Mommy. Daddy. Ball. Bye. These are babies' most common first words in American English according to Wordbank, an open database of children's vocabulary development managed by Stanford University researchers. But some babies prove to be natural-born comedians the moment they utter their first word. Here, we report on some of your babies' funniest first words as well as expert-sourced advice for building your little one's communication skills.
Top 20 Funny First Words
"My oldest's was 'poop' at 7 months." — Amy Miner Staley"'Mo mo'…that was his version of Elmo!" — Shelley Bassik Rothstein"'Booby.' My child was always hungry." — Jennifer Hepinstall-Batson"'Oscar,' which is the dog's name." — Grace Christenson"It was actually 'fire truck' which sounded like "firef**k.' We made her start saying 'fire car' just until she could say truck but to this day everyone in the family still calls it a 'fire car.'" — Stacy Standifer Gray"'Gobble gobble'—it was around Thanksgiving!" — Lisa Rotili"Believe it or not, she said 'all clean' when she 2 1/2 months old and she would say it after every diaper change and bath but she would never say it when I tried to show someone so nobody believes me." — Melissa Spencer"From the beginning, we would sign and say 'all gone' when done eating. One day after dinner, 'all gone' just came out!" — Tracy Fay Creamer"Son No. 3 signed his first word since he is deaf. He signed 'more' when we were out to eat with some friends. It was so precious and special!" — Nicki Mays McElreath"Balloon" — Juanita Perez"'Fongool.' I guess I said it way too much because I didn't want to say the other F-word in front of her and she picked that up instead." — Tara Taute Chiu"Ribbitt." — Christy Ames"'Sit.' That's my story and I'm sticking to it." — Lynn Krug Taylor"'Arf, Arf!' He always talked to our dogs outside his bedroom window when he was supposed to be taking a nap." — Jackie Colwell"'Awuy.' That was her saying 'I love you.' I said it to her morning, day, and night while she was awake and sleeping." — Jessica Rodriguez"'Shoes'—no joke. She is 2 now and that's still all she wants to play with! I may be in trouble during the teenage years! She would rather go to a shoe store than a toy store!" — Emily Smith"'S**t.' Seriously, my last kid didn't say one word until she was about 16 months old. She made sounds but never an actual word. One day at Walmart, I dropped my purse and everything fell out and into a puddle. I muttered s**t to myself, but she said it just as loud and proud as she could. Then she continued to say it, to everyone for several weeks." — Stacy Minichello"I eat!" — Briana Jenkins"SpongeBob." — Rubi Rodriguez-Orona Pumpob"Tickle, tickle." — Kelly RoosA Month-By-Month Guide to Your Baby's First Words
When To Expect Your Baby's First Words
Just as babies typically crawl before they walk, they tend to babble before they talk. Most babies start babbling between 4 and 6 months. These adorable utterances probably won't make much sense but may imitate the rhythms of speech. By 7 or 8 months, most babies are enthusiastically babbling, especially when they have an audience of a loved one, like a parent or sibling. From there, your baby will start to show off their new language skills in earnest. By 10 months, babies will mostly echo sounds and parts of words they hear most in their environment.
You may have heard that by their first birthday, your baby should be saying their first words. That's not necessarily true: Infants come to language at their own pace within the latter half of their first year and the start of their second year. However, according to the Nemours Foundation, most kids say one to two words by 15 months and three or more words by 18 months. If you have any concerns about your child's speech development, be sure to talk to their pediatrician.
All About Child Speech and Language Milestones
How To Encourage Your Baby's First Words
You are your baby's best role model. There are plenty of ways to help them develop their communication skills. The Zero to Three foundation has these tips for coaxing the inner chatterbox out of your 12- to 15-month-old.
Talk about the familiar things you use together every day, like “cup,” “milk,” or “blanket,” and give your child time to name them, too. Ask your child questions about the pictures in books and give them time to name the things they see.Encourage your child with a smile or clap when they name the things that they see.Talk about what the child wants to talk about, and give them plenty of time to talk about it.Ask about things you do each day: “It's time to get dressed. Do you want the blue shirt or the green shirt?”Build on what your child says. If they say “ball,” for example, you can say, “Yes, that's your big, red ball.”Introduce pretend play with your child's favorite doll or toy animal. Include the toy in your conversations and your play: “Your giraffe wants to read with us. Can they look at the pictures, too?” 7 Ways to Help Your Child's Language Development
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