What is a first word?

Most children say their first word around 12 months old. How can you tell your child’s first word from other sounds that they make?

A word is when a child uses sounds consistently and meaningfully. When children say words, they may not sound exactly like adult words. It is common for children to use “word approximations.” A word approximation is still technically a word. Children simplify the way adults say words to make them easier to say. For example, a child might say “mama” for mommy, “dada” for daddy, “baba” for bottle, or “ma” for more. Sometimes, a child may use the same word approximation for multiple meanings. For example, a child might say “baba” for both bottle and bubble. These would count as two separate words.

Children usually make other sounds that aren’t words, called babbling. Babbling is when children use sounds that adults use to talk, like “b," “p,” and “m” sounds paired with vowels. Babbling may be simple and repetitive, like “bababa” or “mamama,” or may be more complex and varied, like “abidabu” or “bidama.” This more varied kind of babbling usually come right before a child’s first word. Children may continue to use complex and varied babbling after they say first words. When children start to use complex babbling to create longer strings, this is called "jargon.”

If your child is very quiet, doesn’t babble, or hasn’t said a first word by 15 months old, consider getting a speech-language evaluation.