When do they start saying "I" instead of their name?

Both kids say some things with "I" but other times still say thier name, for example they will say "I want more" but then a few mins later dd will say "Molly goes potty".
Is this something you help them learn or it just becomes more consistent as they get older? We have tried to stop saying things like "mommy is going upstairs" to "I am going upstairs" as dh thinks this is how they will learn to speak correctly, from us.

 

Kristi, we're not using I yet, however they are using you, me, he/she. The you/me gets used correctly 50% of the time (instead of saying Pick me up, they'll say pick you up, carry you instead of carry me, etc.).

They still rely on referring to themselves in the third person.

 

My girls are 2 and they still mix it all up. Sometimes they use I, sometimes they use their name. I don't think it's a problem at this point - they'll get it eventually. I think it's kind of cute. I'll miss it when they speak correctly most of the time.

 

I have to think if mine do that all the time now? They went through a big MINE stage, but they use I most of the time!

They will still mix stuff up, but I think that's normal.

 

Honestly Kristi, I wish my guys would refer to themselves in the third person! They refuse to use their names! If I ask Patrick "what's your name" he says "I'm me!" and pats his chest. <_< Goofball.

 

Mine just recently started using "I" ... they used to say "mine cant go potty" or "Jesse go potty".

 

Mine tended to use "I" earlier (though I don't remember exactly when any more, I just remember other moms commenting on it). I think it has to do with the fact that I naturally fell into a pattern of saying most things twice. "Mommy will get it, I will just go into the kitchen and get it," and so on. They heard me use "I" a lot, and so they never went through a stage of saying "me do it," they just jumped right to "I." If you are worried, you could use "I" around them more often and see if that gooses things along. (I wouldn't worry, though. All kids get it when they are ready.)

 

Our girls are just coming out of this transition. They use "I" correctly most of the time but occasionally lapse back to the third person (usually when they want attention for something cute they've just done). Like the OP, DH and I have been trying to talk normally again instead of saying "Mama this, Daddy that." It's weird how talking in third person became normal for us so quickly. But it wasn't hard to unlearn. Kids learn language by listening to models, so speaking properly yourself is the best way to teach them. They'll get it in time. Don't worry about it.

 

Amy hardly ever used her name to refer to herself -- she's been saying "I" for so long that I don't even remember when she started.

Sarah used her name until about 24 months (she was not much of a talker till then anyway), but now she says "my" -- "My do it!" I've never yet heard her say "I" instead of "my," but I'm confident she'll figure it out eventually.

 

I think it was somewhere around 2-2.5? They went from using their names to "my" as in "My want it". Now we're working on my/mine, they will say "I want to do it mineself". Also still working on when to use he/she or his/her, and proper use of from and of, proper past tenses. When you think about English, there are a lot of rules that don't always make sense.