Is "mama" usually the first word?
Often, yes. In a large survey of American parents, about 2 in 3 said their child's first word was "mama" or "dada".
What studies found
Of about 1,650 children in that survey, 618 parents said the first word was "mama" and 489 said "dada".
Because these two are so common, some studies leave them out and ask about the first word besides "mama" or "dada". Counted that way, more than half of children had said a first word by 10 months, and about 3 in 4 by their first birthday.
A first word doesn't have to sound like the grown-up word. What counts is using the same sound, again and again, to mean the same thing.
What we don’t know yet
How often an early "mama" or "dada" is a real word with a meaning, rather than babbling that sounds like one. Studies that rely on parents' reports can't always tell the two apart.
The studies
Read more: Babbling, First words
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your GP or child and family health nurse.