Excessive Mimicking in Toddlers

Language Development

• Babies first start accessing language by making cooing sounds and then eventually adding vowel and consonant sounds by the time they between 7 and 9 months old, according to Teach Me To Talk. Babbling is the next step. By age 5, children master their final consonant sound, ̶0;th.̶1; Toddlers first start to mimic adult speech between 12 and 18 months, using ̶0;jargon̶1; that might sound unintelligible or meaningless to parents. This development time period is important, though, because toddlers are mastering sounds and mimicking conversational speech. Parents can accommodate this type of mimicking (even when they don̵7;t understand it) by attempting to rephrase what they believe the toddler is trying to state. Avoid overcorrecting attempts at mimicking speech, though, because this can be frustrating to the toddler. The main goal is to allow practice during this phase.

Additional Characteristics

• During a toddler̵7;s mimicking stages, other characteristics of language development may appear. By age 2, children may start to use short sentences and incorporate more vocabulary words, according to the Better Health Channel. Children might get the words ̶0;you̶1; and ̶0;me̶1; confused, especially if they̵7;re repeating sentences or phrases that you have stated. The Better Health Channel recommends reading to children to facilitate language development and asking questions to promote independent sentence formation. The Linguist List states that it̵7;s normal for children to speak like their parents or caregivers because these are the adults they are accustomed to hearing. Your child might not be mimicking to frustrate you or avoid communicating, but to practice restating what she is hearing.

Adult Mimicking

• Parents of toddlers might attempt to mimic in return, either because they find it endearing or to illustrate their speech error. This isn̵7;t an effective strategy, according to the Linguist List, because children can discern when an adult is mispronouncing a word. For example, if an adult intentionally uses the word ̶0;fis̶1; instead of ̶0;fish,̶1; because the toddler pronounces the word as ̶0;fis,̶1; the toddler might respond by saying, ̶0;No, it̵7;s fis̶1; in an attempt to correct the mispronunciation. Parents aren̵7;t advised to correct excessive mimicking by reciprocating.

Professional Support

• Your toddler might need to see a doctor if she can only reproduce 25 words by age 3, according to Parents. The parent website What To Expect states that if your toddler is excessively mimicking a playmate with poor behavior or language choices, enforce family consistency by holding her to the same rules and expectations that are normally expected. Cutting back on play dates or asking a preschool teacher to keep them separated throughout the day might also help. Too much mimicking might be a toddler̵7;s attempt to manipulate or control their social situations by upsetting peers, according to Scholastic. Mimicking can also relate to autism; if you suspect your child might be autistic, consult a doctor.