Let’s talk about babies! How speech and language begins to develop from day one
Of course we know that babies communicate through crying, but there is so much more going on! From birth to 3 months, babies develop the process of hearing and understanding by startling from loud sounds and quieting when they hear a parent or caregiver speak. Speaking begins to develop through cooing, crying and smiling.
Between 4-6 months, babies continue to develop language comprehension through responding to changes in your tone of voice. Hearing develops through listening to music and turning their heads to the direction of sound. They will have an awareness of toys that make sounds. Babies will develop their expression through cooing, giggling, and laughing. Simple babbling also starts through sounds such as “pa”, “ba” and “me”.
Between 7-12 months, more begins to develop! Babies will turn when you call their name, look when you point, and understand common words like “truck”, “juice” or “daddy”. They will start to play simple Peek-A-Boo games with you and listen to short stories. At this age, they may also understand simple statements such as “No” and “Come here”.
Language expression advances further by babbling long strings of sounds (babababa, upupup), using sound and gestures to gain attention, as well as waving goodbye, reaching for up and shaking their heads “No”. At this age, babies may also begin to say or imitate first words such as “Hi”, “dog” or “Momma”.
As you can see, much is happening in a baby’s first year of speech and language development! Many parents may want to know how they can help enrich their baby’s development in this area. Here a few easy things parents and caregivers can do (Suggested by the American Speech & Hearing Association):
Check if your child can hear-early detection of hearing loss is key to helping develop a baby’s speech and language as soon as possible.
See if she turns to noises or looks at you when you talk.
Pay attention to ear problems and infections, and see your doctor. Chronic ear infections may temporarily reduce a child’s hearing ability which may deter comprehension and speech sound development.
Respond to your child. Look at him when he makes noises. Talk to him. Imitate the sounds he makes.
Laugh when she does. Imitate the faces she makes.
Teach your baby to imitate actions, like peek-a-boo, clapping, blowing kisses, and waving bye-bye. This teaches him how to take turns. We take turns when we talk.
Talk about what you do during the day. Say things like “Mommy is washing your hair”; “You are eating peas”; and “Oh, these peas are good!”
Talk about where you go, what you do there, and who and what you see. Say things like, “We are going to Grandma’s house. Grandma has a dog. You can pet the dog.”
Teach animal sounds, like “A cow says ‘moo.’”
Read to your child every day. Touch and feel books give a multi-sensory approach to learning! This helps your child learn pre-literacy skills as well.
Talk to your child in the language you are most comfortable using.
Having an understanding of how speech and language develops in a child's first year will help parents and caregivers be aware if their child’s speech and language development is not up to expectations. If a parent feels their child’s speech and language development is delayed, they can speak to their pediatrician and get a referral for a speech-language assessment and treatment, if needed. Speech-language pathologists are experienced working with babies, toddlers and school aged children. As an SLP, I have used telemedicine speech therapy to work with very young, “early intervention” children in underserved areas. While in-person, play based therapy is optimal for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, I am thankful that they had access to speech therapy and have seen many improvements.