How to encourage your child to pronounce words correctly

Alhamdulillah it is Saturday.

It was a very exhausting week for me and my fetus.

Putting long hours at work is causing my body to be in a state of  nutrition depletion.

Exhaustion, dehydration, lethargic, most important thing muscle cramps.

I have been walking with legs cramps and gait for a week now.

To tell the truth, I hate taking pills and supplements.

But for your information, they are very important especially when you are pregnant.

You have to make sure that you are providing good nutrients for your fetus.

If you are breastfeeding, you want to provide high quality breastmilk to your baby as well.

If you hate pills like me, you need to eat good food.

I have been drinking a lot of milk daily since my last muscle cramp.

It worked when I was pregnant with Isabella but this time it doesn't work anymore.

Probably because second pregnancy, your storage become less and you are breastfeeding which means you need more supply.

You are fasting and working longer than normal people.

Finally it is because you don't get all the calcium and vitamin D from a milk as it depends on digestion, enzymes and adsorption from intestine.

Yes. Pills are still the best because they are build to withstand loss along the digestive way to to ensure maximum adsorption into blood.

Now, I am rummaging my old Shaklee's supplements.

They are not expired. Great. I need to take them.

Owh I forgot to add one more point..

This time, I am pregnant with a child outside my womb which means...... no excuse on chasing her.

My husband was saying lastnight that our second child will be a contra from Isabella.

She will be calm, quiet and gentle just like how my mood is during this entire time.

And she will be sensitive as well. I am so sensitive this time. If my husband says something, I will just cry quietly facing the wall, which is so not me.

When I was pregnant with Isabella, I was so active, I did a lot of activities like hiking, swimming, snorkelling in the sea and travelling between Terengganu to Putrajaya on weekly basis, driving alone.

I guess that is why Isabella is such a tough girl, dun cry that much, very very active (nak pengsan aku), talkative but the good news is she is so bright.

I am not trying to praise my own child. I don't praise her except if I see that she shows performance extra. I know mothers like to praise their children and thats great but as a doctor, I guess I am more based on fact.

Example, when people comment that 'Owh, pandainya bercakap'. She was 1 year and a half so I wouldn't say she ' pandai bercakap' because at that age she was suppose to know more than 20 words already. See? If she know very few words, then I will be worried because I know she is delayed.

But all kids are different. Some are faster and some are more normal and some are a little bit delayed. That is why doctors, follow a range instead of exact measurement to see a child's development.

If your child is not that keen on talking, fret not.

Maybe you talk less to them, or maybe because of gender as boys talk later than girls and thats fine.

You can talk more to your child and see the progress.

If by 3 years still no improvement and you have doubts, then you can see a peadiatrician.

By 2 years, they should be verbal so you have a lot of time to monitor.

She met her old babysitter yesterday and after not seeing her for almost 2 months, they were so thrilled to see her.

She talks a lot more now and according to them with an accent.

If your child speaks English from small, she will have a natural accent and that is not because cartoon.

It is because her tongue learns the English words early so the pronounciation becomes perfect.

For example if you speak Urdu and later you start learning English, your pronounciation become similar to your native language. You can listen how people from different race speaks different accent of English.

How to teach your child to pronounce words correctly.

I would pronounce a new world clear to her ear several times.

Isabella would repeat with mistakes at first.

I will repeat, stressing on the initial letter..

example pronouncing 'blanket'.

When she doesn't get the initial letter, I would repeat with 'bbbbbb behh behh behh blanket'.

She will study my lips and say 'blanket' correctly.

I am just sharing what I do with her, hoping some mothers who are not aware of this, can try.

Not that I am showing off. Please.

There are many kids way cleverer than mine so I am not in competition.

I want the best for my children according to her ability but if that is her level at that age, I wait and try some more.

I don't believe in forcing children to learn.

But since I started with books early for her, she always take her books to me, pointing at the picture and say ' this..' and I will tell her what that is.

She does this to every picture until she finishes the book.

Later, she will be able to know all the words.

Before you know it, she can recognize most of the common wild animals, reading in front of her aunty and impressed them.

It is much easier than impressing mommy.

Owh, that book up there is a new book I got yesterday at a stall near the clinic I work.

It is a counting book with magnetic pictures.

As I read the book, Isabella has to stick the numbers and pictures of the animal accordingly.

Such an interesting book.

She enjoyed the activity so much.

I enjoyed it too.

My nurses even tried.

Hahahahahaha during our time, we didn't have these kind of fun book to play with.

Poor us.