# Please assure me that toddler-speak gets better! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468 "2005-07-27T21:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/21 "2005-07-28T17:36:27Z")
Didn’t we have another thread where some First Time Mommy was worrying because her son wasn’t eating the same amount of food every day? You know, it’s a wonder all firstborns don’t grow up to be completely neurotic…but we muddle through… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/22 "2005-07-28T18:37:30Z")
> [@Long Time First Time](#): > > A word of warning - if you persist in using the toddler versions of words after your kids have outgrown them, your offspring will think that’s the lamest, dumbest thing on the planet. My kids don’t like going to their dad’s house for a lot of reasons - his drinking, the crabby new wife, her skanky smoking and drug using daughter rank right up there. But the thing they bring up first as a reason they dislike being around him is the fact he persists on asking them if they want ska-betty for dinner. I’m twenty-two and last time there was a family gathering my mother decided to talk about some “cute” little linguistic quirk from my childhood. This time I was drunk enough to tell her what I thought about her doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/23 "2005-07-28T19:50:50Z")
Just try to nip in the bud any attempt to replace TR with F. My wife tells me her little brother did that as a toddler and she would pretend not to know him in public during his truck enthusiasm period. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/24 "2005-07-28T19:59:45Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Just try to nip in the bud any attempt to replace TR with F. My wife tells me her little brother did that as a toddler and she would pretend not to know him in public during his truck enthusiasm period. 😃 Oh no! _pause for uncontrollable laughter_ I’m so sorry. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/25 "2005-07-28T20:17:19Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > - They also frequently have hyperextended or underextended semantic fields for words they’ve recently learned; like a child who uses “duck” for any bird or “cat” for only the family cat. Interesting. One of my 2.5 year olds does this. She has a word “ahntis”. Basically it means empty or I guess to her “lacking what’s supposed to be there”. For instance if a bowl or a cup is empty, it’s “ahntis”. Also if there’s a chicken bone with no meat on it, it’s “ahntis” or if she picks up the phone and there’s just dead air (we unplug phones at hotels) it’s “ahntis”. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/26 "2005-07-28T20:25:47Z")
Our son did not speak until he was two. Before that he was a point and grunt boy. Now, he.never.shuts.up.ever.and.he’s.only.seven. I miss my little point and grunt boy. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/27 "2005-07-28T20:32:53Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > You can check with your local school system and see if there are any services similar to what we have here that will do developmental testing with your child. There is, and I actually called them, but we were playing phone tag, and in the meantime we saw the doc, who seemed (rightly) unconcerned. Since Chloe’s vocabulary did expand a lot (even if the pronunciation isn’t good) shortly thereafter, we are putting that on the back burner. And yeah, I try to be more laid back than I might naturally be as a mom. Chloe is the first child of two first children who are the children of first children. We have a very Type A tendency in our house, but I’m overcoming it. In my defense, I’m pretty sanguine in other areas. She eats only bread, crackers, pasta, cheese, and yogurt, and damn little of that, and I just roll with it. I also overcame the freak-out impulse whenever she gets a bump. Now I generally say, “Oh, you’re all right, go play.” ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/28 "2005-07-28T20:48:43Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Just try to nip in the bud any attempt to replace TR with F. My wife tells me her little brother did that as a toddler and she would pretend not to know him in public during his truck enthusiasm period. 😃 Hee hee. My nephew did this for a while. And he didn’t say the “p” in dump, either. Normally, speaking about this particular toy was verboten, but once, as a special treat for me and my husband, he was allowed to tell us about his dump truck. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/29 "2005-07-28T20:56:54Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > I also overcame the freak-out impulse whenever she gets a bump. Now I generally say, “Oh, you’re all right, go play.” This is actually very good for their development. It teaches them that sometimes things hurt but that it doesn’t mean it’s permanent. I wasn’t there, but when Ivygirl (normally a girl who screams at the slightest brush up against her) sliced her finger while cutting an orange, all she said was, “Oh,” very quietly, and then called for her brother. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/30 "2005-07-28T21:19:33Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > I also overcame the freak-out impulse whenever she gets a bump. Now I generally say, “Oh, you’re all right, go play.” What I do at my preschool (when I know it’s a minor bump) is tell them to “shake it off.” They’re supposed to shake the hurt finger, then their hand, then their arm, then they get their whole body shaking. Shake it off. By the time they get their whole body shaking, they’re laughing so much they’ve forgotten what’s supposed to hurt. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/31 "2005-07-28T21:30:36Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > **kambuckta** , I believe the Neathderthal Grunt-Speak is reserved solely for the male of the species. Teenage girls communicate through loud sighs and eye-rolling. :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@no\_screen\_name\_for\_now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/no_screen_name_for_now)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/32 "2005-07-28T22:19:28Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > Anyway, I feel like she’s teaching me her language more than vice versa. It does beat screeching and pointing, but I could use some “been there, done that” stories from parents whose kids got over this. Thanks! Take heart, I’ve raised two boys so far to the ages of 12 and 8 and they are both completely understandable by friends, relations, and even strangers. Even though, at the age of 2, the first one’s key word for “stand back, I’m about to barf” was “PRETTY!” and the second one went “Um?” every time he had to use the potty. Just avoid talking baby talk back to her and repeat what she “says” to you in grown-up language. She’ll be able to wrap her little mind around it soon 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/33 "2005-08-01T02:43:07Z")
> [@Long Time First Time](#): > > But the thing they bring up first as a reason they dislike being around him is the fact he persists on asking them if they want ska-betty for dinner. LOL! With my mom it was “noonoos and cheese sauce.” I also have a cousin who will not stop calling me Mafum Gockin, which was apparently my first attempt at Matthew McLauchlin. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/34 "2005-08-01T04:47:20Z")
My mother and aunt have not yet tired of telling stories from when my cousin Andrew and I were toddlers. We’re just 4 months apart in age, so were quite close when we were young, but we apparently had trouble with each other’s names, so “Andoo” and “Jula” tends to come up at pretty much every family gathering. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468/35 "2005-08-01T07:05:15Z")
My second brother for reasons never explained said “nung-y” for ice cream. This lasted for a few months. He’s now a 1LT in the army and one of the most articulate people I know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-assure-me-that-toddler-speak-gets-better/314468.md?page=1)