Australian parents who claim their baby ‘first spoke at six weeks’ are targeted by trolls
>
An Australian mother who claims her son uttered his first word at just six weeks old says she didn’t expect the hate they received from cruel online trolls.
Selaphim Saddharti and his partner Jackson, from Sydney, were delighted when they apparently heard their son Francis say ‘hello’ at just six weeks old.
At 11 weeks they claimed she was able to say her first sentence, “I love you.”
Now that she’s three and a half months old, her mother says her word bank includes ‘hello’, ‘mum’, ‘I love you’ and ‘blue’.
The startling claim would mean Francis is among the world’s smallest babies to start talking.
Babies usually start talking between 12 and 18 months, but there has been another report of a baby greeting at eight weeks.
Selaphim Saddharti and his partner Jackson (pictured), from Sydney, were surprised but delighted when they heard their son Francis say ‘hello’ at just six weeks old.
At 11 weeks, Francis’s mother said she was able to say her first sentence: “I love you.” Now three and a half months old, her word bank apparently includes ‘hello’, ‘mom’, ‘I love you’ and ‘blue’.
Selaphim said that he enjoyed communicating with his son and hoped that he would speak, but he did not plan it or have a specific method to teach him.
She and Jackson intuitively began to touch Francis’s face and lips when they said a specific word and believe that’s how he learned.
“I don’t really feel like it was a written method,” Selaphim said.
‘We just wanted to connect with our baby.
It’s nothing special, it’s just a method. It’s just interacting with your child from a loving space.’
To teach a baby to talk, mom advises placing your hand on his neck each time you say a word you want him to say, as well as gently touching his face, nose or mouth, then pausing and creating space for a reply. .
Selaphim and Jackson intuitively began to touch Francis’s face and lips when saying a specific word and believe that this is how he “learned to speak”, but admit they had no teaching plan.
As Francis collected more words, the proud mom began recording it and sharing it online, with the clips quickly racking up hundreds of thousands of views.
Selaphim’s videos are littered with comments from trolls alleging that he is lying or just imagining his son is talking.
The mother said she can’t understand why the videos cause so much anger and hate.
“Put this energy into your children,” she advised.
Many accused Francisco of ‘lulling without speaking’.
“Talk about hearing what you want to hear,” wrote another.
“All I can say is it has no effect on how well they do later so don’t think they are genius,” another commented.
Speaking about the personal comments she gets from online trolls, the mom said that even though it’s annoying, she’s still happy to be helping other moms.
Many parents have commented thanking Selaphim for offering his advice and suggestions, sharing that their children have also learned to speak using his method.
“My beautiful little human started saying ‘I love you’ at 10 weeks. I used the same cues,” said one mother.
OMG it worked. Thank you for your advice,’ wrote another.
“The video caused a division among the general audience,” Selaphim explained.
“I don’t expect everyone to buy into everything they don’t really want to understand, what matters to me is that moms take the advice and comment and say it’s working.”
Many parents have commented thanking Selaphim for offering his advice and suggestions, sharing that their children have also learned to speak using his method.
She added that even if you don’t think it’s about communication, you’re putting energy and spending quality time early in the baby’s life, which will pay off as the child gets older.
The fact that he actually used the word speak was what bothered people the most, as there is a ‘grey line’ between what is speaking and what is communication.
“If it sounds like it, feels like it, then it’s right for you and your baby,” the mother said.
People make fun of her for saying that her baby understands what she is saying, but Selaphim clarified that she means that even though he may not subconsciously understand the words, he is understanding somewhere.
“Many mothers will know that sometimes you have miraculous moments where you swear that the child knows exactly what you are saying. It’s the mother-son connection,’ Selaphim said.
‘Those who get it, get it.’
The first time Francis spoke was to his father, who Selaphim believes he responds to better because of his deep voice.
‘Her dad told me she said ‘hello’ and I was like ‘what?’ the proud mom laughed, remembering the fond memory of her.
The first time Francis spoke was to his father, who Selaphim believes he responds to better because of his deep voice.
“Then I listened to it and finally we recorded it and we knew that the other one was not being optimistic about the lullabies.”
She was looking forward to hearing him say “I love you” and practiced with him until he did.
“I wanted him to say ‘I love you’ because I love him so much and I say it all the time,” she explained.
She says it’s best to start teaching them as soon as possible, but she advised her followers not to project standards onto their children.
‘What works for my baby may not work for yours, if it doesn’t work don’t be discouraged as all babies learn different things at different times but you’ll never know if you never try.’
Francis now says “hi” and “I love you” spontaneously throughout the day, says “mom” if he needs anything, and says “blue” when he’s lonely.
also says the Indonesian word “nenem” which is a pet word for babies that Selaphim’s own mother used to say to him. She said ‘nenem’ every time she nursed Francis and now when she says the word he knows it’s time to eat.
Selaphim doesn’t plan to teach him any other words yet.
‘Besides feeding, loving or greeting like a 3-month-old, what can you talk about?’ she laughed.
Her next plan is to potty train him. The mother said she learned a tip from a woman online who uses auditory association to facilitate training.
‘Every time he poops, you make a different noise. The woman in the video makes a ‘ts’ noise, and when it came to training, she would hang him off the toilet and make the noise and he knew it was time to go,” she explained.
Selaphim always made an effort to not only take generic prenatal vitamins, but to also put a lot of thought and effort into their fish oils and vitamins during pregnancy. He also tried to minimize the trauma during childbirth by going to a public hospital that offered water births.
“When I was pregnant, I really wanted her to be smart, I wanted to heal our generational trauma and give her the best foundation,” she explained.
She said that as time went on and they saw how responsive and intelligent he was, they felt the name Francis suited him.
Selaphim always made an effort to not only take generic prenatal vitamins, but to also put a lot of thought and effort into their fish oils and vitamins during pregnancy.
She also tried to minimize the trauma during childbirth by going to a public hospital that offered water births.
“He came out and he wasn’t crying at all,” she said.
‘She looked at me and we locked eyes, it was a really lovely moment. Nurses need the baby to cry, but as a mother you know they are responding in their own way.’