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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

What was your/your LO's first word?

205 replies

mamaGool · 27/08/2011 14:36

DS says mama, dada & nana, but doesn't know what they mean yet, so I'm counting that as babbling. Apparently mine was "readitbook" (a request said as one word).

So, I'm being nosey - What was your first word?
What did your baby/ies say first & how old were they?

OP posts:
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Crazybusyme · 04/09/2011 21:05

dc1-bus
dc2-happy
dc3-bucket
dc4-bucket

have a feeling it wasn't actually bucket

rowingboat · 04/09/2011 21:35

My DS said Du-CK at about 12 months then nothing for years, then far too much.

BaronessBomburst · 04/09/2011 21:43

DS said "tree" at about 9 months, followed by "bird" a week later, and would point at said bird or tree so there was no doubt that what was he meant. Then there was nothing for a few months, until a few weeks ago when it exploded. He's got over 60 English words, and a dozen Dutch ones. No sentences yet though. Doesn't shut up babbling though. :)

WhenAllElseFails · 04/09/2011 21:51

ds said dada at 9 months then mama 2 days later then it was geeeeezah (geezer) at 10 months (my friend thought it would be hilarious to teach ds this word.)

dd said no at 11 months and then nothing until about 13 months when it was dada.

thebody · 04/09/2011 22:06

dc1.. 'all gone' at 10 months

dc2.'.wich(rich)' thats dc1s name. at 2.5, seriously never spoke to us before then, used to whisper in big bros ear and he would tell us what dc2 wanted... still a quiet lad now at 20..!!!

dc3. 'scratch you'.. that was what we called the cat as that was what he did to the children.

dd4, 'shoes'!!!

god our kids are so screwed.

JollySergeantJackrum · 04/09/2011 22:07

My first word was "tata" with accompanying wave. My mum tells me I was less than 7 months.

DS is 4 months and I'm looking forward to trying to decipher what he's trying to tell me. My money's on his first word being "daddy", but i'm surprised at the range on here!

EdwardorEricCantDecide · 04/09/2011 22:58

Terrible but I know he said dadadad before mumumum both at 9 & 10 months I do have a sticker at 11 months in his book saying first word but I didn't write what it was.

This was less than 2 yrs ago and he is my supposed PFB

[terrible mum smiley]

SeniorWrangler · 04/09/2011 23:07

DC4 - Bugger (aka bottle. I think).

SeniorWrangler · 04/09/2011 23:08

DH didn't speak until 3 and then announced, "My tea's late". Apparently his mum looked around the kitchen in bafflement to see who had spoken LOL Grin

hormonalmum · 04/09/2011 23:09

All three of mine said tractor as first words. Quickly followed by no.

flickor · 04/09/2011 23:19

Just started to make noises which might be words or wishful thinking at nine and half months - sort mamama for me dadad for DP but att att noise for favourite person in house - cat.

Athrawes · 04/09/2011 23:45

Gruyere at 3 months

At least that's what it sounded like.

working9while5 · 04/09/2011 23:50

Loudlass, that's interesting. I think probably so! I find it hard to define exactly when my son spoke words because I was very cautious about defining any sound as a word, but I am fairly sure he is pretty average Grin. It does sound as though your son is advanced.

Truly early language development is very interesting and there isn't enough research on it, for perhaps obvious reasons: it is difficult to identify and recruit participants. However, I will say, 9/10 times I do think that in those early stages (6-10 months), tuneful babbling in context is interpreted as "words" even when it's not, strictly speaking. This is as it should be. It is our role as parents to interpret sounds in context and attribute meaning to them, shaping those sounds into true words. When you look at the lists kept by linguists, there is remarkable overlap between the types of words appearing in early vocabularies across time. They rarely contain words that refer to anything beyond the here and now.. but arguably, this, again, is because of the strictures of the criteria. I could have sworn my son said "Jesus!" in a sweary way at about 9 months, but I am confident, as a speech and language therapist that as he never really repeated it after one week of frequent use, he was experimenting with intonation in context.

milliemae · 05/09/2011 00:19

DS2 aged 10 mths, after watching Aristocats for umpteenth time with older siblings:

"Wannabe a tat!"

milliemae · 05/09/2011 00:21

PS DS2 probably spoke well before then, just did not notice in the general Mae house chaos!!

lifeisa4letterword · 05/09/2011 00:26

DD1's 1st word, at 10 months was "Thit!". I don't think she meant "Sit!".

Needless to say, I've been totally paranoid about what I say in front of DCs ever since. (DD1 is now a solicitor...)

CardyMow · 05/09/2011 00:47

mik mik for milk came about as a result of the Cravendale advert. It was on when DS3 wanted a feed, and all the older dc were saying 'milk milk' like the advert, we found it amusing, so it kind of stuck and we said it at every feed...

ojjjj ojjj is for his orange blankie, and woe betide me if I give him one in a different colour. He will sit there and say ojjj ojjj ojjj until I get the orange one, then he hugs it, smiles, and says ojjjj ahhh.

I think he got the 'j' sound early as DD's name starts with a 'J'. And he loves DD to bits, she's like his second mummy!

Bubbles came about because my 2 dc with SN play with bubbles A LOT. One day when they were playing, he was sitting up and 'popping' them by clapping his hands on them. Next day, he could see the bottle, was waving his hands in that direction, but we couldn't work out what he wanted. He kept going bubbbbsubbbubbbbsubb. Then, clear as day, he shouted 'bubb-ows'. As soon as DD got the bubbles and started blowing them for him, he clapped his hands, smiled and stopped saying bubbles, and concentrated on popping them. He's said it almost every day since then.

I hope I don't sound boastful - I have had to contend with 2 dc that had speech and language delay too, DS2 didn't say anything until 3.5yo, only had 2 words on his 4th birthday. Though he's making up for it, this last year since he turned 7yo. My ears hurt...

Every child is different - I think early speech is 'normalised' in my family though, my 20yo Dbro (has Aspergers) first spoke - to me, not my mother - when he was 10mo. We were in a curtain shop, I was looking aftre the buggy while my mum was in an aisle the buggy wouldn't fit in, and Dbro couldn't see her. He looked at me, and clear as day, said "Where's my Mummy gone, I want my Mummy".

DS1 was very similar to the way DS3 is, by the time he was 2yo, he was able to hold a perfectly crystal clear conversation with anyone.

CardyMow · 05/09/2011 00:49

Arf, lifeis. DD went through a stage where she pronounced chocolate as cock-lick (probably just outed myself to my long-term friends there!), and Bugger instead of burger.

Oh - I forgot one of DS3's current words - burrrr for bird. Said whilst pointing at a seagull. And a pigeon. And a duck. And a penguin...

mogs0 · 05/09/2011 00:51

Ds' first word was 'Asda' at 10 months. I think it was because I spent far too much time there in his first year because I had no friends Blush Grin.

damsonjammy · 05/09/2011 02:58

all 3 of them......daddeeeeee at 7 months

how fair is that?
foster babies though lets see who i can remember
1: ugger (bugger) courtesy of his mum 8 months
2:eeyee (lily my daughter) 10 months
3:momar(grandma) 6 months...super quick baby at everything was walking at 7 months which just looked wrong!

bebejones · 05/09/2011 07:07

DD - Dada, followed by Daddy about a week later (so I know it wasn't just babbling) she was about 8ish months old I think. This was followed by Peppa Hmm & Maana (Banana) and I didn't get 'Mummy' from her until she was about 10/11months old.

My first word was Dog apparently. Not sure how old I was.

hayleysd · 05/09/2011 07:10

Ds1 tractor (we lived on a farm) at about 11 months

Ds2 ball around the same age

Wormshuffler · 05/09/2011 07:53

DD1 Was gone (it was while watching the end credits to the tellytubbies when the sun goes down)
DS1 was DD's name.

HerdOfTinyElephants · 05/09/2011 08:09

DS "duck" (small yellow rubber duck)

DD1 "pees" ('please' -- used in the sense of I WANT THAT GIVE IT TO ME NOW!, but "pees" sounded as though she was mega-polite).

Both just over 12 months.

CamperFan · 05/09/2011 08:10

some amazing first words on here, so funny to read! Ds1's, after mama and dada, was "bubble". I had some bubbles by the bed for morning entertainment (his, not ours!) and as he cruised around the bed, he said bubble so clearly. He was around 12 months. I'll always remember it.

Ds2 is 10 months, so am wondering what his will be.