First words - when, and what counts as a word?!

[mistressploppy]

DS is 13mo and I tell people he doesn't have any words yet - because although he says 'dada' and 'mama' and 'no!' they are sort of interchangeable and mean lots of things! (he consistently says 'sssss' for sock though )

So, how old were your DC when they said their first words? Or, if you have a 13mo, how many words has he/she got? And what do you count as a word?

My dd's first word was 'gone', and it was said in context, i.e. my mum dropped something on the floor, and dd said 'gone'. She said it at nine months. She is now 3.7yo and hasn't drawn breath since

Ds is 11mo, and babbles all the time, mamamamamama, dadadadada, bababababa, etc. However, I don't think he has actually said his first word yet, as he hasn't said any discernible words in context.

Ds is nearly 13 months and has a few words. Dog which sounds remarkably like duck, ba for bottle, dodo etc. He will randomly repeat words more clearly as a one off like juice, banana etc but only has a few which he uses consistently. They aren't perfectly pronounced or anything.

Dd could probably say more at this point, ds1 didn't talk for ages.

DD was 6 and a bit months and used mumma and dada very clearly and to the correct people, and continued to do so. Think her next work was tacta - tractor - he was abit obsessed as there was one parked in the neighbours garden all the time. She did speak very early though IME - apparently both myself and my little sister were the same, as was - according to my nana - my mum. My brother didn't though.

DD is almost 13 months and I don't really feel like she has said her first word yet. She often says dadada when she sees DP but she shouts dadada and bababa etc a lot when he isn't there too. She says mamama quite often too but not to me. She understands a lot of what we say now but she doesn't seem to be interested in trying to speak herself. She's quite happy to just point or gesture. I was a little worried as hearing problems run in DP's family but she looks up when we speak to her and follows instructions (e.g. she toddles to the bathroom when I say it's time to play in the bath) so her hearing is probably fine. She has just started walking and just wants to walk/climb/run around the house all day so I think trying to speak has gone on the backburner for now .

13 months is v young really, a lot of babies start talking later than that? so sounds he is doing fine..
my ds 11 months has said a couple of things, just 'hello' 'yesss' and 'dada' but doesnt say them all the time, mostly just babbling kind of thing. i think ds1 was around the same age as i remember he had a few words by age 1 but again he hardly used them it was mainly babble then around 13 or 14 months he started going round saying "oh dear" all the time lol, for some reason it really became his favourite and over used word
with dada and mama it is hard to know when its their 1st word cos at first they just say the sound then i would only count it once they understand the context and say it appropriately but i think some people just hear the sound and count it as the word.

Thanks all - I won't book the remedial lessons quite yet then

8 mo (DD) and the word was 'cat'. She's now 22mo and starting to use sentences 'put it in the box', etc

DS said "look" at 13mo. It was his only word for ages and I wasn't sure, because XP's mum kept going on and on about how XP didn't speak until he was 4 so I wasn't expecting anything until 2 or so.

It was really obvious because he would always point at things while saying it, and it was really clear.

It took him 2-3 months to come out with anything else though. Now he's 2 and talks ALL the time!

Girls tend to talk earlier than boys too. So if you have friends with DDs don't be alarmed if they are much further ahead than your DS!

would second bertiebotts -

my 13 month old has about 20, a week ago I would have said 10 - he's suddenly catching onto this talking lark.

he has older siblings which I think makes a difference - younger children often do things earlier than oldest or only children IME.

Ah, yes, he has been concentrating on perfecting his walking for the last few weeks....good point, Rugby, he sounds a lot like your DD

I think it's interesting how it interacts with their other skills, like being mobile so they can get things for themselves, or pointing.
My ds2 has only just learnt to point, at 13 months, which I think is pretty late.

Rugby - if your dc is saying 'dadada' when he isn't there she might be saying 'I wonder where daddy is!' or 'I like my daddy!' or 'hey, did you know I've got a daddy!'

And 'mamamama' to other people might mean 'Look, a mummy, I've got one of those!'

DD's first word was 'Bubble' She said it at about 14 mo (although she was born 3 months early, so she was 11 months corrected).

She had no other words for ages, although now is beginning to take off at 19 months.

Out of interest, whenever she sees a rabbit she bounces up and down - it's her method of indicating 'rabbit'. Does that count as a word, even though she doesn't say it? Also, in the same vein, she signs, but doesn't say 'Please', 'more' and 'spider'. Do these also count as words?

I think focusing on other things (like motor skills) might have something to do with it. DD is 11 months. She says "na night" while resting her head on the pillow, "bye" and waves when someone leaves the room. She calls her dolly by her own name..Says "hello" to the remote thinking it's a telephone :o but I think thats about it. She's been saying these since about 9 months and not much at all for the last month and a half but i think all her concentration was on walking without falling..Now she's mastered it she's beggining to talk again.
For what it's worth i don't remember ds (5) being as quick to talk. But by 2 he wouldn't shut up. :o

My DS is 17 mths and still tends to just point and/or scream whenecer he wants something or if he sees something he recognises (i.e Rihannas music video "Only Girl" as he loves it haha)

It's pretty frustrating as I try my best to get him to at least say "yes" if he wants something (I'd even be happy with a nod of the head) For example, if he points and screams for his drink I say "Do you want your drink......yes??" After about 5 minutes of reapeatedly asking him to say "drink" or answer "yes" to my question he understandably gets very aggitated and ends up in tears so I just give him his drink as it's cruel otherwise isn't it?

We also have a book called "Words" which has a picture with the word underneath of things like cat, dog, ball, bath, duck e.t.c. We read this about ten times a day but when I ask him to read/say it he goes into his own little language which sounds alot like Bill and Ben the flowerpot men (flobbydobbydobdob)

He does have the odd few sounds which I recognise as certain words but all sound as though he is saying the same word but just in a different way. For example, he says "daaaa" if he sees an animal on the t.v or in the street. He also says "didiii" for dirty and says almost the smae thing for ball (as he think he is trying to say "kick it")

He has never said "mama" and only says "dada" now and again but very rarely in context.

Is all this normal....sorry if I have gone on a bit :)

I wouldn't sweat it rjeffrey - it sounds like he is:

1. within the normal range of what they do at this age
2. communicating effectively in his own way
3. vocalising and hence practising sounds, with all that flobbadob stuff (how cute is that?!)

I definitely wouldn't try and force it so you both get stressed - sounds like you are doing exactly the right things by talking to him and reading with him.

and yes, just give him the drink

Thanks for that sethstark, it has put my mind at ease slightly and in future I will just give him the drink :)

Mine said 'ohoh' in context at 11MO and had good understanding from quite a young age but was never that interested in babbling weirdly. She took off from about 18MO and a few sentences by about 20MO. By 2.5 she was saying a LOT and talking in really long sentences. She's just turned 3 and I'd say she's still not quite as 'chatty' as some kids her age but her understanding is really good and she's pretty bright (knows lots of colours including turqoise randomly lol, good at counting and recognises lots of numbers and letters and understands how to read and can read some simple songs) She's also very good physically and can ride her bike no stabilisers. I still feel like something is slightly lacking in her talking but I think it'll click at some point. Lots of people stress about their kid's speech but for the majority you wouldn't be able to pick out the one who didn't say a word until they were 3 vs the one who was reciting Shakesphere at 9 months. I wouldn't stress too much and I'd take the WHOLE child into account. In the next few weeks I wouldn't be too worried about words as such but look out for signs that she has the 'precursors' to speech eg; understanding and following some simple instructions, babbling, copying gestures such as waving/clapping. I think if by 18MO there's no pointing to request and share interest, she's not finding some sort of way to communicate to you what she wants or if you're not convinced she understands much then bring it up with your HV. Chances are this will all come in this time though. I'd just enjoy your baby and don't worry too much xx

*can read some simple words

** What I meant was by school age it's not that obvious who's kid talked early. It isn't necessarily a reflection on their language ability

Sorry typing quickly before cracking on with house cleaning lol x