Hi, I’m Amanda, a licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist (Speech Therapist). I am passionate about empowering you with the tools to get your child talking. I love working with parents to take the guesswork out of getting your baby, toddler or preschooler talking.
Do you want to know a secret? You can teach your child to say “mama” without telling to them “say mama”. Here are some tips to teach your child to say “mama”. Children are like sponges. They imitate what they see and hear.
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If you want your child to say “mama”, they will need to HEAR you say it over and over again.
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The more your child hears the word “mama”, the better. You are encouraged to sound like a broken record.
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HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO SAY MAMA:
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1. REPEAT “mama” multiple times during conversations. It is okay to talk about yourself in the third person. “Mama is making dinner.” You can point to yourself and say “Whose this?” It’s ....(pause) mmmm-mama (stretch out the “m”).
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2. READ Jimmy Fallon’s book, “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂”: I ️ love this book because it repeats the word “mama” multiple times. Children benefit and learn from repetitions. You can find this book here.
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3. PLAY PEEK-A-BOO: Hide under a blanket and ask “Where’s Mama? There she is. Where’s mama?” Over and over again.
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4. AVOID SAY “MAMA”- Often times when we place demands on the child to say a word, they do the exact opposite. It’s recommended to model the word (say) the word multiple times throughout the day, so that they can hear you and see you say it.
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5. PUT YOUR CHILD’S HAND ON YOUR MOUTH: Place your child’s hand on your mouth so they can FEEL what your mouth is doing as well as the vibration.
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6. FACE YOUR CHILD: When you say “mama”, face your child so that they can see your mouth. Your mouth shows your child what to do to say the word.
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Don’t forget to:
-Have FUN!
-Be SILLY!
If you found these tips useful be sure to download your FREE Speech Sound Development Guide with first words tips to learn what sounds to expect and how to encourage those first words!
