It's an exciting time when toddlers begin to use their words and
talk in mini sentences, but what's even more adorable is when they
get words all muddled-up. If you're a parent to a
toddler you may be nodding your head in agreement at the funny
words your toddler comes up with whilst learning to talk. It isn't
that surprising that toddlers mispronounce the same words over and
over again until the whole family are using the word 'pisghetti',
rather than spaghetti. The makers of Calpol, polled 700 parents to
see which words their toddlers were frequently getting tongue-tied
with - and the results are in!
1. 'Lellow' instead of 'yellow'. 70% of parents revealed their
little ones couldn't quite grasp this popular colour.
2. 'Pisphetti' instead of 'spaghetti' baffled 17.1% of
children
3. 'Wabbit' instead of 'rabbit' confused 9% of toddlers
4. 'Burstday' instead of 'birthday' tongue-tied 6% of kids
Other popular mis-pronunciations were:
5. 'Shilshake' as 'milkshake'
6. 'Magmazeen' as 'magazine'
7. 'Hop-it-all' as 'hospital'
8. 'Morta' as 'water'
9. 'Nana' as 'banana'
10. 'Flamilla' instead of 'Vanilla'
So should we be correcting our toddlers when they come out with the
wrong words, or is it OK to find is endearing?
Remember how frustrating it was when you were told off at school?
Try not to correct your toddler too much when she
mis-pronounces words or uses the wrong word for an object, or
she may give up trying. Repeat back her sentence using the right
word, for instance, if she says, 'Wan milw..' you can say, 'You
want the milk, ok, I'll get it'. As cute as it is when toddlers
mis-pronounce words, try not to repeat them back as your toddler
will use them more if she sees it makes you laugh.
Give your toddler choices
Choices enable your toddler to respond and talk back, so if you
have a bowl of fruit say, 'Which piece of fruit would you like; the
banana, apple or pear?' Give your toddler a chance to reply, even
by pointing. Hide things and see if your toddler can find them, so
say, 'Where is your ball? Is it under the slide, or in the
sandpit?' Then wait till your toddler responds, or runs over to
find the ball.
Hot and cold
Put your toddler's hand on a warm towel and say 'hot' and on a cold
milk carton and say 'cold', so she starts to understand different
concepts. You can try this for big and little, empty and full, and
up and down.
Mirror image
Sit with your toddler on your lap and face the mirror. Point out
her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Then explain that you have a nose,
mouth and ears too, but yours are a bit bigger.
Calpol's® Brand Manager, Claire Ryder says: "The amusing things
children say never fail to surprise us. We talk to parents all the
time and it's really fascinating to hear how children communicate
so effectively despite their limited vocabulary.
