Help with babytalk

[Funguinha]

I am a Spanish mum and I am a teacher of English in Spain. I feel really confident speaking English in most situations, but now, I'd love to speak English to my PFB and feel lost for words in some situations because I'd never talked to a baby before.
I'd like to know, for example, what to tell her if she hurts herself, but any affective expressions that you use with your babies will be most welcome.
Thanks a lot for your help.

When DS hurts himself it tends to be an "oh dear, should we rub/kiss it better?" in most cases and then he gets up to run off again!

Thanks a lot, Sirzy! I kind of imagined it would be something like that. It's just that in Spanish we have a cute little song and I wondered if it was the same in English .
Any other endearing expressions?
Thanks again!!

If pfb falls down then 'up's a daisy' - no idea what it means, it is sometimes followed by 'down a buttercup'.

Names for animals usually have words that are easier for a child to pronounce

dog - doggy
cat - pussy (but as you probably know that has another meaning)
cow - moo cow
sheep - bah lamb

my dad uses the word 'popogee' when talking to children about horses, but I think he made it up, most people would use gee gee, or just horse / pony

Also use things like mama, dada,

Do you have the magic blanket in Spain? If a child comes home from school ill, or is just ill - not severe, just a cold or an upset tummy then they lie on the sofa with the magic blanket over them to help them feel better.

Then there are fairies - a tooth fairy, a dummy fairy. One of my friends has a 'good behaviour' fairy, if her dc has been good then when she goes to bed the fairy has turned the fairy lights on.

Havve fun teaching baba (baby word for baby) English.

Wow!!! Thank you ever soooo much sashh. You've been extremely kind [smiley]
As you can imagine, the animals I already knew, including the other meaning of pussy
I'll definitely put everything into practice!!
And no, we don't have the magic blanket in Spain, but it looks really useful.
I don't want to be a pain, but any other suggestion will be highly appreciated!!!

I look after babies if they hurt themselves which they quite often do we say

• 'oopsy daisy'
• 'up you pop'
• 'oh dear'
• 'your alright' (in a long drawn out way)

I call them

• 'my kiddlywinks'
• 'my baby'
• 'cheeky so and so'
• 'cheeky monkey'
• 'little rotter'

I tell them
-'don't try and be cute with me'

• 'ahhh your so cute' followed by lots of kisses, and cuddles

I talk to them usually quite normal, but for describing things i usually say the item then a description e.g

• 'a clock, tick tock tick tock'
• 'telephone ring ring (put on voice) "hello, it's for you" then pass it to the baby'
• 'biscuit, biccy or bic bic'
• 'eat up, nom nom nom'

When playing

• in a bouncer 'bounce bounce bounce'
• with instrument 'bang bang bang'
• with a teddy/doll 'ahhhh give cuddles/lovin'

Is that the kind of stuff you want?

That's exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks, thanks, thanks cookielove.
You know, this type of vocab and expressions are very difficult to come by if you don't have a baby nearby (with English speaking parents, of course).
You can't imagine how thankful I am, because the only way to learn this is by asking other mums/dads.
I'm going to copy all the expressions and save them so I don't forget any.
BTW, what would you say to a baby that's getting annoyed and, for example, starts moaning or dribbling like a sprinkler?
Thanks again

I call dribblers
-dribble monster
-dribble guts
-dribbler

I call moaners

• whinge bob squarepants (which is in reference to a cartoon)
• i miminc the noise they make (they either giggle or get louder)
• calm it, kermit

hth

thanks a lot!! And if you feel sorry for them when they are getting annoyed, what would you say?
BTW if I can be of any help for anything, please let me know and I'll feel happy to oblige

• turn that frown upside down
• cheer up bucko

Often just talk to them lots, engage with them and distract them with something else!!

I'm stealing all of this advice as well! Am in the same position (except in Dutch). It's sounds so stupid, but having not had DCs in the UK, sometimes I can't find the right words in English - my own language!

When I was hurt my Mum used to sing (with actions!)

Pick yourself up
Dust yourself off
And start all over again!

My husband is the opposite to you funguinha he teaches Spanish here. He is going to try and teach our LO Spanish and I was wondering if you would share the little song you use when they hurt themselves. Also are there any other phrases you would recommend using?

Sorry for taking so long to answer, I had some problems with the Internet connection.
Thanks again for telling me these expressions. I'll sure use them.
Although I perfectly understand them, I would have never come up with them

Hello! What you say is
Sana, sana culito de rana. Si no sana hoy sanará mañana.
You say it while you rub the place they have hurt themselves.
Any other thing please ask!!

I had forgotten to include some expressions, sorry!!
You usually call your baby:
Mi vida
Mi sol
Mi pequeñita/ mi pequeñito
Mi bebé
Mi cosita linda
Mi corazón
And I like to call my DD ratôn or ratonciña (this -iña ending only in Galicia, it would be -ita in the rest of Spain)

When you want to pick them up, you say
Aúúúúpaaaaa!!
Or
Úpalas!!

Something you say to tell them that you love them is:
Quién te quiere a tiiiiiii? Really emphasising the last "i"

When they are so tired that it's really difficult to comfort them you usually say
Esta niña / este niño está pasada/o de vueltas - something like over revved

A cute little song they love is, with you sitting down and the baby on your knees you imitate the different paces of a horse from the slowest to the quickest:
Baby's name fue a París
En un burrito gris.
Fue al paso, fue al paso (you move your knees alternatively up and down)
Fue al trote, fue al trote (you move them a little bit faster)
A galope, a galope, a galope (and faster)
And they usually laugh incontrollably.

Another very popular one is:
Pinocho fue a pescar
Al río Guadalquivir
Se le cayó la caña
Y pescó con la nariz
I include a link to a video in YouTube so that you can hear the tune. It's a budgie, I think, singing, but it does it very well

If you need any other expression, please ask!
And if you can provide some more for me, please do!!!

When DS falls over I usually say "Oh Bump" or "Uh Oh"

I call him:
Darling
Monster
Baby
Mister Man
Honey
Pudding
Snuggler
Wriggler
Bean

Actually, it's amazing he knows his name at all!

If DS is grumping or isn't happy about something silly I'lll say
"Stop grumping"
"Behave yourself"
"Stop Being Silly"

"Baby's in a ragey, put him in a cagey, lock him up and throw away the key" which is a bit cruel but amusing nonetheless.

Here is a website with children's songs and rhymes, in English.

Some of the old ones are the best:

Goosey goosey gander
Whither do you wander
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I found an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers
So I took him by the left leg
And flung him down the stairs

Taffy was a Welshman
Taffy was a thief
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef.
I went to Taffy's house
Taffy wasn't in
Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin.
I went to Taffy's house
Taffy wasn't home
Taffy came to my house and stole a marrowbone.
I went to Taffy's house
Taffy was in bed
So I picked up that marrowbone and flung it at his head!

Wind the bobbin up
Wind the bobbin up
Pull, pull, clap clap clap
Wind it back again
Wind it back again
pull, pull, clap clap clap
Point to the ceiling
Point to the floor
Point to the window
Point to the door
Clap your hands together, 1, 2, 3
Place your hands upon your knees

The following is done pointing to the body parts:
Eye, Nose, Cheeky Cheeky Chin
Cheeky Cheeky Chin Nose Eye
Eye Nose Cheeky cheeky chin
Cheeky cheeky chin nose eye
(It sounds like "I knows cheeky cheeky chin, cheeky cheeky chin knows eye")

This was really interesting! We have an English version of the 'galloping song' called This is the way the ladies ride:

This is the way the ladies ride
Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop
This is the way the ladies ride:
Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop

This is the way the gentlemen ride:
Gallop-a-trot,
Gallop-a-trot!
This is the way the gentlemen ride:
Gallop-a-gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the farmers ride:
Hobbledy-hoy,
Hobbledy-hoy!
This is the way the farmers ride:
Hobbledy hobbledy-hoy!
And down into a Ditch!

www.rhymes.org.uk/a102-this-is-the-way-the-ladies-ride.htm

The 'down into a ditch' bit, you kind of make the child 'fall' by holding onto them and letting them hang down a bit between the knees. We loved this as children.

Hi Noren,
It' funny how there are many similar things in different languages that we are unaware of.
Although I'm a really bad singer, my DD seems to like me doing it; so I'll try
Thanks for sharing!

Wow!! Thanks a lot Jollywasteofmoney. I'm afraid I'll have to do a serious bit of studying before I'm able to sing those songs to my DD.

Babies always seem to love the sound of their mother's voice, singing :D If there is a Baby Rhymetime or Storytime near where you are, you will learn lots of rhymes first hand. They're often at Children's Centres or Libraries. I like them because you're singing along with other people, so you don't feel self-conscious about your voice.

I try and pick a few stock phrases to use all the time, in the hope that they pick it up. For instance, when I pass stuff to DD (7mo) I say "Ta" (Thanks) and she has started saying it now, when she takes something off me.

When she has finished her food or milk I say "All gone"
When I offer her more of anything "would you like some more? More"
Always say "Bye Bye" to everyone when we leave, including the cats, just for practice and "Hiya" for Hello.

If I want to give her a kiss, I always say "Kiss for Mama" / "Kiss for Daddy" etc and do a kiss noise.

Also use Oops a daisy when she falls from sitting or if she drops something.

A song she likes is if you sit with her on your kneww, facing you and hold her hands, both of you rock back and forth singing

"Row row row your boat gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile don't forget to scream
Aaaaaaaarrrrgghhhhh"

Sit her on your knee

Great ideas Gnocchi . I like "All done!"

Nothing every sounds as snappy to me in English as it does it in Dutch, which is all one syllable words op/kom/hap. It makes me think that DS will pick up Dutch earlier because it's "easier" in that way.

Thanks for all the spanish advice and the English too! I'm a bit rusty on my nursery rhymes but I believe our library does rhymetime there so ill have to pay them a visit. I haven't really got any thing to share at the moment as my LO is only 3 weeks old so I'm still getting use to it all :)

Actually Engel I'd say it depends very much on your child. When he's speaking, Ds 15mo seems to manage better with two syllable words sometimes.

E.g
Peg = Gih
Bike = kih
Bubble = guggle
Birdie = giggin
Pen = pih
Nappy = nappee
Car = ca
Digger = gigger

So he might surprise you :)