Your little one is always learning about and developing their communication skills, but they might not always get things right first try.
Sometimes children use the wrong or mixed-up words for what they mean.
Watch our video guide below for tips and advice from highly specialist speech and language therapist Neha Makwana on how to interpret and respond to your child’s verbal and non-verbal communication.
Sometimes your child might talk to you using the wrong words or unexpected language, but it can still be helpful to listen out for and respond to these communication attempts. You might find that your child repeats words or sentences they have heard before, but from a different situation, and it makes you wonder what the connection is.
It's great if you can pick up on your child's nonverbal cues and clues from the situation itself, and narrate what's happening.
Mummy get it off.
If your child is leading you somewhere, try giving them the words they need.
Go over there?
Pick me up.
Pick me up.
This can help them connect the phrases to their actions. If you spot your child repeating the same word or phrases over and over, the best way to respond is keep your own language simple.
Say short phrases related to the situation and avoid asking questions.
Well, that's fast.
If your child uses a phrase which seems out of context, or a word which is not quite the right label, try not to correct them, but give them the phrase that they're looking for.
Kick!
You want me to kick the ball?
If they say, ‘Once upon a time,’ when they want a story, say, ‘Can I have a story?’ Or, ‘story time.’ Then show you have understood their request and read the story.
Let's go on to this page.
It can be hard to know how to respond to your child's early communication attempts, but offering simple examples that connect to the world around them means that they will hear and start to understand what certain words link to and how andwhen to use them.
Jump!
If you are concerned about your child’s language and communication development, then discuss any issues with your health visitor
We spoke to speech and language therapist Alys Mathers for some additional advice…
Why is my child mixing up words?
Learning new words is not easy! As your little one learns new words, they’ll try them out in different situations to see what words go where.
Here are some situations where they might mix up words…
They're working out the exact meanings of words. For example, learning that ‘teddy’ doesn’t just mean their own teddy bear but any stuffed toy bear.
‘Teatime’ might be a word they understand is about meals, so they’ll ask for ‘teatime’ any time they’re hungry. It’s normal for a child to pick up a new word and experiment with it.
Mixing up sounds in words is also common as children develop. There’s a lot of different sounds to learn and not all of those sounds are easy to master. Sounds like ‘mm’, ‘duh’ or ‘puh’ are easier to learn (which is one reason why 'mama' and 'dada' are common in babble and children's first words).
When young children want to express a word they haven’t perfected all the sounds for, they might drop part of the word, or replace it with a sound they know better – like saying ‘nana’ for ‘banana’ or ‘tat’ for ‘cat’
Using a word that's close to their intended meaning is also common. For example, they might know the word ‘dirty’, and think it’s used to describe an object that has something wrong with it, like a broken toy. They might even know that ‘dirty’ is not quite the right word, but don’t have the correct words to ask for your help.
Should I worry if my child makes ‘mistakes’ in their language?
Your child using unexpected words is part of the process of learning. Talking to adults and older children is a great way for them to make connections and fit the right words in the right places.
Showing that you’ve understood them is very important.
For example, responding to ‘tat’ with, ‘Yes, it’s a cat!’ gives them support in learning the right sounds and words, and lets them know you’re interested in what they’re paying attention to. Be encouraging and positive rather than making corrections to keep it fun.
It might take a bit of detective work, but understanding the message your child is trying to communicate, then replying with the right words for what they mean helps a lot for making connections between words and their meaning!
Why does my child repeat words and sentences they’ve heard before?
Children repeating back words and phrases they’ve heard from different places (including television shows) can be a surprise to hear.
It might take some time for your little one to break the meaning of a whole phrase down into each word.
A child might learn the question, ‘What you doing?’ as a full phrase to ask someone and then use it to ask different types of questions – like 'What are you eating?' or ‘How are you?’.
Even if it’s not quite correct, they’re still trying to communicate something to you. As with unexpected words or sounds, understanding what they’re trying to say and engaging with that can help build their understanding.
One way your child learns language is by repeating what you say and what they hear around them. This is called echolalia and is a totally normal part of their development.
