Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

If you child is not yet talking, but does say some words, do you understand everything they say?

A few people have tole me that a mother always understands what their child is saying.

Steven will have a whole conversation with me and I understand MAYBE one word out of it. Then people ask me "what did he just say?" and I'm like, "your guess is as good as mine."

Now, I'm not going to be so presumptuous to say that I'm receiving the "Mom of the Year" award but I can't be THAT bad of a mother either? Can I?

Do you understand everything your child says?

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Nope...no clue. I dont understand baby talk. Just the small bits like "Maaaaaaaaaa"...LOL

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

My babies are 2 and a half - while I can understand most of what DD is saying - DS can go on and on and I haven't a clue sometimes what he is saying!

How old is your son?

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

You're not a bad mother, it's hard to understand kids. I have always been able to understand my daughter 95% of the time, sometimes when she was learning to talk I would be like, hugh and get frustrated when others did get what she was saying becasue I understood it clearer than they did. I think it's just different with each parent/child. I can understand other friends kids better than they can at times and other times I can't understand them at all. Don't beat yourself up. You'll start understanding more and your child will speak more clearer soon too.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I say she's bilingual. She speaks English...a little Greek and fluent Chinese...because that's what it sounds like. She has full conversations in Chinese too.

I understand most of the English she says but when she starts going on and on in Chinese I just say "oh wow that's great" She is saying SOMETHING...but I just have no idea WHAT!

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I talk Toddler!!!!!! Maybe it's from being around so many kids..I usually can decipher what it is that they are trying say...

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

DS recently started daycare and picked up sign language in a month. I undstand his words but sometimes when he signs I have no clue what he is saying!!! I need to learn it myself.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Grace NEVER shuts up- well, I am her mother-

But I understand maybe only a couple of words- outside, cookie, ba-ba, baby, Kai(my brother's dog), dada, mommy, etc are sprinkled in with what I am sure she considers conversation, but I have no clue

ETA: He is only a couple of months older than Grace- they aren't really full-on talking yet so of course you wouldn't understand him

Message edited 5/7/2008 3:53:13 PM.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I understand the 20 or so actual words he says.
Everything else is a babble that seems to make sense to him.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

It's not just you. My 3yo daughter told me the other day that my almost 2yo son speaks Spanish b/c she doesn't understand what he's saying.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I understand DD more than anyone else does, like she will say something and people look at me and I'll say " she is saying...all done or c'mon" etc. - whatever it may be. But there are many times when I have no idea what she is saying.

I guess what I mean is I understand her actual "words" even if other people don't understand them but I don't understand the baby jibberish.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

Sylvia: I do the same thing! I make things up and people are like, really? And I'm like, yes, how could you not understand that?

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Posted by CathyB

It's not just you. My 3yo daughter told me the other day that my almost 2yo son speaks Spanish b/c she doesn't understand what he's saying.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

DD speaks freakishly clear for a 17 months old. I can understand about 95% of what she says, sometimes I have to guess what she's saying, if it's not a word she usually uses and if I guess wrong she says, "nooooo" and if I guess right she says, "yesh".

She said her first word (other than mama and dada) when she was 6 months old, but then again, I never stop talking, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Posted by CkGm

Grace NEVER shuts up- well, I am her mother-

But I understand maybe only a couple of words- outside, cookie, ba-ba, baby, Kai(my brother's dog), dada, mommy, etc are sprinkled in with what I am sure she considers conversation, but I have no clue

ETA: He is only a couple of months older than Grace- they aren't really full-on talking yet so of course you wouldn't understand him

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Sometimes (OK, a lot of the time... ), 5yo DS just starts talking very fast about something, and I have no idea what he is talking about, even if I understand each individual word... I just "yes" him when he asks me a question...

He's also made up his own language. Literally, he's told me that he speaks "Boo-boo language (nothing to do with bruises)", and he'll tell me some of the translations....

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Kaitee never stops 'talking'. She gets so serious and I feel like I should understand..but I don't

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

Jacob is only saying single words at this point and I dont always understand them. It takes a while to understand what he is asking for.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

No way! When she first started talking I had no clue! Thank god she was still signing at the same time!

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

When they are talking to communicate to me, I understand them. When they are "speaking" to each other or walking around the house babbling I have no clue what they are saying!

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

with my first I understood more than most people - but definitely not everything

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

In the beginning....not so much. Now at 19 months, she speaks so clearly and so well that it's no problem. She often speaks in 3 & 4 word sentences & has no problems even saying 3 syllable words within the sentence.

Believe me, you will start to understand everything before you know it. Then you'll wish the talking would stop.

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

nope! one or 2 words unles they point at what they want...

Re: Do you understand your child - For moms of younger toddlers

I don't always understand the words but he has a way of getting his point across