Baby communication is all about using simple signs that babies are trying to use for communication before they have mastered the details of speech. Before babies learn to talk, they will coo and babble, just like playing with sound. Long before they learn to speak, babies get sold on communication. The more you listen and respond to your baby, the better he will become at communicating with you. That is baby talk and it is important for you to know the baby talk milestones to assist your baby in speech development.
Baby Talk Milestones
After Birth
The first “baby talk” is non-verbal and it happens after birth. Your baby’s cries, grimaces, and smiles are ways of the babies to communicate their range of emotions and physical needs to their caregiver. Skilful parents know how to listen and interpret their baby’s signals.
Four Months
At the age around 4 to 6 months your baby starts to make baby sounds “babbling”. Before babies talk, they practise the intonations, sounds and rhythms of language. It is a fact that through interactions with parents and other people surrounding him, babies mirror and learn early language skills.
Nine Months
At this age, babies can understand a few basic words like “bye” and “no”. This is also the time where they begin to use a wider range of consonant sounds and tones of voice.
Twelve Months
By around 1 year and a half, a baby will usually speak actual words. It usually starts with simple words that they have heard often, such as “mumma” or “dadda”. These words will progress into two-phrases, which is the next steep of speech.
Twenty-Four Months
Two-word phrases such as “bye doggie” begin around 24 months of age. At this period, the baby should have around 50 words in his vocabulary. When the baby talks and links two words together, it shows an understanding of both words and content.
How To Help Baby Learn To Talk
- Help your baby learn to talk by talking to him while you are pregnant. This will expose him to language and begin preparing him to process what he will hear with as soon as he is delivered as a newborn. According to research, babies inside their mothers’ womb do not hear whispering, so a clear tone of voice will help your baby. However, there is no scientific basis that reading books aloud during pregnancy will make your baby intelligent. It is just a simple way to introduce your voice to your baby inside your womb.
- Sing Beautiful Songs With Your Baby. Singing is an important part of learning language because they are repeated. Children have a chance to learn them over time. Songs, finger plays or fun activities encourage children to learn words that have physical clues attached. When a baby has learned a “close-open” song, he can ask for it by doing it in his own finders, even before he knows how to say, “I want to sing close-open!”
- Talk To Your Baby – Most babies begin the skills of conversing by “taking turns.” They coo, look at you and wait. You coo and they coo back. In that simple play, they practise the structure of conversation and they learn that they will be responded to when they reach out to communicate.It can feel uncomfortable to talk to a baby who doesn’t understand what you say. Your baby will learn to talk through repeated experience of hearing you talk and that’s what makes him understand your language. Before tickling your baby, for instance, you can reach your fingers towards him and say, “I’m going to tickle you.” In this way he understands language in the rich context of experience. During putting on a nappy you can say, “Here is your clean nappy. I’m lifting up your bottom so I put it on you.” This not only helps her learn language, it also helps her learn to expect what will come next and participate more actively in the process.