When did your child assign "mama" and "dada" to people and not just say them randomly?

Question

Savannah is 10 months old. she will mutter mama and dada but they mean nothing i think. im just curious to know when mama and dada are words that will actually have meaning. when did these words, or any words actually mean something for your child?

Answer 1

My daughter was 5 months old when she called me "Mama".  My mom was holding her and she reached out her little fist to me and screamed it.  After that, she said it whenever she woke up, or I held her or someone else held her, or if I entered a room.  "Dada" came about a week later, when he was feeding her.

Answer 2

Oh soon, real soon. Just keep associating the word with the object/person.

Like Labradors, food is an excellent training aid for toddlers, holding one up and saying "Want the cookie?" will get a good result in a short time if you really want to see language in action.

Answer 3

Well my daughter never really called anyone else mama or dada so it's hard to say if she knew those words were just for us or not however I have a 3 year old step son and he still calls all women mommy even when we correct him (his real mother doesn't mind), so I guess it all depends on the child.  

Answer 4

i think she knows what she is saying she is just practicing. my son starting doing the same thing at probably about 9 1/2 months, when he started actually looking at us or pointing and saying mama & dada was probably at 11 1/2 months