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Home › Articles › Guiding Baby's Development › Babbles and Coos

Babbles and Coos

It's Never Too Early to Talk, Baby

By Mindy Hudon, M.S.,CCC-SLP

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"I think the most important thing is that I talked to her using natural language," says Sara Sumner, a special education teacher and mother of 25-month-old Madelyn. Your baby may not be talking at 6 months old, but she does understand. Comprehension comes before speaking so boost her language through experience. "I always described what I was doing, what she was playing with and where we were going," says Sumner. Talking to your baby as you do your daily chores, shop or are relaxing with a good book is a great way to expose her to diverse language structures and a vast vocabulary.

Many babies will say their first word before their first birthday, but that is not always typical. First words can start earlier or later than 12 months, although they are usually heard at about that time. One of the most frustrating things for new parents is understanding what their baby wants or needs. Life beomes a lot easier when your baby can tell you that she wants "juice" rather than crying while you're pulling everything out of the refrigerator until you find the juice. "I made a lot of effort to help Maddie communicate," says Sumner. "I find that she has not really had a lot of temper tantrums. . . because she has been able to communicate her needs from an early age."

Babies start to use gestures at approximately 6 to 9 months of age. They will use gestures before they actually use spoken words. Many parents are starting to use sign language with their babies to ease the gap in communication. Jachym has seen a lot of success with teaching gestures to babies before they talk. "I have seen it work with my own niece and nephew," she says. "They learned how to sign 'all done,' 'more,' 'up' and 'down' and it really helped."

Jachym feels that using signs or gestures naturally is the key to communication success. "I will encourage my daughter to do it [sign/gesture]," she says. "If she picks it up, great! If not, I won't push her."

Research suggests that this early form of communication decreases overall frustration between parents and babies. "We did some sign language with Maddie when she was about 8 months old, but she started using words very soon after so the signs faded away," says Sumner.

Finger imitation songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Pat-a-Cake" not only stimulate Baby's brain with music, but they teach rhyme, vocabulary, language and gestures. Furthermore, singing can stimulate areas of the brain that promote peaceful feelings and can sooth a crying baby.

Whether you're singing, signing, reading or just talking, learning is taking place all day long! These loving interactions will help your baby's language flourish. So tell her about your day, whistle while you work and read her a recipe because language is the foundation of your baby's lifelong learning.


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