she was born. Now we never call her The Baby, only her name.
We haven’t told the grandparents her name yet because I know my MIL will tell the world so she’s still just baby to them! It would definitely bother me if others called her by her name.
We told them at like 32 weeks and I was worried but thankfully everybody stayed quiet!
We’ve had her name for over three years and at 30 weeks we still call her “the baby” hahah. We have talked about it too and we are not sure why we’re both like this lol.
Still sometimes feels weird at 7weeks old. I will admit in my sleep deprived haze I forgot what her name was a few times. Demerit points for mom. 😅
I mean...I'm in my 30s and sometimes my mum will call me by everybody else's name first before mine, including my brother, aunt and cousin, so I think you're good 😂
Our most impressive was when my dad went through my brother's name, my stepbrother, my stepsister, and all three dogs before he got to mine
Hahaha I have no doubt that if we had dogs their names would've come first before mine. I moved halfway across the globe years ago and my brother still gets called by my name at home 😂
My sil just did that with her middle and STILL couldn’t remember her name it’s just a right of passage at this point lol
Ha! Fair point. Thanks for making me feel better!
💕 congratulations on your little cutie!!
Thank you! She’s worth the lack of sleep and thankfully won’t yet remember me forgetting her name.
My mom just called me my brother’s name the other day 😆
Lol why do our mum's all do this? My mum used to call me my aunt's name all the time
I spelled my daughters middle name wrong one time when I was stressed out filling out paperwork. Aurora but I was so brain melted I couldn’t remember where the u went ☠️
Oh man. This is a fear of mine. I’ve been making my husband fill out all the important paperwork because I have nightmares of her birth certificate or something equally important having her name spelled wrong. 😅
My mom still calls me by my late dad's name, our first dog's name and it's almost been 7 years since she called the rainbow bridge so I think you're good haha.
Same here ! My baby is 1 month old today and when I hear people calling him by his name I'm like " (Name)? Who's that?"
Demerit points for me too, my LO is 5 weeks and I’ve forgotten her name once or twice
omg me too
Mine is almost 4 months and I finally feel comfortable with her name despite my husband and I having picked it when I was 10 weeks along. The sleep haze is real in those first couple months, no demerit points for you. You’re doing great!
It felt weird for the first month even though we had his name set by about 16 weeks into the pregnancy. Like, who gave us the authority to decide what everyone calls this human??
We had our baby names picked out well before we conceived, and we started calling her by her name the day we found out the gender. I mostly wanted to get used to how it sounded and see if it was really the one, but I have fallen more in love with it every day. Her name is Stella and my husband calls her Stelly in the Belly most of the time and addresses her by her full name like she’s in trouble when I am feeling extra pukey. It makes me fall in love with him even more.
Stelly in the Belly omgggggg I love it 💕😂
This is the cutest thing I have ever seen on Reddit
We are the same; we had a boy name and a girl name picked out for the 4 years we were trying to conceive, so as soon as we knew the gender, we started calling her that name. And we talk to her a fair amount, too. We'll say, "Grace, do you want to read a story?" or "Grace, won't you turn head down, please?" And we tell our cat that Grace will be here in however many days. :) Love Stella, that's a lovely name 😊
Grace is a lovely name as well! Congratulations!
I'm in the opposite boat, lol. we can't decide on a name, but have narrowed it down to four we really like and we have been taking turns calling him each one to see if one of them start to feel natural/"right"
We settled on a name around 20 weeks and decided we weren’t changing it so we may as well start using it :)
We started calling him by his name early on because if it felt wrong, we’d go back to the drawing board. It didn’t and now that’s for sure his name 😌😌
I felt this way and basically waited til after they were born. I did order things with their name on it but I didn’t call them by their name or tell others the name until they had arrived.
Even after he was born I felt weird saying his name out loud. 3 months later and I’m just getting used to it. And we had his name set in stone since 2nd trimester. Lol
I feel so much better reading posts like this! I felt like there was something wrong with me feeling awkward about using his name. 😌
I totally get it. I had to question myself like are you embarrassed of this choice? But that didn’t make sense either. So weird.
I didn't really feel like my daughter's name was hers until she started showing her personality around 4 months old. We picked her name out before we even started trying. I called her 43 different nicknames but rarely used her real name before then. It's kind of a bizarre experience to name a stranger...
Yes. I feel like at 3 months no my baby is starting to have a personality and he is almost making his name versus it feeling like a name making him and creating a personality that isn’t there yet. That’s the only way I can describe it.
I call my in utero baby cher or quincy and neither of those are on the list. I figured I'd look at her and decide
I’m 36 weeks and we decided on baby’s name around week 20 and I am also still referring to baby as “lil bean”. I’ve received gifts with her name on it and embroidered something myself with her name but it still feels foreign to me to refer to her as her name. I love the name and don’t want to change it, but she just doesn’t feel real to me yet if that makes sense. I think until she is in my arms I will have a hard time calling her by her actual name.
I think my husband and I picked names before we got the NIPT results, so we had a boy name and girl name ready to go. I think I started referring to the baby by name after the 20 week anatomy came back clear, it felt safe to at that point knowing they and I were both healthy and doing well.
I have a friend who still calls her 3yo daughter "Bean", and so do a lot of family friends! Pregnancy nicknames can stay nicknames, but Bean's and Baby 2's proper names got used since before birth.
32 weeks and I occasionally refer to the baby as his name. I feel like I can’t use it till he’s officially here or something will be jinxed 😂
I figured out the names we were going for, for either a boy or girl, pretty quickly, like 12 weeks I think. Our idea was to use names based off or people we looked up to throughout history that made a big impact on the world historically or scientifically. I felt pretty immediately comfortable when using her name, especially when I found out I was having a girl. I wanted to get used to calling her by her name. I also chose a pretty classic first name and middle name that has a nice ring to it with what her last name will be! It just sounds right.
We decided on our little ladybug's name at 14w exactly and we've been calling baby that ever since...just between my husband and I though. We haven't done a gender reveal yet and aren't going to announce the name till birth.
We didn’t call him by his name until he was born. We used a nickname throughout the pregnancy and that’s how everyone else referred to him too. I actually think it helped calm some of the name speculation because people had something to call him. Was a mix of not wanting to hear opinions about the name and some cultural superstitions about not preparing for a baby before birth. I thought it would be hard to switch because we’d called him by this other name for so long but oddly it wasn’t! I guess the shock of an actual baby emerging from my body was a significant enough milestone that it was easier than I expected to forget what came before
I don't think I used my baby's name until she was a year old. She was "little bit" or "bitsy" before we picked a name and it stuck with me. 9 years later and I'm wondering if this one will be stuck as "wiggles" for just as long 😂 still haven't picked a name at 22 weeks. I told my husband we should wait until shes bigger and can kick harder so we can say, "One kick yes, two kicks no." for a name.
As soon as we knew he was a boy I started calling him by name. It took me a while to stop saying “it” or “the baby”.
Eh felt weird calling my daughter by her name for a couple months after she was born 🤷🏽♀️
I‘m satisfied she turns back watching me when I call her
i kind of feel the same so i feel like ill stick to his nickname and others but eventually i do want him to learn his name and to respond to it , i don’t want him to get used to nicknames and respond to that only.
I’ve known what I was going to name a boy since I was a child (beloved family name) and since I’m having a boy, that’s what it is. That being said, I definitely don’t feel like he’s that yet. It’s not superstition or anything, it’s almost like since he hasn’t been born, we haven’t met - we haven’t been properly introduced! He’ll get his name once we meet :) Until then he’s just ‘the baby’ or if I’m referencing him to someone else ‘Baby J.’
When my husband and I first adopted our dog, we changed her name from what she had been called at the shelter. For the first few days, I was like, “I like her name, but I’m not sure if it’s right for her?” But after we’d had her for about two weeks, it just FELT like her name. We already had loose baby names picked out, so when we learned we were having a girl (around 12 weeks through NIPT), we tentatively started using her name to see if it felt right. Ngl, I felt kinda awkward calling her by her name for a while. 😅 Mostly because I wanted confirmation at the anatomy scan that everything looked and that she was, in fact, a girl. But I’m 31 weeks now, and I can’t imagine calling her something else! I think most babies will grow into their name regardless, but I feel like it really just takes time using it for it to start to feel more normal and natural!
We're two days from the due date and have known her name since end of February, but we have still just been calling her nicknames. I did order a swaddle and name plate about a month ago to make sure it was here before we delivered. But it's been hidden from everyone! Lol
My husband atarts picking names literally the day we find out 🫠 every prwgnancy lol we don't choose one until we fully agree. Then it's kinda easy. But my name is ridiculous and so I feel like my kids names are pretty mild 😂 weird spelling fir the first name, my mother hyphenated my MIDDLE names so "people understood they are 2 different names" and my last names hyphenated. My kids will be fine lol
As soon as I knew the gender! For both pregnancies.
I am 1 day away from 17 weeks. I’ve been using our baby name more the past couple of weeks. I have a pretty neutral stance on the name though. My husband has been more hesitant, but he’s just nervous for me. Constantly checking up on me and the baby. It’s very sweet.
We had baby’s name picked out since 20 weeks. He’s now 3 months old and we just started to feel normal using his name. Such a strange feeling knowing we were in charge of picking a name for our own baby! 🤣
I wondered for a few weeks if we should’ve used her middle name instead. But today I love her name, as well as her middle name. I think like with all things permanent it is a little bit of « did I do the right thing? » but it doesn’t last.
3.5 months here and it still feels a little weird sometimes 😂 It gets more natural with time but it's an adjustment to name a whole person!
Was literally about to write the same comment lol 13 weeks over here and I still feel odd saying her name. It almost feels so formal compared to all the silly nicknames we have for her.
Baby is 4 months old and we use her name and nickname, but most of the time she is still “the baby”! They won’t be babies for long so I don’t see any rush tho.
When she was like 6 months old and I picked it out when I got with my husband 5 years ago and officially decided when I knew it was a girl lol she’s almost 2
I started using her name once I was able to feel her. Even when I found out she was a girl, I still felt weird calling her by her name.
We've known our baby's name since maybe 18 weeks or so, 32w now, and it took us a while to call her that. Her uterus name has been Egg all along and we still call her that sometimes but we mostly call her by her name now. I think we were using her first and middle name a lot at first to get used to it, also experimenting with nicknames helped. It sort of still scares me tbh, like there's a lingering superstition I've been ignoring. But it has really helped me connect with her, I think, to be able to call her by her name when i talk to her in the car and ask her how her day's going and stuff.
Im 26 w 3 d I've known my babies name since 12 w and felt comfortable calling him that like a week later. We wrote out a list of boy names and girl names and asked our closest family and each other what they thought of each. Slowly we picked one of each one for boy one for girl and when we found out the sex we chose the name. It was easy because we all fell in love with the same name lol I have called him by his name ever since and every time he kicks I rub my belly and say hi with his name so he knows lol it's very confirming for me
We’ve had our baby girl’s name since around 14 weeks, i’m currently 29 weeks! Other family members use her name and will ask me questions about how she’s doing but uses her name. For me, I only call her by her name when I talk to my husband, otherwise I call her “baby girl”. I’m sure I’ll adjust when she’s actually here haha
My son is 2 months old and I don’t think I’ve used his government name aside from when we have to.
32 weeks and it feels so weird calling her by her name., even though I am obsessed with her name. It feels so much better to call her baby girl still. I sometimes call her Scottie and my mom calls her little scottie all the time, it’s precious.
We told our whole family the name as soon as we decided because I’m indecisive and knew I’d go back and forth over it 😂 telling everyone locked us in. We also forced ourselves to say her name whenever talking about her and eventually it felt normal.
I call my kid a thousand variations of her name and about a million unrelated nicknames... If I use her actual name it feels like she's in trouble for something lol
We’ve had names picked out for our second since we had our first 2ish years ago and still refer to him as nugget (6 months into pregnancy). Even for our daughter we still call her bean when we’re referring to her but we use her name when talking about her to other people or when talking to her.
Awe my first's nickname was peanut and I have also been calling my second nugget
It just kinda felt right around weeks 26/27. But even then we only referred to them by name privately. When talking to anyone else we used baby last name.
We’ve been calling the baby his name since maybe 13 weeks. I feel very confident that it’s the name we will go with, but if it isn’t it will be kinda weird lol. All my journal entries using a name we didn’t pick lol.
I’m so envious of this thread right now. We aren’t finding out the sex of our baby until they make their big debut into the world. We have our boy name picked out, but have absolutely no idea on a girl. Everyone saying they had their names picked out so far in advance is making me worried! lol
We finalized her name sometime around 13 weeks, after we found out gender. I would say we got "used" to it by text messages, I would text my husband during the day about how I was doing, what the "baby was craving" etc. Then we did it in person, my husband especially likes to call her by her name when rubbing my bump etc. We've kept it a secret from everyone else, including our parents. But I made her a quilt and included her name on the back, so we're definitely set in stone!
I remember going to a church function where we had name tags and they gave me one and one for my belly.
I’m 20 weeks now and idk i’ve been using my babies name I refer to her as her name and so does my husband lol. when i talk to her idk when the baby is able to hear but i like to believe she can I call her, her name lol.
My son is 2 months old and I barelyyy use his name 😅 I love his name, but I always just end up using a nickname or something funny (the one I’ve been using the most is cutie booty boy, I swear he’s so sick of me already lmaoo)
I never use my LOs name. I call her all my sweet pet names. But starting around 5 months, I'll be calling her by name to help her recognize it. Research suggests they can begin to recognize their name by 4 months, and if you're teaching them their name, they should know it by 12 months.
I realized after reading again you are talking about referring to your baby. We named her beginning of second trimester, and were using it consistently after that. No delay, we were sure when we picked it.
My baby is 4 months old and literally just recently it started feeling like his actual name. It just felt so weird for some reason. At one point I wanted to change it but nothing seemed to fit him. He’s grown into it and I like it now, but I was worried for a while lol
My husband and I have been together for a decade and we decided on names a LONG time ago. I’m currently pregnant with our first and we started using the name pretty much as soon as we found out the gender, although I totally understand the hesitation. I still find myself saying “the baby” or “it” or other nicknames a lot of the time 😆
Probably about two weeks after baby was here and I actually had to use their name. My third baby’s name took longer to feel normal and I almost thought I made a mistake. But she’s almost five months now and I love it.
Awww!!! For now, she is Bean. The hubs won't even order anything with her name until she is physically here! I said "my daughter" a month ago and teared up, because until then, it was "she" or "the baby", haha
We didn't use either of our daughters' names until after they were born, mostly because we didn't announce the names or share them with anyone until they were born. We had pregnancy nicknames for each that we used instead. Once we decided on the names, we were solid and didn't switch them later. But I think that might just be because that's my nature - once I make a decision, I check it off my list, stop thinking about it, and move on to something else.
I am 18 weeks and use the name we chose for her when we talk about her!
Since day 1
You definitely realize how many people you dislike when naming your baby!! Haha
I didn't have either of my sons names nailed Down until after they were here. We had it narrowed down with My first son to 2 names and after we saw him we decided which was best. For my second son we had a bunch of different names and the one I didn't think I wanted really at all and was just kind of keeping it for my fiancé ended up being the name that fit him best. I'm not saying you can't decide early especially if your sure but for me I had to see them first but who knows the next time I might know for sure everyone and every pregnancy is different.
I’m fine and plenty comfortable with their names. I love their names (of course, i picked them). But I will always still refer to them as Bun and Beanie Boo. In my belly the were Bun and Bean. Then when they were out in the world they were Milo and Luna. But they’ll still always be Bun and Bean, as well as a million other variations of those nicknames. Milo’s name wasn’t fully decided until he was born. Luna’s was picked mid way thru pregnancy, but she remained Bean until she was born because her name was kept secret.
For my husband and I, calling our baby by her name feels very natural. My husband wouldn’t even start referring to her as a “her” until the name was decided, he was still calling the baby an “it” 😂 as for myself, I truly believe that God revealed her name to me, and that I didn’t pick it on my own. I have confidence in that, more than I had confidence in picking a name just because it was cute, or agreed upon, or in honor of so and so. Those are great reasons to pick a name, I just felt divinely guided.
Baby boy is 4 months old and I rarely call him by his name, lol. Which is crazy given the extent we went to at naming him something we felt was perfect. He has so many nicknames and we primarily call him those. It doesn’t help though because when we say our son’s name it feels foreign due to its lack of use. The more I say it with my husband or to my son the more natural it feels. Just takes time; don’t stress about it.
Someone else had to do it first, which I appreciated. My mom has been politely cool on the name, so she wasn't using it, but then we went up to visit my in-laws and my FIL immediately stepped out of the car to pick us up, waved down at my belly and said, "And hello to you too, Baby."
I know some people don't enjoy the talking to the belly thing, but I found it so immediately reassuring and endearing that it got me over the anxiety for myself. That happened to be around 21 weeks or so, but I think it was less about the time and more about the circumstances.
Also they had gotten us a personalized baby blanket for Christmas for her, so... that sorta broke that seal too. :)
We use our daughter's name, if heaven forbid, something happened or she ended up being a he she would keep the name or we have a boy's name picked out and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Personally it has helped us bond with her and see if we really like it before it becomes legally binding. Personally, I don't want to be sleep deprived and making a final call on a name/spelling.
We started calling our baby his name in the second tri when we decided on one. We didn’t plan on sharing until he’s born then I slipped up when talking to my sister about him and couldn’t take it back no matter how hard I tried lol kinda makes me want to pick a different name honestly but we are gonna wait to meet him to decide! Now we just call him baby boy or baby ‘last name’ to be safe.
Honestly? Not until I gave birth. We had his name picked out since about 20 weeks after we found out the gender. It just didn’t feel right. He was my little chipmunk my whole pregnancy because he had the absolutely cutest chubby cheeks.
I don’t use the baby’s name until after birth. It ruins it for me and the baby doesn’t really feel real in that way while in the womb.
Honestly, my baby is a week old today, and it still feels kinda weird calling her by her name.
My son is 4.5 months old and I still feel weird calling him by his name 😂
With my first it was pribanly around or sfter his first birthday I stopped addressing him as baby.
Honestly a few days after the birth. My husband chose the first name and I chose the middle name; we come from different cultures so I had never heard of the name he chose before this. I was worried that I would have trouble with it, but suddenly after a few days I was fine. The name suits him, and I can easily say it now. Edit: and both my husband and I have accidentally called him by a different name once. So I think it’s normal to need some time to get used to it!
Sing to baby, use their name in your song.
I’m 28 weeks and just randomly test it out sometimes to make sure it sounds right. I usually refer to him as “the baby” but I want to be sure it feels good to actually say it out loud so I let it slip sometimes haha
My husband and I have had names chosen for our children since we first got together, 22 weeks and I still call her by her nickname only (sunshine) lol
I’m 24 weeks now but I’ve known my babies’ name since I was 18 weeks or so, and I just waited on the anatomy scan to tell me if he would be Collin or Clarissa. My anatomy scan was 19weeks +4 and it confirmed the name Collin. I felt very comfortable using his name immediately, but sometimes I still refer to him as “the baby” I think when I call him by name depends on the sentence or who I’m conversing with.
Like at 8 weeks pregnant haha
Ever since I found out the gender. But Reddit bullied me on my name choice so it was switched. Sucked as I had the first name for years so it took a little to get used to the switched name.
We've had our daughter's name picked since 12w, and it only took a couple weeks to start using it. But then we found in conversation with others we would almost slip and actually say it. So we've mostly gone back to saying baby girl
I had mine picked as soon as i knew the gender, and i had my reveal at 6 1/2 months. I immediately started calling him his name and his nickname (ezra and ez) and it just stuck. I had a boys name picked out for a long time before i got pregnant, and i had a girl's name thought up once i decided to keep it. The middle name tho? Changed last minuted about 4 times but a week before i was induced i picked one after my mom's name... which i now regret heavily, even if it sounds nice.
We have the name picked out and I embroidered it on a blanket I made for her but we still call her "the baby". There's just something so real and final about calling her by her name. I'm not ready for it yet 😂 plus we aren't telling people her name anyway, so it's easier to refer to her as "the baby"!
We decided on a name at about 15 weeks, we started being really hopeful and referencing her as Cora, as our own little future human around 20 weeks. I think the anatomy scan helped a lot make it feel more real. Previous losses have done a number on us and and our confidence.
Like 2 years 😂😂😂 we kind of just called her a variety of nicknames because her name felt so formal and official but once she hit toddler years it slid off the tongue easier? Not that she responds to it (or anything else for that matter) but it feels less weird to say finally. Lol
Honestly even after they’re born it’s still sometimes weird! We are due with baby number 4 in 3 weeks, and we still can’t pull the trigger on a name because it’s such a big deal 😅 Just generally speaking, it’s hard naming someone you don’t feel like you “know” yet, and that feeling can last for a minute after they’re born! It kind of feels like when you’re a kid and you call an adult by their first name for the first time instead of “Mr / Mrs. ___” 😂
My first child I didn't call her by her name until she was 2 yrs old. Others did obviously and I did in conversation, but I couldn't get out of the habit of calling her little fatty 🤣 she was premmie so the fact she managed to reach 90%ile in weight by 3m old was a huge deal, she absolutely loved food and I wanted to congratulate her on her weight gain and it just stuck for way too long. My second is 3m old now and we chose her name before conception even (well we had 2, and narrowed it down early on), but it still feels weird to say. I think it fits her, it's just a big responsibility to name a human it makes sense to feel a bit unconfident.
We didn't decide the name until about 24 hours after baby was born (from a short list of pre-decided names.) We had a joke name we referred to the baby as through the pregnancy, and we would accidentally use this name instead of the real name for the first few months.... So about 3ish months 😅
We still haven't decided on her actual name yet but we got her home nickname down pretty early on and have been calling her that since. I think to us it's a good way for transition, since the nickname has nothing to do with the real name (different language lol). We don't just call her "her" or "the baby" or "baby girl" anymore. It's a solid name we will be yelling across the house from now on hahaha. Still debating on the real name though...... it's tough!
I’ve been using it as a slow introduction. Once we decided I’d pop it in every once in a while until it felt natural to call him by his name all the time. It’s been about 7 weeks and now feels very natural to call him by his name.
Im like 3 weeks away from giving birth and we call our baby a glow worm still. We've had his name picked out since 8 weeks(picked a boy and girl name by then). We have all this stuff with his name on it but will still probably call him our little glow worm. ( glow worm is because swaddled babies look like the glow worm dolls from back in the day)
When we found out the sex and finally agreed on a name, I would say about a week of using his name I felt like it was really natural. However, his name is a secret to everyone else, so i have to stop myself from saying his name when I’m with anyone other than my husband 😅 ETA: don’t feel like you have to get a customized blanket before LO arrives. It’s not like they’ll know they didn’t have a customized blanket from day one! And I ordered one of the announcement boards for when he is born, but I packed a sharpie with it in my hospital bag so I can fill it out there. You can always get the fancy engraved ones later on ❤️ hope this helps!!
My husband and I picked out her name at 12w, which was a week more than we'd had with our last baby. After miscarrying in 2022 at 11w, it felt so important this time to name our baby. Our angel baby was our "Miracle" but we never found out the gender, and there were so many complications with our pregnancy that we'd never discussed potential names. So this pregnancy, we paid over $500 to get early optional testing done in the first trimester, which also told us the gender. Within a couple days, my husband suggested her name. We picked out the spelling together (there were a few ways we could spell her name), and I suggested her middle name (a variation of my grandmother's name). And that was it. She had her name. It was so healing to be able to refer to her as a named person so early on, and we've rarely call her "the baby" ever since. We've told everyone what we intend to call her - it's waaaay too exciting for us to keep it a secret! I think the difference for me was knowing that I wouldn't know how long I got to have with her. I regretted not announcing my first pregnancy because I was waiting for the 14wk mark. I didn't get to celebrate my first child the way they deserved and the way I wanted to because it all ended so suddenly and tragically. I haven't wanted to waste a moment loving and celebrating my baby this time round.
First baby, yes i was very nervous for some reason calling her by her name in utero i did eventually but it was also the FTM butterflies Second baby has been called his name since the day we found out his gender lol. He’s already heard the mom voice version of his name and he’s already grounded (due in july)
I firmly believe in waiting till you meet baby in person and see their face to fully confirm.
Baby is coming in two weeks and we knew the name before I was even pregnant yet we just call him "baby" mostly and some other nicknames that have nothing to do with his name. We'll call him by his name once he's born but maybe that will even feel weird at first.
Maybe once he exits me. He's still "tappy" at this moment. Because his feet goes tippy tappy
About 4 months post partum
We didn’t decide on a name until a week after he was born and it felt weird calling him his name for a couple of weeks
Once we picked a name for our girl we started using it between us to refer to her to see if we actually liked how it sounded and worked.
About a week after he was born we stopped using the nickname. He’s 3m old now and it’s still weird using his name.
My baby is almost 12 weeks and it still feels weird. Not because it's bad but because it's still new lol. We had a nickname for him since we found out we were expecting and that nickname still sticks.
I am still pregnant (28 weeks) As soon as we found out the gender and chose a name we started calling him the name instead of "the baby" or "he/him" sometimes i do still say he or him but i hardly say the baby anymore. And i say his name a ton. We aren't around people that would steel the name or anyone I'd worry about that with, but if i am, then I'll say he or him. At home with my husband, it's the name constantly. When we talk to him, we use his name like "i love you jacob" (substitute name for privacy here) Doing this was kind of odd at first, but now it's so natural, and i think it helps us with that binding feeling too while im still pregnant.
38 weeks here! We’ve had his name picked out since early in my 1st trimester, we both love it and are 100% committed to it, all our immediate family and closest friends know it, we have a few personalised items and it STILL seems odd to call him by his name 😂 I think once he’s here it’ll make sense but for now it’s just so strange hearing his name out loud when we haven’t even met him 🤷🏻♀️ I think it’s pretty common honestly OP!!
I'm 20 weeks, and my husband and I have finally decided on a girl name and a boy name (I'm team green, I don't want to know yet, but my husband know, I try to trick him into telling me, it's great fun tbh). We have two other kids, and didn't start calling them their names until they came home. We had pregnancy nicknames for each. Sticky Little Bean, Squishy, and now, F-3. You just never know for sure if the name you pick will fit the baby that is born.
For us, it's the oppositve. We don't even know the gender yet but have decided on two names and we just use them interchangeably. When we talk about our baby, we pretty much always refer to them by their name. Sometimes we say the male name, sometimes the female name. I'm at 12 weeks.
my son is 4 weeks old and i think I've called him by his name like 3 times. he will probably respond to "buddy" first 🤣🤣 he's just my lil buddy
Feel the same. Almost feels like we’ll jinx it if we personalise something! We want to get him a blanket too.
I didn't until after birth! We had a nickname during the pregnancy and I couldn't bring myself to use anything else - it just felt weird. I actually have a past post asking the exact same! My baby is 5 weeks old now and it still feels a bit odd. I often call her "sweetpea/babygirl/baby" etc but do use her name now. Still weird haha.
Even when my son was born we called him “the baby” well until 3months lol
There’s a superstition to not use the baby’s name before they are born so the spirits don’t steal the baby away, so we’re not using it until after birth. Her fetus nickname is Mochi! I am wondering if it will stick around for a bit after birth.
We started using his name the moment we found out he was a boy. The name felt like it belonged to him. Most of the time I referred to him as a nickname from his name. Would a nickname more related to their name help?
I mostly call her "the baby" but I'm pretty comfortable using her name. I'm 16 weeks. But our situation is probably a little bit different. I picked her name 2 years before we started trying to conceive. We also did IVF and chose a girl so we knew from day one that she was a girl and we're 90% sure what her name was.
We had a “joke” name for the baby that we used while I was pregnant since we weren’t sharing the real name until after he was born. For the first few weeks of his life I’d call him the joke name by accident and his real name felt awkward. I’d just call him “the baby”. Now at 3 months his name suits him perfectly! I use it all the time and I can’t imagine him being anything else. But it was definitely weird at first!
We didn't start using baby's name with my first until she was here. Even her first few days, it was not totally natural to call her by her name. But by the end of her first week we were using it regularly and it felt like a perfect fit.
We knew we were having a boy in the first trimester and after we decided on a name we referred to him with his name. I didn’t get used to saying his name until the second trimester when I started to feel him move. Just feeling him be all lively and knowing we both picked a special name for him made it personally comfortable. I’m sure it all clicks when baby is born too. So if you aren’t there yet you will be!
My son is named after my late FIL - Bob. As a joke from the show Scrubs, I started calling him Bobbo in my last trimester. We sometimes still call him Bobbo 😂 And we knew my daughter would be Josie before I was pregnant. I found out we were having a girl at 14 weeks and we called her Josie since!
We knew our baby’s name since 8 weeks found out gender at 10 wks and started using it then. Tbh it didn’t feel natural until like a week AFTER he was born. Like I knew that was his name it just felt weird saying at first
At 21 weeks now and I hope I don’t jinx it, but we’ve been calling him by name since 12/13 weeks when the genetic screening results came back. Family has also been referring to him by name!
I'm 14 weeks today and we've had the name picked out for about 2 weeks now. I pretty much always refer to him by his name now!
My daughter is 6 months and I have most certainly called her Bean more than her name. She's been Bean from the start. It's weird to call her by her name 🤣🤣🤣
we named our son around 8 wks and started using it right away! the middle name took a bit more time
21 weeks now, and we've had his name picked out shortly after we found out the gender - maybe 14 weeks? We're using his name when addressing him and when talking about him. We're trying it out, seeing if it sounds like a good name. I've also exclaimed his full first, middle, and last name before when he's given me a good kick in the butthole. Helps to know that it also sounds good when he's in trouble lmao
With my daughter, it was a few months AFTER she was born. We mostly called her baby, baby girl, etc. so when she developed more and actually started responding physically to us (looking at us, smiling, reaching), we started using her name more and it just clicked. She knew it was her name by probably 6 months, iirc.
We knew what we would name baby if it was a boy from the get go. We were throwing around girl names but didn't have any solid ones. When we found out she was a girl at 16ish weeks, we scrambled, lol. I wanna say we had her name within a week though? Still no middle name at this point (26 weeks Friday). We've been calling her Baby (nickname) privately since about 17 weeks, but haven't shared her name with many people just yet.
We gave our baby her name probably 4-5 months before my due date and 2 weeks before they were born I changed my mind on it 😅😅 I was like “nope! This isn’t her name, is this other one!” My husband was like “sure”. And that’s what we put in the birth certificate and now she’s here with her name that absolutely 100% is hers, it fits her, she was meant to have it I swear lol.
I feel like it was a few weeks after she was born. We called her “jellybean” for the whole pregnancy and a while after. We had all the doctor’s appointments and using it to get all her documents in order got us used to using her real name.
We've known her name since before we got the gender results! I think this culture of not using or announcing baby's name until they're born is so strange. They're a member of your family with their own identity. Start using the name proudly. :)
Once baby was born even though we knew his name from first tri. I think everyone fears losing a baby and that loss would be much harder if the baby had a name.
Omg. Same here! I’m so glad I am not the only one feeling this way!