To think six month olds don't talk?

[Findingthingstough18]

I'm part of a Facebook group that relates to baby care. The other day someone 'introduced' their six month old with a list of their achievements (!), including "I have said 'Mommy' three times". Someone questioned this in the comments and was bombarded with other people insisting that their six month old says - with meaning and intention - 'Mama/Mommy/Mummy', 'Dada/Daddy', and a small selection of other words, such as 'Hi'. AIBU to think that this is a sweet but harmless delusion - their six month old is making random sounds but is not 'talking' - or is this really possible and I'm being mean? To be clear, either way I'm not going to say anything or be rude or anything, I'm just genuinely curious?

[SaulGood]

DD could say single words at 7 months. She said hi, bye, look, yes, no, up, milk and a few others. All in context.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

It's bollocks but it's harmless bollocks.

Interestingly, when babies say "mama' in English-speaking countries we think it's about us but in some other countries it's closer to "food" so they think it's that. It's just an easy noise for babies to make!

[BertrandRussell]

My dd has some very clear words understandable by people outside the family at 9 months. I have always regarded her as a freak of nature- I have never heard another child who could do that. She was talking properly at 17 months but not walking. She was very plump and we called her the “talking cottage loaf”

[Boom45]

There are noises babies make before they talk that are the sounds that make up words and it's really difficult to tell when they turn into actual words i think. And if she heard mummy then that's fine. If its not "mummy" yet it will be eventually.
My oldest was saying actual responsible words at 10 months - in answer to questions which is when i counted it from! But that was way earlier than my youngest and my eldest couldn't stand herself up from the floor until she was 3. They all work stuff out at different speeds...

[Worriedwart18]

My daughter is nearly 8 months and when she's upset she says "mumumumumummm" and I do feel it's intended to me but he's definitely not having a conversation. She too says "dadadadadad" but only if we say it she repeats it. And then of course there are little noises and words that would like "yeh" and "hi" but convinced this is a bit of a fluke. So yes I agree that 6 months is way too early. It's just this whole charade of people making out their baby is more clever than your baby.

[LuvSmallDogs]

My 13 week old makes a cooing noise that sounds like “hiya”. Either I have a baby genius on my hands, or humans are very good at joining the dots when it comes to familiar sounds/images. Hence Jesus appearing on your toast and that Queen lyric sounding like “I like marijuana” when played backwards.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

When babies babble they include almost all the phonemes for speech in most languages. So they will say, "hi" "mama" and others. They cut down based on what they hear.

And 9 and 10 months is very different to 6 months.

[ThereWillBeAdequateFood]

DD could say single words at 7 months

I’m sure you know that’s exceptionally unusual. Very unlikely ops Facebook friends all have ridiculously early talking babies.

I think you are right op, sweet but harmless delusion

[Findingthingstough18]

Hmm, interesting. A quick google suggested that 9 months is generally seen as the lower limit for first words - and there is an absolutely enormous gap between a 6 month old and a 9 month old. And this was actually a 'say hello to [X], who is 6 months today', so I suppose these 'words' were said when they were 5 months.

Eight month old DS says 'dadadadadadada' endlessly, but it is clearly sod all to do with DH so definitely not a word. I'm prepared to believe that other babies are much more advanced than him, but am v sceptical that a 5 month old says 'mommy'!

[icannotremember]

Excuse me, my children were all speaking in fluent sentences at birth, and by six months had moved on to their second languages.

Or, not. All of them started off with dadadada and mamamama sounds that we excitedly told each other meant they were talking to us. I don't think they were really but it's harmless to pretend otherwise.

[StealthPolarBear]

DD said zebra at a very young age, mil and I both heard it :) given it was out of context (there were definitely no zebra about) I suspect it was coincidence.
However I was feeding her when she was about 7 months, her big brother was in the room next door and making a lot of noise with DH. She came off, looked at me, said his name and went back to her feed. That was definitely her saying she could hear him.
Oh no..I've turned into one of those mums!

[PregnantSea]

"dada" is one of the easiest sounds to make, apart from basic vowel sounds. Babies in English speaking countries naturally start making this sound when they are practicing talking. A lot of the sounds they make are just practice noises.

At some point these become associated with meaning and to be fair it is difficult to judge when someone else's child has reached that stage.

[StealthPolarBear]

He has a long name too, he's not called Bob. She didn't say it well, but th ere was no doubt in my mind what she said and what she meant (isn't he noisy!)

[Findingthingstough18]

I’m sure you know that’s exceptionally unusual. Very unlikely ops Facebook friends all have ridiculously early talking babies.

To be fair these aren't my friends, it's a group with thousands of members so it is possible/likely that it would include a good few babies at the extreme end of early speaking - I wouldn't have questioned it if people were saying their 8/9 month olds had a word or two - but I'm sceptical about saying 'mommy' at 5 months, even at the extreme end of early speech?

[Tinty]

My Dcat says No, is that the same?

I say do you want to go out?, when it is howling with wind and rain and he distinctively says NOoooooooo.

Sadly when I say do you want some Tuna, he also says NOoooooooo.
he does want the Tuna .

So I think it is pretty much the same as babies saying Mumumumum and Dadadadadada.

You just hear what you want to hear. It does develop into Mummy and Daddy but just at a later stage.

[Socksorting]

When I showed a picture of a duck to my son at 6 months, he’d say quack quack and bob his head up and down while he did. He spoke in sentences at 12 months “papple in my Bobble, mommy.” He was out of nappies at 18 months. Then he started school and he’s been an underachiever ever since.

It means nothing at that age.

[TiredTodayZzzz]

My daughter is 22 months (sorry I know MN hate that but think I think it's appropriate for this thread ) and doesn't really say anything except hiya, tata, no and yes (although yes and no aren't always used properly). She's made mumum and dadada sounds since a baby but even now she doesn't actually direct it towards me and her dad has nothing to do with her.

I have a Facebook friend with a daughter a couple of weeks younger than mine and they post videos of her chatting away, she can point out and name animals and shapes. My daughter makes a wood when she sees a dog .

[TiredTodayZzzz]

Oh yean she quacks for ducks too although the sound is just like her woof! And she also says Dipsy when she sees the Teletubbies

[PaddyF0dder]

It’s just bullshit competitive parenting.

My advice: go big. Make outlandish claims and watch them keep up.

[TiredTodayZzzz]

*makes a woof sound

[Witchend]

I knew someone at toddler group like that.
Baby would say "babababdadadad" and she'd swear he'd said "excuse me please can I have the car next because Ted's my favourite colour" aged about 5 months.

Totally harmless if ridiculous.

[limpbizkit]

My son was saying clear single words by 8months. He was a real exception to thr rule but that's the truth.

[RChick]

My baby's mist notable achievement at 6 months was pooping up to his neck and in one sleeve.

[Findingthingstough18]

It means nothing at that age.

Yeah, to be clear - I have no concerns about (very averagely developing so far) DS, and no fear that they have super-babies and he is a dullard! Some of my friends' babies are clearly more 'advanced' than him in some ways - e.g. some of them can crawl and he's only just started really trying to; he didn't sit until 7 months but I knew babies who could do it at 5 - and I'm not bothered/concerned by that. I'm not trying to 'prove' that their babies aren't more advanced because I'm worried for the future, I was literally just idly wondering whether this was genuinely possible.

[StealthPolarBear]

"
My advice: go big. Make outlandish claims and watch them keep up."
I don't think it gets much better than zebra surelt? My child is clearly better than all of your babies