HELP! How long before she says "MAMA" ?!

[EJsMum]

DD is 9months + 2 weeks. She's been happily shouting "DADA" for over 2 months and is babbling along nicely but she is showing no signs of saying "Mama".

How long did you wait before hearing "mama" after your child said "dada" ? Should I be concerned ???

[windmill]

Mine didn't say it until 12 months, said dada all the time though

[windmill]

Forgot to say mine also said dada at just under 7 months

[cazzybabs]

DD is 12 months and doesn't really say anything except baba and she has just started to say mmmmm but no dada (maybe because he is never around!)

[EJsMum]

Is it so much to ask ?

Thanks guys, feeling more reassured.

[SamboM]

My dd has just started saying Mama but only really occasionally. She is 8.5 months

Started saying DADA at 5.5 months and shouts it all the time!

[iota]

ds1's first word was CAT - so much for parental appreciation in our house

[Zoe]

My mum says they say dada first because they are feeling thier teeth.

I like that reasoning and told it my dh all the time when he was smug

[JanZ]

Ds's first word was also CAT - very clearly enunciated - at about 12 months. We have two Siamese, so we suppose that's where it came from - as he was always very excited to see them (they, on the other hand, were NOT! )

He then started to say "Daddy" - but meant either of us. He was about 1 1/2 before he consistently said Mummy (maybe even later).

Interestingly, after about 2 months, he "lost" Cat and started to say "TAK" instead. Even now, at over 2 and 1/2, he still usually says Tak, and only occasionally says Cat.

He is generally slow to talk - but then, I was 3 before I talked, apparently. (....made up for lost time though!)

[dot1]

Hey EJs Mum - our ds is nearly 18 months old, has 2 Mummies and still doesn't say it!!!

His first word came three weeks ago, and is "fish". He still doesn't say anything else, although babbles a lot.

Very frustrating indeed..!

[janh]

They make hard sounds - d, b, p - before they make soft sounds like m.

Is it just a coincidence that the word for father all over the world seems to be either dada, abba or papa? Or is this tactful mums from the beginning of time saying "he means you, dear!"?

[Jimjams]

DS2 is 16 months and has been saying Mama for a while. He says Dada to mean lots of things (including daddy) but also things like his browther's name and car. Dada is certainly the word he finds easiest to say.

DS1 was 4 last week and he still can't say mummy or mama- he calls me "nanig"- so hopefully you won't be waiting as long as me. (he can say dady- in fact it's the only word he can say that is consistently recognisable- so it must be easy to say).

[GillW]

Like everyone else we got "dadadadad" long before "mumumum" - but if it givers you hope EJsMum, we did get "mumeee" before "dadeee".

My ds's first word was "hungry" (or more like "nnngree", but he did seem to use it in context) - so there's not much hope for us is there? Now his favourite word is, rather approporiately "more" - can you guess from that what his name is!?

[EJsMum]

With "Cat" and "Fish" on the table I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that at least one of us is getting a mention !

[Tissy]

Yep, cat was dd's first word too,at about 9 months; she said daddy soon after that and now at 16 months can say baby,teddy, ball, Kyle, Darcy (friends), nana etc, etc- no sign of Mummy yet! When I show her a picture of me, and ask who it is, she looks blank, but can identify many of her cousins that she last saw at Easter!!

[slug]

The sluglet was 18 months old with a comprehensive vocabulary of such useful words as teddy, Daddy, doggie, Cheese, Brie, bath and THAT! before she consistently managed mummy. Depressing isn't it, to be less important than a variety of cheese.

[whellid]

SO it's not just ds then! He's 16 months and doesn't say many words but cat (first word and we don't even have one!), dog, gone and again are all there, with no sign of mummy! He can say dada but doesn't use it much for which I'm grateful!

[judetheobscure]

My first three children all said "dada" or "daddy" long before "mama" or "mummy". So I vowed with number 4 to rectify it. All day long I whispered sweet "mamas" in his ear. Whenever anyone else said "dada" or "daddy" I added "mama". I was terrible. But it worked ... he said "mama" about 2 weeks before he said "dad". Was it worth it????!! Well it was fun at the time.

[robinw]

message withdrawn

[Mocha]

EJsmumm, when was dd born. MY DD is also 9 months & 2 weeks old. She clearly says mum, but she did say babababa first. She now says gagaga and dadadada, She also says mummy when I am not paying any attention to her (i.e. eating dinner etc.)
I wouldn't worry, she will say mama when she is ready.

[EJsMum]

LMAO @ Slug !!!!

We get all kinds of other words and utterings from her but she is just not ready to acknowledge me yet . I'm back at work p/t tomorrow so hopefully she won't forget who I am completely !

Has anyone else found it a nightmare locating good, local childminders ? I'm in Worcester and it's been a real headache.

[snickers]

I think the dada noise, definately doesn't mean daddy straight away. It's one of the most usual forst sounds that a baby makes. It's when the words become clear labels for things that they become proper words IMO. Then it makes sense that daddy or teddy and such become easy first words, as they've been practising it so long!

10m DD makes the "mumumumumumum" noise when she's feeling miserable. Hmmm. She says "dadadaddy" alot, but I know it also means "baby" and might possibly mean "daddy" sometimes! But I am sure it's just her favourite noise! She says "tar" when I say "star" but not sure she actually labels a star shape as "star" but likes the fact that it makes me so pleased when she says it

She's making some very odd sounds at the moment too... clacking noises, lerlerler, dng dng dng. Gawd only knows what they mean!

Maybe they don't need to say "mama" for a while, cause you are always there, and don't need to be shouted for

[Lennie]

DS has been saying mum mum mum mum since he was about 6 months, but it's not referring to me. He says it when he's upset and sometimes he just says 'mum' but I think he's babbling rather than talking to me.
Dada came a few weeks later, but again, he doesn't relate it to DH at 9.5months. It's just one of his 'words'.

[vkr]

Take heart, dada is much nicer than monkey's first clear word - Ug. DS is almost 10mo and this is his only proper word - it does count because the dictionary says "see ugly" - what is my child trying to say to me ?

[Furball]

Ds is 21 months and calls me Ma! - Lets hope he doesn't turn out like Nick Cotton.

[Hughsie]

ds1 is 2yrs 2 months and still says dadeeeee all the time _ i'm Mar occasionally but dont usually get much to be honest ds2 was born in Feb and he gets his name already! I'm way down the list!!