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| Let's go. Let's go. I am not a parent at all. All right. |
| Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. Welcome back to Top Words. Today, we're going to talk about 10 Words and Phrases for Babies and Small Children. Let's go. |
| "Newborn." |
| The first word is "newborn." Newborn. So, we use this word to talk about a baby that has been born very recently, a newborn baby. It's an adjective. Like, "This is a newborn child," or, "The newborn creature." I don't know. We can use this for words other than human children, like a newborn cat, for example. But, we use it for babies, human babies. So, a newborn baby, brand new baby. In a sentence, "I saw my friend's newborn baby last week." |
| "Baby." |
| The next word is "baby." "Baby." So, a baby is just a small human. But, "baby," I would feel like, really, the line between "baby" and "child" is, I don't know exactly where that line is or where exactly that line falls, but we'll talk about a word between baby and child in just a moment. But, a baby really means that stage of life where, maybe, they really need someone else to do absolutely everything. They can't walk, they can't talk, they can't crawl. They're just there, a baby. So, a baby can do pretty much nothing, except cry and process food. That's pretty much it, I suppose. I don't know. Again, I'm not a parent. But, a baby is that initial phase of life, of human life. We call those tiny humans, babies. In a sentence, "Babies take a lot of patience." |
| "Toddler." |
| The next word is "toddler," a toddler. So, you'll see the word, "toddle." "Toddle" is a verb, which means to walk unsteadily. So, we have this word, "toddler," which we use to mean small children that have just gained the ability to walk. So, they're not steady yet. This is, I don't know, I imagine, maybe one and a half to two years old, perhaps. I'm not sure. But, a small human who has just learned how to walk is called a toddler, a toddler. This is the word we use to mean between baby and child or kid, really. A toddler. They're just learning how to walk, not so steady. They toddle a lot, a toddler. In a sentence, "My nephew is a toddler now." |
| "_ months old." |
| The next expression is "something, something months old." "Months old." So, when babies are new, we often track their growth in months, or maybe, even in weeks. So, instead of using an expression like, "my baby is zero years old," or something like that, especially in that first period of time just after the baby is born, we'll often use "_ months old." "She's six months old," or, "He's nine months old," or, "13 months old." So, in those first few months, or in the first, maybe, even year or two, parents or people talking about babies might use "months old" instead of "years old" to talk about their children or a child, somewhere. So, in a sentence, "She's four months old." |
| "Diaper." |
| The next word is "diaper." "Diaper." So, diapers are used, of course, for babies who do not have the ability to use the toilet by themselves, yet. So, diapers are, I think, a very important part of parenting. So, these are often disposable. "Disposable" means you can throw them away, or maybe, there are washable diapers as well. I suppose each family has a different approach to that. But, a diaper, that's the thing, special underwear for babies so that everybody can have a happier time, I imagine. I don't know. All right. In a sentence, "Changing diapers is an important task." |
| "Nap." |
| The next word is "nap." Nap. So, this is a word that adults can use too, or course. A nap is a short sleep in the day, essentially, in the afternoon, or maybe the evening. I don't know, maybe, even the early morning. Anytime you take a short sleep, we call that a nap, an afternoon nap. I don't know. An hour, 30 minutes or an hour, a rest, is called a nap. So, babies, sometimes, take nap. I think babies need lots of naps, probably. I need lots of naps. I would love lots of naps. I don't know about you. Okay. In a sentence, "Little kids take lots of naps." |
| "Bottle." |
| The next word is "bottle." "Bottle." You'll see that this word is spelled B-O-T-T-L-E, bottle, but we don't use a strong "T" sound, at least in American English. We use more of a "d" sound, "boddle." Bottle. So, a bottle is that piece of equipment, it's that thing that you use, just as you would use a water bottle, here, we use bottle for the thing that we give babies, to give babies food or to give babies their milk, whatever it is that babies consume. We only use the word, "bottle." Although this is technically a bottle, we would say water bottle for this. But, if we just use the word, "bottle," it means the one that babies use. "Where is the baby's bottle?" Or, "I need to give the baby his bottle." So, that means I need to feed the baby, in other words, using this thing, this bottle. So, that's what it is, a bottle. In a sentence, "I forgot the baby's bottle." |
| "Formula." |
| The next word is a "formula." "Formula." Sometimes, maybe, parents choose to give their children what's called formula. It's, to my understanding, a mixture that has lots of vitamins and nutrients in it that is used in the baby's bottle. It's similar to milk, in my understanding. It provides nutrients for the baby. It's food, essentially. It's food for the baby, but we call it "formula." Formula. So, the baby's formula is filled with vitamins and nutrients and other things to help babies grow, presumably. In a sentence, "What do you think about using formula?" |
| "Teething." |
| The next word is "teething." "Teething." So, this is a word that's related to a phase when young children begin to grow teeth. We say the baby is teething, or my toddler is teething, perhaps, which means their teeth are growing in. They are growing their teeth. And so, this may be a painful experience for little kids, so they might feel upset. They might cry or feel angry. The process of teething can perhaps be a difficult one for children and parents, I think. In a sentence, "Children may get upset when they're teething." |
| "Raise" |
| The last word is "raise." "Raise." So, I want to introduce this word because a lot of people make a mistake with vocabulary choice here. Sometimes, I hear students say, "I want to grow my children," but we use the verb, "grow," for plants. Like, "to grow plants in a garden," for example. When you're talking about children, though, we use the verb, "raise." Like, "I want to raise my children in a safe environment." Or, "I want to raise my children to be happy and healthy," for example. So, please use the very, "raise" when you're talking about bringing up children. In a sentence, "Many people say that raising children is tough but rewarding." |
| So, those are 10 words and phrases for babies and small children. I hope that that was helpful for you, especially, if you are a parent or, maybe, you're thinking about becoming a parent. I don't know. If there are some other words or other phrases that you think would be useful or that you have questions about, please let us know in the comments section. Thank you very much for watching this episode of Top Words and we will see you again soon. Bye-bye! |
| There really should be a person who is a parent teaching this lesson. |
| I don't like giving the most clinical possible explanation of child-related things ever because I'm not a parent. |
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