A little vent about MIL and DD talking...

[zosiasmama]

Generally I lvoe my MIL, she is very helpful and DD loves her. DD is only 16 months and she says so many words in both English and in Polish. But whenever MIL is here she feels the need to correct her over and over.

Example:
DD says Ewmo and MIL says over and over Zosia eLmo, eLmo...she is 16 mo...she can't say an L yet.

It is the same with all words that start with a P and an L! And I know that it is petty but it just makes me cringe when she does it. I feel really lucky that my 16 month old says word in either language, but she picks it up great and is a little parrott, today I tried to teach her owl and she said it almost perfectly the first time! She is amazing.

Thanks for the ear, I know that it is silly, just needed to get it out! Danni

[S Starr]

If it's not making your toddler frustrated, I wouldn't worry. I usually repeat with correct pronunciation once, and DD picks up the correction. It's just more information to her. If your DD starts getting frustrated, though, then I'd talk to your MIL.

[OneFabMama]

Originally Posted by S Starr If it's not making your toddler frustrated, I wouldn't worry. I usually repeat with correct pronunciation once, and DD picks up the correction. It's just more information to her. If your DD starts getting frustrated, though, then I'd talk to your MIL.

Yeah that.


I correct my 2 year old -- sometimes she will miss the first syllable in a word and I will repeat it to her a few times. *shrug* But, I know sometimes MIL's can be PITAs.

[bfoster2000]

I know that can be frustrating. I try very hard not to correct my boys outright (like not tell them that they're wrong) but I will repeat the word correctly so that they hear it and eventually they pick it up. For instance, if you ask DJ what month it is, he says "Tovember" and I'll respond "That's right, November". Because I figure he knows what he is trying to say so it is right, but I want him to hear the correct pronunciation too. I try very hard not to say "No, not 'Tovember'...it's November" which is what dh tends to do.

And congrats on having a bilingual toddler...that's awesome!! James is 16 months and still not saying ANY words...not even mama or dada!

[zosiasmama]

Originally Posted by bfoster2000 I know that can be frustrating. I try very hard not to correct my boys outright (like not tell them that they're wrong) but I will repeat the word correctly so that they hear it and eventually they pick it up. For instance, if you ask DJ what month it is, he says "Tovember" and I'll respond "That's right, November". Because I figure he knows what he is trying to say so it is right, but I want him to hear the correct pronunciation too. I try very hard not to say "No, not 'Tovember'...it's November" which is what dh tends to do. And congrats on having a bilingual toddler...that's awesome!! James is 16 months and still not saying ANY words...not even mama or dada!

That is exactly what my DH and I both do with DD. When she says something and we know what she is trying to say, we say it back to her correctly, not with baby talk. But I don't say "no" and then repeat it 10 times exaggerating the letter that she misses or gets wrong. I know that this is silly, but she does it everyday and it is just getting to me a bit. Again, thanks for the ear, it is much appreciated. Danni

[Irishmommy]

I'd say just try to model that type of positive correction for your MIL. Her intentions are good it seems, just now how she is going about it. Maybe beat her to the punch a few times when you know she is going to correct your child (doing it the way you do). Sooner or later she'll probably catch on. My MIL is the same way. She doesn't really know how to correct my son for misbehavior (other than yelling), so I just cut her off and model how we handle things at home. She has gotten much better at it.

[hippydippymama]

That would bug me too. I hate ANYONE correcting my DS. He has just recently started flourishing with his speech, so I'm proud of every word that comes out of his mouth, even if it's "wrong."

What I do is use the word correctly in response to what he said, not just sit there and drill it into his head. IE if he says "trol tuck" I say, "Yes, you want Santa to bring you a remote control truck, don't you?"

I admit to being guilty of using some of his "baby words" just because they're cute and he knows what they mean. I think it's good to encourage proper pronunciation, but 16 months is a little early to be drilling on grammar, esp. when they probably don't even know how to form certain sounds yet.