What Are Babies’ Most Common First Words?
Starting to talk is one of the great milestones in babies’ development. It is a moment long awaited by mothers and fathers. In fact, most fondly remember their children’s first words.
Generally, between 11 and 18 months of age, or even earlier, babies speak a word for the first time. But just as it is said that each child is different from the other and acquires speech according to their own pace of learning and growth, it is also known that not all babies start by saying the same word, although there are some that are generally more common. .
Along the following lines, let’s find out what words babies commonly enter the world of verbal communication with.
What are babies’ most common first words?
The first words that children pronounce are directly related to their own experiences in the immediate environment, especially within the family nucleus.
The words that adults repeat most often, and more specifically those that are spoken by parents or primary caregivers, are often the first to appear in babies’ vocabulary.
In general, all mothers and fathers communicate similarly with their children during the first few months of life. So there are some words that babies tend to choose as their starting vocabulary. Below, we will present a list of the most common ones.
First words related to family members
The first word of many children is “mommy”, “dad”, “auntie”, “grandma”. In addition to being simple and easy words to pronounce, as they are formed by the repetition of two equal syllables, they are also terms used to designate the closest members of the family, with whom babies usually interact.
affirmations or denials
“Yes” and “no” are two of the words most heard by babies from the moment they are born. So, either through gestures or speech, the children quickly learn to express affirmations or denials, and this, for many, the way to debut their repertoire of words.
First words related to food
One of the basic needs of any human being is food. Therefore, it is not surprising that some babies choose to say the name of a food or something related to the time of eating as their first word. For example: “water”, “breast”, “bread”, etc.
Likewise, it is also common for children to say some kind of useful expression to receive food, such as “give”, “want”, “more” , etc.
Compliments
Greetings are a sign of politeness and courtesy. It is a social norm handed down from generation to generation. So many babies who have gotten into the habit of greeting say “hi” or “bye” as their first word.
onomatopoeic words
In some cases, a child’s first word is not a word that appears in the dictionary, but an onomatopoeic word used to name something, for example, saying “wow-wow” to refer to a dog or ” meow ” ” to allude to a cat.
Stimulate the development of babies’ first words
The family is the natural context in which children grow up and develop all their abilities. Therefore, it should be as enriching and stimulating as possible.
In the case of learning to speak, to encourage the pronunciation of the first words of babies, it is important that mothers and fathers establish constant verbal communication with the child, from the first months of life. This communication should be characterized by being clear, very expressive and maintaining a high level of eye contact.
So, after many days of conversations in which the little one doesn’t say anything, one fine day, when you least expect it, you will hear your child say the first word. An unforgettable moment worth remembering for a lifetime!
