to be slightly jealous that DS MIGHT have said DaDa as his first word?

[thumbwitch]

He has been mumbling away for a few weeks now (he's 7 1/2mo) and almost said mama a couple of times but tonight he (almost certainly) said Dada, we think - and I am a bit peed off and .

I spend 90-95% of DS's waking time looking after him and although he loves that, and me, he is always overjoyed to see his daddy, which is lovely but also slightly off-peeing.

• I'm probably just being a mean cow but it would have been nice if he had said mama first...

[WendyWeber]

The word for father in most languages - dada, papa, abba - is made up of the noises all babies make before the word mama (harder noises come before softer noises)

I think it's pure psychology, to make fathers think "aw, he said my name" and stick around

[MmeLindt]

Both my DCs said Papa long before Mama. The p and d sounds are easier for babies than m.

Did not stop me sitting with PFB DD saying, "mmmmmaaaammmmmma, mmmmmmmmmaaaaaaammmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaa, mmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmma, come on, say mmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaa"

[thumbwitch]

lol MmeLindt - me too!

[Flibbertyjibbet]

If he can say dada he will know how to shout it in the night when he wants you.

I love it when I hear them crying 'daddy, daddy' in the night. I roll back over and say 'oh but they want YOU'

(Can't do that tonight though cos its my day off tomorrow, it only works when we are both working the next day)

[MsDemeanor]

You daft bint 'duh' is a much easier consonant to say than 'muh' so babies babble 'duh' well before they babble 'muh'. They aren't actually saying anything! This is why mothers all over the world, desperate to make men stick around named fathers with words beginning with 'duh' so they could say "Oh look! He's saying 'daddy'" (subtext: 'stop worrying, he's definitely yours, please go and kill some bison for our tea')

[Tinker]

It was one of my eldest's first "word" and she'd never even met him.

[margoandjerry]

My DD does not have a daddy - has never met such a person, does not hear the word, does not know what it means. Her first repeated sound was dada and she said it over and over for months. It's just their easiest sound to say and men, the poor deluded fools, think the babies are talking about them

[thumbwitch]

thank you kind ladies - feeling a little better; won't stop be doing the "say mama" thing though!!

[lilolilmanchester]

I think this is normal, annoyingly. I remember being upset about the same thing too but I talked to DS incessantly, which I am sure most Mums do, and often about Daddy. "Bye Bye Daddy"; "that was Daddy on the phone"; "let's make Daddy's tea;
"Daddy's shaved and not rinsed the bloody sink again". So as well as the sounds being easier I bet your DS has heard "Daddy" more often than "Mummy"? Believe you me, as soon as they learn to shout Mummy, you'll be wishing they'd never learnt it! Meantime, enjoy it when he's calling out for Daddy on a morning and you can roll over and go back to sleep!

[SummatAnNowt]

YABU

Why does it matter?!? It's not a competition!

[lilolilmanchester]

Come on Summat, thumbwitch spends most of DS's waking time with him, tending to his every need, and then he says "dada" first? It upset me too when it happened.

[thumbwitch]

Thanks lilolil

[ThatBigGermanPrison]

You probably 'refer' to daddy more often than you refer to mummy (yourself) plus it's easier to say/

And I'm with |WendyWeber.

[SummatAnNowt]

No, I still don't get why it matters. I spent most of my waking time with my ds and he said daddy for months before mummy, all it meant was that he can say the word daddy before the word mummy. He wasn't an adult, he wasn't ignoring me by not saying mummy first, I didn't need my hard work in looking after him validating by him.

[becklespeckle]

Your DS will not be as excited to see you as he is to see his Daddy because in his little world he still thinks that you are part of him. Daddy is someone separate who appears occasionally to entertain him!

[sandcastles]

He is actually not saying dada as in Dad, tbh.

Dada is the easiest first 'word' for babies as it requires little work from the lips, tongue, etc!

[eidsvold]

those d b sounds are the first ones babies learn as they are easy sounds to make.

I will try and find you the link - states the order in which children generally learn their sounds. The harder consonants are easier for them to make.

As someone else said - they are not actually saying dada - meaning daddy but rather playing with sounds to see how it feels intheir mouths - like when they blow raspberries - working their lips etc.

[BouncingTurtle]

I read somewhere that 40% or babies say dada as their first word, 30% say mama. I presume the other 30% say something like dog or baba or antidisestablishmentarianism.

I think it is because mum is generally the primary caregiver and they probably say "daddy" more than "mummy" - i.e. "Daddy's gone to work now" "say bye to Daddy" "Daddy's home now" etc.

YANBU though, I'd feel the same way if ds's first word was dada!

[AbbeyA]

It doesn't mean anything. You are parents together-it is not a competition!

[iBundle]

you probably talk about dada more than say your own name

tis good too when he wakes in night and says dada....

[mm22bys]

D is easier to say than M.

My DS is 20 months, and he says mmmm. No Ds, and def no Dada.

Would be delighted if he did.

I am presuming this is your first child?

[2point4kids]

Dont nearly all babies say Dada as their first word? Its just a sound to them at that point really, and the first one they are able to say clearly.

[Nighbynight]

you sound like my mother. I think she resented that my first word wasn't "Mama"

why on earth should it be?

[Bumdiddley]

DDs first word was 'no'.

[TheFallenMadonna]

LOL.

DD's was 'no' as well.

Her second was 'no way'!

She was a late talker and had worked out exactly what she wanted to say