I know I'm being U to be gutted she didn't say mama?

[Whyohwhy65]

DH has three dcs from before our relationship, we have 1 dd together. She is 8mo. DH works long hours so she spends the majority of her time with me. I feel selfish and horrible but I'm angry she hasn't said mama first. She is constantly shouting dada. She can also say hiya and wave. I'm gutted. We won't be having any more children.
What did your dcs say first?

She doesn't know dada means daddy - she doesn't even know there are different words for you and your dh!

When she cries, who does she want - you or the boobless parent?

My son's first word was 'that'. He didn't have a clue what it meant.

Both our kids said 'Kitty' first!

Oh sorry, LDR made exactly my point.

11 year old said No or Nah which are still her favourite words.
8 year old said dada and then later Boobie which was me and still sometimes is me.
4 year old said Doggy and daddy first then Mummy which actually meant the other dog rather than me.
3 year old who actually said Mama first is currently shouting 'MUM MUM MUMMA MUMMY MUM MUMMY MUMMY MUMMA!!!' and the enjoyment of me being her first word definately didnt last long.

The only reason the word dada means dad is because it's a sound that comes easily to babbling babies and so has been appropriated by proud dads. Presumably the 'pa' sound also comes easily too and that's why so many countries call dads 'papa' or some variant thereof.

My DS has never heard the word "Dada" (he doesn't have one, so no one has said it around him).

He said "dada" a couple of weeks after saying mama.

I often wonder if fathers are Dad/dada/daddy (and their antecedents in earlier languages which often seem to contain similar sounds) because it’s such a common early burble and at some point men big-headedly claimed it as theirs. ‘She must be talking to me, the little love!’

My eldest and youngest said dada first. The middle one said bubu (an attempt at booby) first. WE thought it was hilarious until his language became clearer and he;d shout out booby booby in public places. For the third child we just taught her to say milk.

X-post with Loonoon. I got stuck down a Low Saxon rabbithole....

The only reason the word dada means dad is because it's a sound that comes easily to babbling babies and so has been appropriated by proud dads.

This is definitely true. I remember worrying with our PFB that he wasn't talking at some stupidly early age because lots of our friends claimed their babies said all kinds of words. The Dr just laughed and said that lots of parents write down every sound their baby babbles that sounds remotely like anything and claim it as a new word.

My 19 mo still has never said mummy or any variation of it he says daddy a hundred times a day

Nana. My DM never tired of telling everyone that 😆

Ds first word was 'more'
In context too after eating a banana

My little boy babbled "dada " before "mama" but he started to use the word "mummy" with meaning much earlier than he did so with the word "daddy".

It is completely normal and not worth getting sad about

I had about a year of ds calling me "dadda" loud and clear - lots of amusement when collecting him at nursery... (I am definitely female)

DS said Car first. Then Dada. In fact he had a whole host of words down before he finally said Mam but now whenever I hear Mammy I love it! It's still special even if it wasn't first

Mine is clearly going to say every single word in the universe before he says mum. He adores me though. Youre over thinking this, it means nothing.

It's probably not even a word, just more babbling. I could swear down my 6 month old has said mama, I've even got it on video. But I know it's not her talking, it's just her babbling and coincidently putting these sounds together.

It’s the first sound they make. And it’s not ‘dada’ it’s more like ‘dadadadad’

It is an easier babbling sound to produce, but also if you spend most time with DC you won't refer to yourself in the third person, however you may well refer to 'daddy' frequently when you chat to baby so they hear it more too

It’s the first sound they make. And it’s not ‘dada’ it’s more like ‘dadadadad’

It is! And it is just experimenting with a range of sounds at first, rather than saying a specific word with a specific meaning. And "dada" is easier to say than "mama". Apparently children are born with a full range of sounds....which they later lose (hence why an English person can never pronounce, say, "Rioja" like a Spaniard can. Or why a French person can't say "There is a theatre over there" like an English person can. And so on and so forth.). Enjoy your DD and don't read something into it which isn't there!

I've heard 'dada' is easier to say as a first word too.

My DS said 'hiii-yaaa!' (like a karate chop) first. Then he started saying 'Daaa-Da!' Then he went through a phase of saying 'Mu..mummm..maa..mum'

Now it's back to 'Da..Da..Daaa!' Even if I ask him to say 'mum' or 'mummy' he won't, even though I know he can say it.

Although I'm impressed he can say friends in sign language courtesy of Mr Tumble

If you think about it though, babies (and I'm generalising here) don't actually need to be able to say mama as they are rarely separated from their mums when they are at that babbling, learning to talk stage.

She is also learning another language so it could be a long time before I get mum I'm English

In English*