12mo lost some sounds

[User24689]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is normal and I'm worrying about nothing!

My DD went through a phase of trying out sounds/ babbling at about 8 months old. She could do dada, baba, gaga, nana and she could also do those consonants with the ee sound and her favorite sound was Neenee. Following this, she learned to say daddy. This got a positive reaction and then for a while daddy was all she said. Now, she 'talks' a lot but she only seems to have 'd' as a consonant. So she still says 'daddy' and now she does 'doddy' for dog and 'dirdy' for bird. If shes cross she will cry 'deedeedeedee'! Do you think it is a concern that she no longer seems to have the other sounds ?! Thanks!

If I remember rightly, it's quite common for kids to go through a 'one sound for everything' phase and interestingly the example I heard involved a kid calling everything 'da'.

This was my reply to a very similar query a few weeks ago (for which I was strongly criticised for being 'patronising'.):

Oh Dear! Oh Dear! You poor worried Mums.

Thirty-five years ago, when our DS was at the 'babbling' stage, we relied on Penelope Leach's "Your Baby and Child" to answer any queries regarding his progress, and he turned out fine.

Children go through 'stages', and frequently one 'stage' will be eclipsed when a new one is learnt that seems more 'entertaining' and satisfying to the child; and that also elicits more interest and approval from adults. In a few months he will start to talk with real words; then whole phrases, and sentences. Then he will ABANDON 'babbling' for ever, when he realises the power of communication in words!

I do hope you don't worry and fret when that time comes.