Families London SW Mar-Apr 2020

Babies
During the first three years of
life, a baby’s brain is
developing rapidly which is
why this period contains so
many critical milestones for
their speech development.
Interestingly, much of your
baby's speech development
depends on your "baby talk"
skills as well as those of
your baby!
When should babies
start talking? By Andrew Campbell
The first “baby talk” is non-verbal and
happens soon after birth
Babies grimace, cry, and squirm to express a
range of emotions and physical needs, from
fear to hunger to frustration. It is important to
listen to your baby’s different cries, work out
what they mean and respond accordingly.
At the age of 3 months, you’ll notice your baby
listening to your voice, watching your face as
you talk, and turning towards other voices,
sounds and music.
Before babies start talking, they are gathering
information. That information eventually
becomes the foundation of the first baby talk.
And the best way for parents to help their
babies make it to those first words – and thrive
with language development in the months
after – is to talk to them.
At around 6 months of age, you’ll hear your
baby begin to babble and coo, as they play
around with different sounds. This “baby talk” is
a happy, gentle, repetitive, sing-song
vocalisation sounds similar the world over,
despite the language of a baby’s parents.
After 9 months of age, babies can say and
understand a few basic words like "no" and
"bye-bye." They also may begin to use a wider
range of consonant sounds and tones as they
try out sounds and find their own voice. Babies
may also be able to point to people, objects,
and body parts you name for them. They
repeat words or sounds they hear you say, like
the last word in a sentence, but they often
leave off endings or beginnings of words. For
example, they may say "daw" for "dog" or "noonoo's"
for "noodles."
Most babies say their first words sometime
around their first birthday
Now, importantly, they know what they are
saying. They should also respond to -- or at
least understand, if not obey - short, one-step
requests like: "Please put that down.”
Over the next six months, your baby will start
to use language in a more recognisable way
and you may start to hear them talking. You
might find that initially only you and a few of
your baby’s favourite people can make out
what they’re saying though! By the age of 2
years, babies can string together short phrases
of two to four words, such as "Mummy byebye"
or "me milk." They're learning that words
mean more than objects like "cup" - they also
mean abstract ideas like "mine."
Over the course of the next year, your baby’s
vocabulary expands rapidly, and "make-believe"
play spurs an understanding of symbolic and
abstract language like "now," feelings like "sad,"
and spatial concepts like "in."
Ideas to encourage talking
The more words children hear, the more
they learn.
Here are some fun things to do together
to encourage your baby’s speech and
language development:
Chat to your baby about the things
you’re doing, even if you think they’re
boring – for example, ‘Daddy’s vacuuming
the carpet to get rid of the dust that makes
you sneeze.’
Repeat your baby’s attempts at words to
encourage a two-way conversation. For
example, if she says “mama” you could say
“mama” back to her. Build on your toddler’s
words. For example, when baby says:
“train,” you say: “Yes, it’s a big red train.”
Show interest in your baby’s babbling
and talking by smiling and looking him in
the eye.
Respond to and talk about your baby’s
interests. For example, if your baby starts
playing with a toy train, you could say
“Toot, toot.”
Read, tell stories, share songs and
nursery rhymes with your baby.
Praise your baby’s efforts to talk. For
example, if your baby points to a dog and
names it, you could say: “Well done for
pointing out the dog, Georgie!”
Infants all develop at a different pace, but
if you're worried about your child's speech
or language development, talk to your GP
or health visitor. If necessary, they will refer
your child to your local speech and
language therapy department.
More info: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/helping-your-childs-speech
www.nct.org.uk/baby-toddler/learning-talk-and-communication-your-baby
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March/April 2020 • Families South West 37