Babies say "bababa" because they are in the babbling stage, a crucial phase of speech development where they practice mouth movements, experiment with sounds (like lips and tongue), and learn the rhythm of language, often starting around 4-6 months as they transition from cooing to real words, and these repetitive sounds are foundational for their first words like "mama" or "dada".
Babbling is a pre-speech skill that happens in stages. The second of these stages is known as reduplicated babbling, and you'll hear it as simple double-consonant sounds such as 'baba' and 'mama. '
In most cases, a baby starts babbling around seven to nine months, making noises like da-da-da or ba-ba-ba, and it's good to encourage them, and talk to the baby as if they were real words.
Babbling is one of the very first signs your baby is learning how to talk. There are several stages of babbling, in which babies make and repeat consonant-vowel sounds like “ba,” “da,” or “ma.” Babbling is a key step between cooing and saying real words, and it's not just adorable–it's a big sign of progress.
Children at risk for autism may not direct their vocalizations to another person in a meaningful way or may not make babbling sounds (e.g., baba, gaga, gada) at all. Example of a typically developing child: When Mrs.
Signs of autism in children
Some babies' first words come from the animal kingdom - in Spain, the most uncommon first word is 'panther' while in Canada it's 'goose'! The most obscure first word for Australian babies is 'country' - which is even more unusual than 'jam' as their most popular first word!
You've heard of late talkers, but what about late babblers? If a child isn't babbling by 10 months, it may be worth keeping an eye on their speech and language development, as this group may be at a higher risk for speech and/or language delays.
That the hardest sounds for children to learn are often the l, r, s, th, and z is probably not surprising to many parents, who regularly observe their children mispronouncing these sounds or avoiding words that use these letters. Typically, such behavior is completely normal for children.
Sometimes people with autism produce long strings of nonsensical speech sounds. We call this “jargon.” It can sound like the person is trying to express something because jargon is often produced with an adult-like intonation pattern. However, jargon is not easily interpretable.
1. What are the 5 stages of babbling?
by 2 years: says only some sounds or words repeatedly and can't use oral language to communicate more than their immediate needs. by 2 years: can't follow simple directions. by 2 years: has an unusual tone of voice (such as raspy or nasal sounding)
The 3 Types of Baby Babbles
When your baby starts to babble, these sounds can be categorised into three types: marginal, canonical, and conversational.
Red flags in a 2-year-old include significant delays in language (no 2-word phrases), lack of eye contact, failure to follow simple directions, regression in skills, extreme aggression (biting/hitting), intense, unsoothable tantrums, or severe social withdrawal/avoidance, especially when combined with repetitive behaviors (hand-flapping) or unusual fears, indicating potential developmental or sensory issues needing professional advice.
We conducted a retrospective video study examining vocalizations of 37 infants at 9–12 and 15–18 months. Twenty-three of the 37 infants were later diagnosed with ASD and indeed produced low rates of canonical babbling and low volubility by comparison with the 14 typically developing infants.
According to research, babies who experience language development earlier than average grow up to have higher IQ levels. This is mostly noticeable during adulthood. That being said, language delay is also the most common developmental delay experienced by children under the age of 3.
If your child consistently struggles to understand what you're saying, it might be a red flag. Speech Difficulties: If your child's speech is unclear or difficult to understand by age 3, it could be a sign of a speech delay.
Most commonly mispronounced words
Research indicates that the brains of gifted individuals often exhibit different patterns of development compared to their peers, including delayed language development.
If your child is not babbling regularly by 10 months of age, we recommend you consult with a speech-language pathologist who can assess, monitor and/or help with your child's speech-language development (as appropriate). But, as with most red flags for speech and language delays, you shouldn't panic.
A 10-year study by LENA researchers confirms that the amount of talk with adults that babies experience in the first three years of life is related to their verbal abilities and IQ in adolescence.
Both the “M” and “D” sounds are part of a group of consonants that babies often say first, because they're produced at the front of the mouth. “Dada” may be a slightly more common first than “Mama” because the “Da” sound comes more naturally, particularly when the baby's mouth is at rest.