Sense of self
Saying "me" and "mine"
Most toddlers start saying "mine" at around 21 months and "me" at around 23 months. In parents' reports for American children, 9 in 10 said "mine" by about 28 months.
How sure are we?
Not sure yet. Only one source so far: our own count from thousands of American parents' word lists. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is building a sense of themselves and what belongs to them.
"I" and "my" came a little later than "me" and "mine", at about 25 months for half of children.
We haven't yet read studies in other languages.
A main source for the ages
Feelings words and "me" and "mine", by age: our count from Wordbank v3.4
MyHappyBub (analysis of Wordbank open data) · 2026
- Children
- About 10,000 toddler word lists
- Where
- The United States (children learning English)
- Ages
- 16 to 36 months
- How
- Our own count from parents' word lists in the open Wordbank collection
- What it found
- Half of toddlers said a feelings word (happy, sad, mad or scared) by about 23 months, and 9 in 10 by about 35 months. Half said "mine" by about 21 months and "me" by about 23 months.
- Limits
- Parents tick words on a list. Each month is a different group of children. American English only.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026