calling dad- ma, ma. 18 month old confusing words

[curious&eager]

My DS has been slow verbally and ahead of the game physically.  I haven't been concerned b/c I've feel that he's just too busy to realize that he can learn to communicate verbally.

But, while he finally learned to call me mama at 14 months and dad, papa.  Now he's confusing them.  He calls me ma,ma and also dad.  He loves his dad and chases after him while saying, ma,ma,ma,ma...  It's a bit funny to me, but not as funny to my husband.  We're both trying to teach DS that dad is pa,pa or da,da.  But DS does not get it.

He's always been slow to learn with words.  Every sign I would teach him it would take him a month to learn.

Now he's also confusing my signs for more and done.  When he was a baby, he told us well when he wanted more and when he was done.  But, now when he wants more, he says and signs more.  But, he also signs more when he's done and he doesn't sign done anymore.

But, anything new I show him physcially, if he's seen it once, he can do it and he doesn't forget.  He understands his world and he is very bright, energetic, loves to go places and see new things.  He thinks every kid is his friend and the whole world for that matter.

It's just like it hasn't dawned on him that he can communicate with his world.  He doesn't give me hints when he's hungry, thristy, or needs a new diaper.  If I suggest food to him, then he'll tell me he's interested, or if he sees food.  I just see that other kids his age can answer questions yes or no and communicate what they want.  He just this month learned how to shake his head no, so we're heading there, maybe just slower.

But, I am sad that I cannot seem to teach him to call my husband dada instead of mama.  He used to call him dada before he called me mama.  Any thoughts.

[Oka-san]

Hmmm, not sure if it's the same thing, but my DS at 16 months used "mama" to mean me and also to mean that he wanted something -- I think it was just a natural extension of wanting mama to help when he needed things, and so he would say "mama, mama, mama" to me, to his sister, to his dada, to his grandma, etc. whenever there was something he wanted, especially since he didn't really have words for the things he wanted. It took us a few days to realize what he was doing, but we did figure it out. Maybe that's what your DS is doing? I also think it's natural for them to gain and "lose" words (or signs) at this young age -- my DS had "look" as one of his first words at about 12 months, used it for a month or so, and then "lost" it until last month or so (18 months) and now he uses it all the time again. 

[pbjmama]

First, I don't think your ds is behind or slow to learn words. Identifying care givers by name at 14 months is early to normal. There are many, many children who do not say their first word until 18+ months. My guess is that you are really good at anticipating his needs. This is good. But it also makes it so he doesn't have to express his needs/wants. So my suggestion is to continue modeling the behavior and words you would like to see and wait to offer food, etc and let your ds try different modes of expressing himself. 

[lifeguard]

Ds went through pretty much the same thing (except the signing as we never did signs at all). He was calling dh papa & then suddenly refused to say papa & called him mama. It did make me laugh a little but dh found it a bit irritating. Eventually he came around & started calling him papa again - I think it was somewhere around 20 months that he did this.

Dh also went through a period (around his 2nd birthday) where he would call pretty much all women mama. It was kind of weird for me to hear him calling my friend's mama but he quickly passed through that. I had someone explain to me that it is them sorting out their world - figuring out how things are classified. He did much the same with animals (all hooved animals were 'horse', all birds were 'duck', etc.).

Try to relax - it's a process & they come through it. At about 26 months ds had an absolute EXPLOSION of words & inside of 2 weeks went from being most definitely at the slow end of normal for language to well within the middle of the pack. He's now 27 months & continuing to acquire several new words every day - yet just this past week he has started calling all older women 'neenee' which is what he calls one of his grandmothers even though he's had a separate name for the others for awhile - now they're all 'neenee' - to me this shows he is identifying that older women are different somehow from 'mamas', or younger women.

[earthworm]

Another one that had a kid do the same thing...

Except my son called me "daddy", heh. He's just recently almost completely stopped doing it at 19 months. It went on for at least 2 months. He's a lot more verbal than my first (didn't really talk at all until 2 so to me your child doesn't sound "slow" at all!) and I notice a lot of things that seem like him going backwards (mixing words up that it seemed like he def. knew a couple of months earlier, etc) for a few months only to eventually "correct" himself and of course have gained a bunch more in the process. It's really interesting to watch!

[nwatt]

My 17 month DD has been doing this lately, too.  She is definitely on the slower end of language development, but can learn to do almost anything just by watching us.  (I am guessing that she is going to end up being a very visual learner.)  For the last couple of days she has started using mama and dada almost interchangeably.  She had only very rarely used either of them before, but it was usually correctly. 

[Super~Single~Mama]

My older brother called my dad "mama" - and it wasn't b/c he didn't know his name, it was to get a reaction!!  He's still a terrible tease.

[July09Mama]

My dd likes to point at dh, me, and herself and makes a game of saying "papa," "mama," "Ada." Maybe you could try something like that to help solidify the concept for him? Since you said he learns well from physical learning, maybe? Anyway, I don't think it's a big deal, though. My dd just turned 18 mo, and she only started saying "mama" a couple of weeks ago. She learned papa, dog, cat, and a whole bunch of other words first! It actually did kinda hurt my feelings, I guess, just because hearing her say "Mama!" is so awesome, but she did eventually pick it up. In the mean time, she just called me "NEE!!!" her word for nursing. Good to know I'm really just a walking pair of boobs to her! I'm sure he'll figure it all out soon. Tell his papa not to worry about it!

[curious&eager]

You guys are too funny.  I like this "My older brother called my dad "mama" - and it wasn't b/c he didn't know his name, it was to get a reaction!!  He's still a terrible tease." and "Good to know I'm really just a walking pair of boobs to her!"

Thanks for letting me know that your kids do the same.  I'll let DH know that it should be just a couple month passing phase.  I put at all of us and repeat, mama, papa, and Sammy, but he just says mama to all of us, even himself. 

His doctor wanted us to call some specialist and make sure he is on tract.  That was before he started confusing words.  But, I don't plan on calling yet.  He is actually doing pretty well with his words now, its just nobody can understand them and not even me sometimes since they are only part of words- Tra= trash, Ba=ball.  But, unless he's in a very good mood and usually if he's just with me, then he doesn't say anything at all.

[AKislandgirl]

My DD is "ahead" verbally and still often calls DH "mapa" or me "pama" when she's talking fast. She corrects herself halfway through the word and then repeats it correctly.  She'll be 2 nest week!  I don't think there is anything to worry about.