[susy...patience]

I am coming here for my latest dilemna with my DD who's 22 months old. Vocabulary is growing a lot--what's not good is day care teachers told me last week she was using the "B" swear word (rhyming with witch). They first asked me if she'd been exposed to "adult" words but it's not a word that slips out of my mouth (although she could have heard it from TV/movie I watched recently). On Friday she used bad word again including after a little girl almost bit her...she supposedly said "you b....., you b...." (which sounds in context).

I've spent all weekend listening to each sounds she says...she talks a lot & most of it is still babble so you have to listen carefully. At least 10 times I've heard say what could be the swear word but it also could have been any of these words (just mispronounced):
Back...
Fish....
Feet.......
I caught her saying the "bad word" when in context the word should have been each one of the above. I know these words don't sound close but when she first started talking Elmo/Mama sounded the same too.

Has anybody had issues like this with "bad words" or mispronounced words that sound like baby is swearing? What do I do if she is swearing & I want it to stop?
We practiced saying the words I quoted above all weekend & when I caught her saying "bad word" I told her that's a bad word, we don't say that & tried to come up with appropriate word for what she was doing. Anybody have any advice?

[SKL]

Well, I can say my wee one did the same thing - I know she wasn't "swearing" but I never did figure out for sure what she was trying to say. I often say "beat-cha" and then give a little love tap, all for fun, so I thought maybe she was repeating that, and said so in her presence; after that, she sounded even more like she was saying, you know what.

I think most likely your daughter was trying to say "you bit" or "you [don't] bite" at daycare. How is she at enunciating the "t" sound? She's probably just figuring out phonetics, so it's not surprising if she substitutes sounds. My kid sister was a riot when she used to tell her toy Tigger "now you S_IT."

I wouldn't worry too much about this. I'd assure the day care that you don't use that word at home and she must be trying to say something else.

[allgodsgrace]

I wouldnt worry to much about this at 22 months old she should be given verbal liberty for a little while until they are without a doubt sure this is the issue.

Gracie is learning to count and i was having her show daddy while we were driving in the car to her grandparents house- here is what she did....

one
two
tee
four
f***-- THE BAD word!! She had honestly never heard it here and she had five fingers up and was very proud of her counting to 5!! (me too since she wasnt two yet!!)

needless to say she only got to four with the grandparents before we stopped her!! Now a month later she is saying it properly without any issues!

Seriously don't worry just keep practicing the proper way to say words and DO NOT focus on the bad word or she will find it is something to get a reaction and really start using it.

[StefB]

We had an issue with the word "fork" for a while...

[mksilvermoon]

when our daughter says 'books' it sounds JUST like she is saying the B (rhymes wth witch) word - but it's just how she says books (kind of like 'biks') i would agree that if she works out that a certain word gets a reaction she may in fact go for that reaction!

MK

[robandjulie]

Are you sure she wasn't saying "you BIT, you BIT", as in "YOU BIT ME".?

DS drops the r from shirt. And he talks about shirts a LOT. "Mama! Blue Shi[r]t! Red shi[r]t! Cow Shi[r]t!"

[Momonthefarm]

Our girls have only been home 5 weeks but suddenly it is like living with two parrots!!! We hear many words we have said (only good ones !) coming out sometimes at the right time and sometimes in the wrong context.

You might try coming up with something else to say when you are frustrated. For example, when something happens that I am frustrated with I say "Oh, man!" which is the same thing that they hear on Dora the Explorer. Sometimes I say it in Spanish sometimes in English so that I am sure they understand.

We have found too that they are masters at imitating the tone of voice you say something in so you might try really emphasizing your frustration with a certain tone of voice.

Long way to say model for her good things to say when she is not happy with the way things are. I agree with the other posters don't make a big deal about the bad words. Eventually she will have to learn these words are not acceptable but right now is probably not the time. Good luck! Renee

[Devora]

This sounds like a case of mispronunciation and/or playing with sounds. It's completely normal.

The daycare really should not be making such a big deal about it. It's fine that they asked you about it, but this really happens a lot so I would think they would be used to it. In my son's class last year they were working on table manners and using their silverware instead of fingers. One child apparently declared very loudly and proudly, "I forked it!" However, it came out like "I f_ ked it!" The teachers simply let the parents know what had happened so that if any of the other children repeated it they would know that their child was not actually swearing. The teacher laughed when she told me about it, I enjoyed it as well as an amusing story -- and the child was never named so it's not like she was set apart.

[GuatMommy2Be]

We haven't had any issues with the typical words that can be mis-pronounced. Oh no, not my daughter. She has overheard "Oh sh--" and repeats that, and spells "A--" because we spell it in our discussion. So let that be a lesson, you can't spell-cuss because they pick up the spellings. LOL!

BTW- she is only 2.

[SKL]

Regarding imitation . . . I've recently begun saying "oh, rats" a lot, since the girls began repeating everything I say . . . they never repeated an actual swear word - I don't swear that often - but it was bound to happen.

[KathyNC]

David was speech delayed as well as having articulation issues. In Pre-school, he used to love to point out things he recongized....as in "yook momba, a f*ag"! It wasn't so bad in the car....although I nearly drove off the road the first time he said it but on sidewalks, in gyms, wherever, it got to the point that I cringed whenever I saw a flag!

Kathy

[melissa41]

Originally Posted by GuatMommy2Be

So let that be a lesson, you can't spell-cuss because they pick up the spellings.

That is hilarious!

[JosieWales]

I agree, do not focus on the 'bad word,' since she's probably not saying it for real! Owen still calls trucks 'F---S! Ack!! In fact, one time DH had him in the car and was doing a live radio interview on the cell phone (that hacked me off, driving and talking w/Owen in the car! that's another story), and Owen saw a big semi and startred hollering, "F---, Daddy, f---! Look! F---!!!" at the top of his lungs.

[JosieWales]

Owen has also started saying, "Dang it!" when he can't do something, like open a jar, etc. bc that's what I say. He says it JUST LIKE ME. DH has glared at me several times...

[TheFoxx]

Originally Posted by robandjulie

Are you sure she wasn't saying "you BIT, you BIT", as in "YOU BIT ME".?

DS drops the r from shirt. And he talks about shirts a LOT. "Mama! Blue Shi[r]t! Red shi[r]t! Cow Shi[r]t!"

That seriously made me LOL!

While my son, who is speech delayed, hasn't dropped any bombs yet, our best friend's son did. They were dropping him off at daycare and said "ok, it's time for us to leave". He smiled at them, ever so sweetly, and dropped the "f" bomb at the top of his lungs.

The teacher walked over - told them to just walk away and ignore it. The teacher said all of the kids do it and when you react to them is when they get clued in that it's fun to drive your parents nuts saying bad words.

Oh, my niece who is 2 1/2 says **** and it's pretty funny. They have a leak in their living room so my BIL will look at the ceiling and just keep repeating **** over and over again. One day she walked under the leak, looked up, looked at my SIL very seriously and said "****". I hate to say it but it's so cute.