Question
Hello, my baby is now 15 months old. He calls me dad, grandpa, and other terms, as well as some single words and phrases. However, he still doesn’t call me mom. When I call him, he always makes the sound “da-da.” Why can’t he produce the syllable for “mom?” What do you think is the cause of this situation?
Answer
For your baby not being able to call you mom, please don’t worry too much. My son was 16 months old when he started calling me mom, dad, grandma, and other words like “no,” “take,” “hit,” “car,” etc. There was a period when he would call me mom or dad when he saw his dad. Or sometimes he wouldn’t call grandma for a few days. I think this is related to who he has close contact with. After my husband came back from his trip, because it was mostly me taking care of him at night, he quickly started mimicking the sound of “dad.” I also noticed that my son learned to call dad first and then learned to call mom, which puzzled me at the time. I think it might be because I was busy during his language development stage and didn’t pay enough attention to him or perhaps it was easier for him to accept the sound of “dad.” If your baby still doesn’t call you mom now, don’t worry. Give him more attention and use the word “mom” frequently when taking care of him, no matter what you do for him, like “mom gives you pants on” or “mom gives you water to drink.” Also, pay attention to make sure your baby sees the mouth shape when saying “mom.” Slowly, he will naturally start calling you mom.