There are many articles out there on how to teach your kid to speak French.
However, I couldnât find a good list of French baby words, and vocabulary useful for childcare in France or with French speaking babies.
So I put this list together.
15 French Baby Words
French doesnât have that many French baby words.
We tend to talk to our babies in a ânormalâ way â well, we simplify the tenses, use less French pronouns, and focus on essential vocabulary, but still, babies are amazing at guessing languages, and talking to your baby in a normal way is the best way to build up her/his vocabulary.
Letâs see what are the French baby first words.
- Papa â Dad
- Maman â Mom â Note the French donât really have a shorter word for Maman, nor a synonym.
Mother, Mommy, Mom, Mum = Maman in French. - Lolo â this is milk in Kid French.
- Un Nounours â say the final S. A teddy bear. This one is fun because it came from the liaison of the N with the noun âoursâ (bear) making it sound like ânoorsâ, then nounours.
- Un doudou â watch out for this one. It means teddy bear or special blankie kid sleeps with: it comes from the French adjective âdouxâ: soft.
- Un dodo â sleepy time
- Un dada â a horse
- Un toutou â a dog
- Un joujou â a toy
- Un bobo â a boo-boo
- le caca â poop, doodoo
- le pipi â pee
- le prout â fart
- le zizi â weenie
- la zĂ©zette â I donât know the English equivalent! A childish word to describe girlâs genitals. Sometimeâs boys. And sometimes ZĂ©zette is used like a nickname for Suzanne or ZoĂ©! Ah, the FrenchâŠ
Letâs now learn the vocabulary to talk about babies in French â the vocabulary for childcare.
17 French Words For Childcare
- Une couche â a diaper
- Du talc â talc
- Des lingettes â wipes
- De la crĂšme pour les fesses â anti-rash ointment (there ought to be a more scientific name, but this is what French moms would say :-)
- Une tétine, une sucette, une tototte (colloquial) = a pacifier
- Sucer son pouce â to suck oneâs thumb
- Un matelas Ă langer â changing mat
- Une poussette â a stroller
- Un biberon â a baby bottle
- Un bavoir â a bib
- Un rot â a burp
- Un renvoi (in âmomâ talk, we say âun crachouillisâ) â a wet burp
- Un vomit â throw up
- Allaiter â to nurse
- Une garderie â daycare, childcare
- Une garde dâenfant (une nounou is âmomâ talk) â a nanny
- Une aire de jeu â a playground
I used all this French Kid Vocabulary and much more in context in my French audiobook Ă Moi Paris L4. Chapter 12. Rosa takes her toddler niece and baby nephew to the âparc Monceauâ and interacts with them. She talks about pregnancy and childcare with a friend.

A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.
My bilingual novels are recorded at different speeds and enunciation, and focus on todayâs modern glided pronunciation used in real-life like situations. My French audiobooks are exclusively available on French Today.
What Sounds Do French Babies Make?
When a baby cries in French, it says: âOuin-ouinâ.
When it coos, it says: âareuhâ.
Areuh â is for sure the absolute first French word. All the difficulties of the French pronunciation: the French R and the EU sound in the first word said by French babies⊠isnât that amazing!
Here is a video â youâll hear mostly the French Mom saying âareuhââŠ. but she says it very well!
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