Made-up language

[MandyD]

My son who's 3 and 2 months has been using "made-up" words for the past couple of months. To be expected in someone his age I suppose, but the thing that puzzles me is that the words usually precede or accompany some violent play or destructiveness. The ones to beware of are "closher", "pojjer", "throke" - do you know the sort of thing?! Do you think he's copying some violent child at playgroup (he's attended since he was 2½ or do you think this is his own vocabulary, used to work out emotions/feelings he hasn't got the proper words for?

We will be seeing the child psychologist again soon for a follow-up (he's seen her for eating problems and self-harming tantrums in the past) and I shall mention it, but I'd appreciate any ideas/experiences you all may have.

We have "purler", DS aged 3y+4m swear word, he uses it every time something goes wrong.

We have 'Lob-Blob', which prefaces many things and is, apparently, hilarious. Dd will sit on the sofa roaring with laughter and saying 'Lob-Blob Mummy, Lob-Blob sweeties, lob-blob trees' and on and on and on...

Yes Mandyd, you are not alone, dd is currently sat at my side bashing a plastic woman's head onto a tractor saying 'dee, doi, dee, doi' - words that she usually never says! She also occasionally says 'a-ling-a-ling-a' as if she were saying a sentence but replacing all the words for that. I think its perfectly normal... I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I would be tempted not to mention it to psychologist, purely because I think, however well-meaning, some things can be brought to a child's conciousness that may never have been a problem in the first place had it not had attention drawn to it(I only say this because of what happened to me as a child, if you trust the psychologist and he/she has helped your ds in the past then you probably feel differently.) Really though I don't think there is anything wrong with it, in his own head he'll have a reason for doing it, just not one he can express to you...

My son is 2 and is still using some made up words. He does this so well, with such wonderful intonation, that at least 3 of my friends have thought that he was speaking Welsh :-)

I am a non Welsh speaking Welsh woman, and this amused me very much.

MandyD, I think it is quite common for children to do this once they feel confident with language - sort of like riffing or improvising on a theme they already know. Ds sings Dod the Duilder with a huge grin on his face, substituting d for b all the way through the first verse, even though he knows the proper words. And he does use short bursts of gibberish when he is play-acting chasing someone or being cross with them.
I hope your son's follow-up goes well - do mention it to the psychologist, but I hope that what it means for him is that he is feeling easier now about expressing anger.

Mandy, maybe he's just experimenting with words and sounds at the moment...the English language is so complex and does have some absurd rules. It's normal for young children to make up words, and the words you mention sound quite descriptive to me - seems your ds has an excellent imagination! The violent play and destructiveness could be a case of imitation, but more likely just his way of expressing how he feels; sounds as though he has had difficulty handling anger in the past. I'm sure you already ask him to use words about how he is feeling; how about reading magazines and books with people with different facial expressions/gestures and ask how he thinks they are feeling too? Reading others emotions is also a challenge for some children and it is very important. Do please let us know what the psych says about it...

P.S. Can't resist adding this made-up word of my ds (3yrs 2m) - he called the pantry the pant-room! Makes a kind of sense, since we have a bathroom and a bedroom I guess!