Why Does My Boyfriend Not Like Being Called Baby?

Let’s face it: some people don’t like pet names, but calling your boyfriend baby ‘baby’ and he doesn’t like it is kind of strange.

You’ve been with your boyfriend for a while now, and things are going great between you two.

You have pet names for each other, like “babe” or “honey,” but when you call him “baby,” he gets a weird look on his face.

You can tell he doesn’t like it but never says anything. Why doesn’t your boyfriend like being called baby?

Why Does My Boyfriend Not Like Being Called Baby?

Here are some reasonable explanations as to why your boyfriend does not like being called baby:

1. It Makes Him Feel Infantilized

Being called “baby” makes some guys feel you’re treating them like a child rather than equal adult partners.

The term baby conjures up images of helplessness and needing care. Your boyfriend wants to feel like your protector and rock, not someone you have to mother.

When you call him “baby,” it can come across as babying him, even if that’s not your intention.

It diminishes his masculinity and makes him feel like you don’t see him as a grown man. For guys trying hard to be mature and responsible, “baby” undermines that.

2. He Associates it With Exes

Maybe an ex-girlfriend used to call your boyfriend “baby” all the time. Or even worse, that’s what his ex would sarcastically call him when she was upset with him.

Hearing it from you can bring up bad memories if he has negative connotations attached to “baby” from past relationships.

Even if “baby” doesn’t have an actively bad association, it can still remind him of an ex in an uncomfortable way.

The term was an intimate part of another relationship, so it feels weird and inappropriate coming from you. Try to be sensitive to his past and avoid terms that conjure it up.

3. It’s Too Cutesy for His Taste

Your boyfriend may just find pet names like “baby” to be overly cutesy. Some guys aren’t into saccharine terms of endearment.

“Baby” could strike him as excessively sappy, and he’d prefer you call him by his actual name or a more casual nickname.

Maybe in past relationships, he felt smothered by constant “baby” this and “honey” that. He may have an aversion to pet names because he associates them with clinginess. Or he finds them generally annoying.

4. He Feels It’s Possesive

Your boyfriend may see “baby” and other cutesy names like it as possessing undertones. Calling someone “baby” conveys that they are your dependent, almost like your object.

Even if you have perfectly innocent intentions using the word, your boyfriend could interpret it as possessive.

As an independent modern man, your boyfriend likely values his autonomy in the relationship.

Pet names like “baby” that are overly possessive rubbed him the wrong way. He wants to feel like your partner, not a thing that belongs to you.

5. It’s Simply His Preference

At the end of the day, your boyfriend may have the personal taste preference of not liking to be called “baby.”

It’s nothing deeper about you or the relationship – he doesn’t like that particular pet name.

Everyone has different inclinations about what affectionate nicknames do and do not appeal to them.

You may find it sweet and endearing, but it simply grates on his ears the wrong way. That’s just the way he’s wired. It’s not personal, just a harmless quirk of his.

What Should You Do?

So now that you know why your boyfriend might not like “baby” as a pet name, what should you do moving forward?

Here are some tips:

Have an open conversation, asking him to explain why he doesn’t like it. Don’t just assume you know his reasons already.
Apologize for continuing to use a term that you now know bothers him. Assure him you’ll stop using “baby” going forward.
Brainstorm other nicknames you could call him that doesn’t bother him – maybe “babe” “handsome,” or “dear.”
Stick to calling him by his first or last name if he can’t think of any nicknames he likes.
Focus on showing affection in non-verbal ways, not just pet names.

The most important thing is showing your boyfriend that you empathize with his dislike of “baby” and respecting his boundaries.

Adjust to calling him something else as seamlessly as possible. With open communication and compromise, this little annoyance can be resolved!

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, your boyfriend has valid reasons for disliking “baby” as a pet name.

You should respect his feelings by dropping them from your vocabulary, whether it makes him feel infantilized, reminds him of exes, feels too possessive, or rubs him the wrong way.

Be open to discussing why he doesn’t like it and brainstorm alternatives you can call him instead. Meet him halfway by sticking to nicknames that make you both comfortable.

With compromise and empathy, this bump in the pet name road can be smoothed over!

Why Does My Boyfriend Not Like Being Called Baby?