Do I correct him

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

Dh and I are telling ds the proper names for things and real words, it's not a huge deal but I really don't like it when people say pussy-cat and doggy instead of cat and dog, to me it's more work?

He's only just turned 1 so is still learning to speak.

He can't quite get his mouth round the g in dog so is currently saying dod. I know this is more pronunciation rather than incorrect word choice and it's utterly adorable, but part of me wants to say dog everytime to teach him to say it properly. While a bigger part is looking at him all gooey and thinking he is just too cute!!! Would it be wrong of me to let him keep saying dod against my better judgement?

I correct my 2yo’s pronunciation because he does need to learn the correct words. You may not teach words like froggy and doggy but I guarantee your DC will pick them up anyway from friends and kids tv.

Every time he says ”dod” say ”that's right, there's a dog over there” or words to that effect so he hears the right word. He will grow out of it in time.

My daughter couldn't say ”hippo” so it came out like ”bubbo” she got there in the end.

It is cute.

Don’t correct him, just model the correct pronunciation as pp says.

As regards using “proper” words, the way adults spontaneously talk to small children, parentese or motherese as it’s sometimes called, has been shown to have many benefits to the development of infants.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3800080/

exactly as PP have said. You correct without pointing out the mistake. Done discourage motherese. I’m yet to meet a grown up who doesn’t realise they are called dogs and not doggies.

Don’t not done

Would it be wrong of me to let him keep saying dod against my better judgement?

Well given that he can't physically yet say anything other than 'dod' then yes of course you have to let him keep saying it.

And 'doggy', 'horsey' etc are beneficial to language development! As a pp said how many adults do you know that haven't realised that 'horsey' and 'horse' are the same animal?

Kids are not expected to pronounce things 'properly' until they're 4/5. So get used to 'incorrectly' pronounced words, it's all part of language development. Just model it back, and once he can make the sounds, he'll start to proncounce properly. But whatever you do, DO NOT say, 'no, it's not a dod, it's dog'. He simply cannot say dog yet. Just say yes, it's a dog, so he knows you've understood him.

Would it be wrong of me to let him keep saying dod against my better judgement?

How would you stop him? He just can’t do it yet. You just need to reflect back the correct form of “dog” in your sentences and he’ll start copying when he can. This is an entirely normal stage of speech development.

OK, so I probably worded it wrong, it isn't about stopping him, it was more a question of do I let him get on with it or do I say dog to him when he says dod, obviously I wouldn't just say dog back at him everytime he does, I would be agreeing as saying yes that's a dog as @EatsShootsAndRuns suggested.

It's more of letting it become a family "thing" and dod becomes the acceptable word and others say it instead.

Also I understand that "parentese/motherese are a part of learning how to speak, which is why I wouldn't stop another person saying doggy/horsey etc to him. But just because it's beneficial, doesn't stop it being an annoyance to me...

My eldest used to ask for didit nuke (biscuit and milk). Sometimes we'd say didn't nuke and sometimes we'd say biscuit and milk.

The mispronunciation gradually got less and by the time he was around 4 it wasn't used any more.

I think it will only stick if you, as adults, only ever use the mispronunciation. If you use the correct words more then they eventually grow out of it

In language development, there is an evidenced benefit of saying "doggy", "birdy", "horsey", etc. We see quicker mastery of the last sound in each of these words (so g, d and s in these cases) when they're followed by the "ee" sound. That is, if you want your child to say "dog", rather than "dod", the best way to do this is to model "doggy". Look up some of the literature on this if you are interested.

[quote Mamette]Don’t correct him, just model the correct pronunciation as pp says.

As regards using “proper” words, the way adults spontaneously talk to small children, parentese or motherese as it’s sometimes called, has been shown to have many benefits to the development of infants.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3800080/[/quote]
I've always resisted "baby talk" surely it teaches babies to talk like "babies"

I always talk to children (of whatever age) as an equal. Phrase and descriptions altered to fit the vocabulary and explanations given if required.

Having once been a child I never appreciated being patronised!

But just because it's beneficial, doesn't stop it being an annoyance to me...

Pretty much everything about parenting is annoying to parents but beneficial to kids! Wait till you've spent four hours one afternoon pretending to drink tea from a filthy plastic cup....

Get used to it!

My kids have always been great talkers at a young age. I would always mirror what they have said to me back in the correct way... But somethings like you say are just too cute so the family would catch on and copy their word like gogurt for yoghurt and bapple for apple. 12 years later we are still using these words from time to time just for fun. It never stopped the kids from learning the correct way of saying it.
I wouldn't get too hung up on it. Just do what comes naturally to you.

@titchy nailed it - if you think that's annoying just you wait

I've always resisted "baby talk" surely it teaches babies to talk like "babies"

I take it you didn’t read the link or any of the other readily available data on this topic?

No idea about language development but I say doggy-dog, kitty-cat-cat your highness and heffalump and i'm middle-aged.

My DD used to cal breakfast....frekpast....it stuck for a while as a family word but she’s nearly 16 and now we just bring it up to embarrass her

Wasn't it Princess Ann who called Elisabeth Lillybert?

@Mamette

I've always resisted "baby talk" surely it teaches babies to talk like "babies"

I take it you didn’t read the link or any of the other readily available data on this topic?

I did read a lot of it.

And although IDS would "seem" to be beneficial and is commonplace I still don't like it or subscribe to that view.

I did also say that I adjust my vocabulary and tone.

Of course we can't hold a theoretical discussion on the rights and wrongs of pre-mixed concrete vs sand and cement but I can engage with them without reverting to "nonsense talk"

My dc spoke quite clearly from the start and didn't have much baby talk stage. But he used to say 7 "bbbbbbbbbb", and 8 " dayzzzzzzzzzzz" while saying other numbers correctly.
I don't know where he got that from, but it was so funny and I loved it. It's on video and still makes me laugh. But he stopped doing it without us knowing when, somewhere along the way.

They’re learning how to form sounds with their mouth, tongue and teeth which is the main thing. That’s the skill that is developing, the vocabulary comes later. He’s only 1! Are you falling into the trap of competitive parenting and worrying unnecessarily about milestones? I mean that kindly, as someone who was paranoid about walking and potty training.

@Rainbowshine not at all, I'm not one for milestones, they happen when they happen. Plus I've got noone to compete with haha.

In all honesty @titchy it takes a lot to annoy me, and for some reason I find it irritating, it's irrational because it's only words. But there you have it, everyone has something.

I think from everyone's comments, it's just something I'm going to have to accept as language that will be unavoidably used and clean my ears out with bleach before bed every night to forget I heard it (joking)

Also, some of these stories of mispronounced words are so cute!!!!

Thanks to DD, a disaster is referred to in our family as a "diraster". Even on family group chats. DD is 20 ; old habits die hard!