To want my child to learn the proper words for things?

[AmIThough]

A friend offered to buy DC a top that says "ask me to see my moo cow" then if you lift the top there's a picture of a cartoon cow.

Crappy tat anyway but that's not the point.

I said no thanks, as I want DC to learn the proper words for things - I don't see why you would teach a child to call a cow a ' moo cow' or a frog a 'ribbit' (which is another example I've heard) rather than a cow or a frog.

I got told I'm a 'boring fart'.
What do you think? Am I being overly precious?

[PurpleDaisies]

Yes. You are a boring fart.

[Apolloanddaphne]

It makes no difference in the longer term whether you use babyish words or not. If you want to use the proper words for things then that is fine. If others use baby words just let it go. Your DC won't suffer educationally because of this.

[goingdownsouth]

I think you are correct.

They may not be able to pronounce the words properly yet but what's the point in learning the wrong thing first?

[BykerBykerOoh]

Yanbu to teach your child the proper name for things. But unless your child can read, the top isn’t going to teach him anything. And sorry but you do sound a bit of a buzzkill.

[SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad]

No YANBU. I hate the 'baby-talk' idea,.and always used the 'proper' words for animals etc with my DC - & now with my DGC.
Why teach a small child a word for something - and then tell them that it's actually called something completely different...??

[BiggerBoat1]

You sound like a twat.

Sorry!

[TeenTimesTwo]

You sound like I feel when, at the zoo, people are looking at lemurs and calling them monkeys to their children.

Moo cows is OK as it gives their sound and their name, I would object to 'moo moos'

[Butchyrestingface]

I got told I'm a 'boring fart'.

The correct terminology, if you please, is tedious flatus.

[nokidshere]

Baby talk has been proven to be beneficial to children. Using pet names for things does not impair their ability to speak, or to learn correct words later.

Chill. Say what you want and leave others to say what they want. It's very unlikely that your child will be saying mooo cow or ribbit or any other such derivative past the age of 5. Language is fun, embrace it.

[Shoxfordian]

I'm sure they're not going to say moo cow until they're 18

Yabu

[bakingdiva]

Not only are you are ‘boring fart’ you might also be inhibiting your children’s language development. Some of the latest research has shown that ‘baby talk’, like moo moo helps infants to process and develop language better.

[Rubbinghimsweetly2]

Oh god you're one of those parents.

I agree, you sound like a twat.

[BettysLeftTentacle]

Isn’t there some hard evidence that ‘baby talk’ actually helps children with their language skills as language is a fluid thing.

I’m off to have a google but I’m pretty sure I’m not wrong...

[PuzzledObserver]

I think that putting your children in clothes which prompt strangers to ask them to lift their clothing is a bit weird.

I remember being at a friend’s house when another friend was also visiting, with her child of 3 or 4. Friend was changing baby’s nappy, while the child watched with interest, and then piped up: “O look, he hasn’t got any talcum powder on his scrotum.”

Maybe that child’s parents were going too far the other way?

[Frazzlerock]

I agree. Ex-H used to call a bottle a 'bot bot'. I couldn't stand it!

[dollydaydream114]

Yeah, you're a boring fart.

Kids who learn daft baby words for things still learn the proper words for them as well. It's all part of the richness of language and it's good for them to know that things can have more than one name and that you might use one name for something at home and another name for it when you're in lessons at school.

[BettysLeftTentacle]

Ah cross post with several. I knew I wasn’t making it up

But @Butchyrestingface you win today. Tedious flatus is the best thing I’ve heart all week.

[Kitsandkids]

‘Baby’ talk is actually proven to help with language development. In particular, lengthening words such as doggy/horsey means that the child is quicker at being able to say the ‘true’ final sound of the word. So if they were learning horse they might say ‘hor’ but by learning horsey they’re more likely to say the s sound. I think the problem comes when people then don’t drop the baby talk once their child can actually talk. Although ‘ask me to see my moo cow’ just seems a really random thing to put on a top!

[AmIThough]

Fair comments - thanks all.

I will also Google the idea that 'baby words' can actually benefit development.

@Butchyrestingface I'd have accepted it if I was called tedious flatus - I love that 🤣🤣🤣

[Frazzlerock]

Oh and he used to say 'ta' for thank you. Made me wince!

[Iggly]

If your dcs learn to read from a t shirt, then yanbu

However I assume you’ll be talking to them and pointing stuff out using the “correct terminology”, so they’ll be fine.

[bridgetreilly]

I think that putting your children in clothes which prompt strangers to ask them to lift their clothing is a bit weird.

This. Much more problematic than 'moo cow'.

[Star801]

YANBU! Someone in my family also says “bot bot” for bottle

[MindyStClaire]

Oh and he used to say 'ta' for thank you. Made me wince!

Perfectly normal dialect/colloquialism in some parts of the UK.

[whothedaddy]

I remember taking DD to a messy play class. She wasn't quite 2, but has always been very tall so people think she is older.
She was playing in a sand pit with another child a similar age.

DD picked up a plastic toy to pass to the other child, the mother said to DD 'oh have you got a bunny'. DD looked her square in the eye and with a dead pan face said 'it's a rabbit'
The mother then snatched her daughter away, scowled at me and told me that my child was rude and too old for the class anyway.

1. my child wasn't wrong.
   
2. she wasn't too old for the pre-school class
   
3. the only person rude at any point was her
   
   It still makes me giggle to this day.