To think that toddlers should say thank-you...

[Neighboursfan]

...And not 'ta'? I think the reasoning that it's easier to say is silly. My ds is 16 months and can say 'Thank-you' - comes out as dang-do but I'd rather that than 'ta'.

Also, menat to add, I am not concerned whether other people's children say Ta or Thank you or Thanks or Cheers...it is the thought that counts not the word!

Doesn't bother me what other people do. I never bother with baby talk for my son, though. Its always been 'thankyou'.

YABU!!

As another poster has said, i also taught DS to say "ta" and then he progressed onto thank you when he was ready!

ANyway just cos one 16 month old can say, doesn't mean they all can. My 4 year old can't and I'd ahte to think someone who didnt know him was judging him if they saw him not say thanks in the street.

I'm still trying to teach my 18 year old DD to say thank you .

For some reason using 'ta' with children really annoys me, partly, I think, because adults will hold out their hands for something and say 'ta, ta'. So the kid will end up thinking it means 'please give that to me' rather than 'thank you'. Also, because it's not a word I use as an adult, I don't use it with my dd. I don't see any point in teaching her a word she won't use later anyway. But, if other people want to use it, that's their business and don't really bother me. I just choose not to use it with my dd.

Once when my dad gave a pressie to my toddler ds1, I jumped in with a 'Say thank you ds1' and my dad pointed out (very nicely and constructively) that it kind of detracted from the pleasure of giving: he wanted ds1 to feel joy in the event, not have it hijacked as a learning-etiquette opportunity. I've been a bit more careful since.

My old charge was 2.5 when I left and still couldn't say thank you properly. His speech is a little delayed but is coming on fast. When I started there when he was 19 months, he would make a sound that followed the syllable structure of thank you, and the intonation of it, so it would come out 'uh oooh', but when I left he was saying more like 'an ooooh'. He was very clever in most ways and we always taught him proper words rather than baby words. But then again, surely ta is preferential to nothing?

Oh yes, don't get me wrong it's preferential to nothing, but I think we should make more of an effort to teach thank-you early on. Having said that I never taught ds Thank-you - he just picked it up. However I did teach him 'boobies' so maybe I am being hypocritical on this thread...

PMSL.

Yes, that's really how children pick up language. And my belief has always been that if a very young child forgets to say thank you, you just ask them to say thank you and if they won't then say it for them. They soon pick it up, then.

My 16 month old cannot say thank you. My 4 year old couldn't until he was nearly 3.

Plus, I get annoyed when other people try to enforce a ban on other's harmless practices, purely in the name of propriety, so I'll leave it there.

Gosh just remembered he also says burp and fart so I think I should retract my original post.

NF try to teach him 'Poo', it is easy to say and more useful than you may think when potty training.

BOOBIES? I have taught my children to say 'Mammaries' properly from the word go

neighbours fan, you are being completely unreasonable. My DD is 2.2, she neither says thank-you or ta!!! She has speech delay although is improving now. If she finds ta easier than thankyou as she does not have many two word phrases then i would prefer she says ta. Although im not one for forcing speech on a child so insisting she say ta, or thankyou on receipt of anything is putting her under pressure to talk so i wont be doing that thankyou very much. I find it upsetting to think that mothers with nothing better to do than compare my daughters speech now think i am not "teaching" her properly as she certainly will not be saying thankyou any time soon.

to be honest i think you need to get over yourself.

Yes he says poo... probably should have taught him faeces. I think on reflection it's the adults saying 'say TA TA TA' that really annoys me.

I started getting mine to say thankyou as soon as they could speak! It started as just "ta" then progressed to "thankyou". Please is the one that bothers me too, from other children(not my own). "I want a drink" grr, really rude imo "I would like a drink please".
It doesnt cost anything to have good manners and it doesnt cost anything to teach them good manners either - so no excuse imo. If they can speak clearly and ask for things they want i expect to be asked nicely. If mine dont ask nicely, they dont get!

Calm calm LEM, I know how it is but honestly people notice your child's speech MUCH less that you would think. I have been in your shoes. A lot of peole I meet didn't realise ds1 has a speech delay - and yet it is a significant delay! Pure, IME, because they aren't really listening the way they (and everyone else) listen to their own child.

my 16month old can't really say anything except NOOOOO
so I'd be delighted if she said ta!

lucyellensmum

I think the op is referring to an average toddler, i dont think she would be indicating a small child with known speech problems should be speaking better

My DC said ta for a few weeks and then said thank you after that. It is just a stage which they moved through at their own pace. Nothing wrong with it my opinion.

I would rather a child said ta than not say anything at all and anyway, plenty of adults say it.

Um LEM I don't think that's very fair - of course if a child has speech difficulties then every step they make to communicate is fantastic - that wasn't my point!

Ta is ok, a stepping stone to good manners, thankyou can follow on later when speech is more developed.

And I'm not boasting about my child's development - god he only started walking last week.

I hate 'cheers' as a thank you personally and wouldn't want ds to say it - it's a bit blokey