I swear my 9wo is trying to say "hello"!!!!??

[helsybells]

My 9wo keeps staring at me intently and saying he-woh, he-woh. When I say he-llo back to her again and again she is tranfixed on my mouth and trys to copy the shape I'm making to say he-woh, he-woh again and again. Am I going mad or am I just attributing a baby noise to a word that makes sense to me??

[SecretCervix]

They mimic facial features etc, maybe trying to mimic the sound.

You may be going a tiny bit mad. :o

[therugratref]

I think maybe you need a little more sleep

[flybynight]

With the best will in the world, maybe slightly mad! But do enjoy it, it is a lovely madness.

[welliesandpyjamas]

I believe you. I'm seeing exactly the same in my 8 week old, OP ...but am just going to enjoy it quietly and feel confident she is extremely gifted as I'm sure most people wouldn't believe me

[helsybells]

Tee hee hee!! It probably wouldn't be the first time I've been called slightly mad and sure it won't be the last!! And you are right sleeplessness is a great excuse!! [mad crazed smiley]

[CokeFan]

DD used to say something that sounded like a very posh "hello" when she was tiny. She didn't speak particularly early though (first proper words were "bye bye" and "wiggle wiggle wiggle"!). She's 4 now and barely pauses for breath.

[GailTheGoldfish]

I have the most fantastic video of DD about that age saying "hello" in response to us saying it to her, so I'm sure you're not going mad! She doesn't do it any more though (18 wks) so enjoy it (and get it on video!) while you can!

[SlightlySoupStainedBabygrows]

My 14 week old does the same, so if you're mad, I'm mad. Though he seems to be deciding that HRRRROOO is more fun as a noise now. He still looks terribly serious about it though.

[LostInWales]

Once Ds2 and I were sitting on the sofa doing reading and one of our finches said a perfectly enunciated 'hello' I'm so glad he heard it too or I would have thought I was going completely insane. Not the same thing at all really is it? I'm going to go to bed now

I miss those lovely baby moments where they gaze at you so intently and try to copy your mouth shape. This morning DS3 said 'I'm going for a poo now, it's going to be filthy'. It's just not the same you know.

[GailTheGoldfish]

LostInWales!

[UrbanSpaceMum]

I didn't read any of the books that tell you what to expect, so when my 8 week old seemed to be using the same sound over and over to ask for milk, I thought that was normal. I used the sound back to her. As quick as her tongue could get round them she used English words - "Yeah oh yeah?" was her word for "please", and "ang" to mean "again" or "more", before she was ten weeks, and she did continue to learn new words rapidly. No-one believed me so I had hilarious private chats with her. Enjoy it.

[GailTheGoldfish]

UrbanSpaceMum, what was the sound? Was it 'Leh'?

[UrbanSpaceMum]

Gail, the sound she used for milk was "eng" at night and "ling" during the day. I've heard other babies yelling "ling" over and over in a hungry voice. I think if you make the motion with your mouth that a baby makes to get and swallow breast milk, and add your voice, you will get that sound. (For comparison at around 6 months she used "ma" for milk from a cup, and "emm" for water from a cup.)

She did use "lee" or "lee lee" to mean "now". She used to say "eng oh yeah" happily, meaning "milk please". If I took a long time she'd start saying "eng lee". I think again this is something they do with their tongue when the milk isn't coming out very fast and they want to hurry it up so they can take their head away and let a jet spurt out across the room at a prim and proper aunt or someone.

[GailTheGoldfish]

Fascinating! Thanks for that. How lovely to have that communication with her when she was still so little! DD does leh and ling for when she wants the boob and neh when she needs to poo or has tummy ache. We've also just got into babbling and raspberry blowing, very cute!

[GrassIsntGreener]

Wow this is fascinating! I have a four year old and an eight week old. Can't say i have noticed anything more than me just being able to differentiate between sounds for what he needs. I'll pay more attention!

[RPosieB]

I maintain that my daughter called her dad an arsehole when she was only a few months old. He says it was just baby noises.....!!!!

[datedthedevil]

I swear that my 13 day old ds says 'ok' over and over when he's crying.

[JacqueslePeacock]

I was sure my baby said "hello" at about 5 weeks. Strangely, his first word WAS "hello", but not until he was about 10 months!

[MrsRV]

Love the baby calling daddy an arsehole. I tried telling a friend that my 8 month old calls the cat "GA". She said I was mad. I kind of believe her

[LeBFG]

For baby words that you very astute mums have already worked out (not hello though, sorry OP) check out. If you don't want to watch it all the first word is at 4 mins. I was totally not in tune with my DS and never noticed these words. Looking forward to spotting them next time though.

[UrbanSpaceMum]

LeBFG, very interesting. I liked that video.

GailtheGoldfish, that's so lovely. It really is wonderful to be able to understand them, so magic, so much fun.