Boost Communication Skills

Your baby's first year will be a flurry of changes -- and not just diapers. From the first smiles, gurgles, and coos to learning to say "mama" or "dada," babies love to communicate with their own form of baby talk. And they hope you'll "baby talk" right back.

All through this first year, you can do a lot to encourage your baby's communication skills. And it's easy. All you need do is smile, talk, sing, and read to your baby.

Why focus on communicating with your baby? Because early speech and language skills are associated with success in developing reading, writing, and interpersonal skills, both later in childhood and later in life.

Baby Talk: Smile and Pay Attention

Long before they can speak clearly, babies understand the general meaning of what you're saying. They also absorb your emotional tone. Encourage your baby's early attempts to communicate with you with your loving attention:

·         Smile often at your baby, especially when your baby is cooing, gurgling, or otherwise vocalizing with baby talk.

·         Look at your baby as he or she babbles and laughs, rather than looking away, interrupting, or talking with someone else.

·         Be patient as you try to decode your infant's baby talk and nonverbal communication, like facial expressions, gurgling, or babbling sounds that could signal either frustration or joy.

·         Make time to give your baby lots of loving attention, so your baby can "speak" to you with his or her baby talk, even when you're busy with other tasks.

Baby Talk: Imitate Your Baby

Right from the start, baby talk should be a two-way street. By imitating your baby, you'll send an important message: what your baby is feeling and trying to communicate matters to you.

·         Have back-and-forth conversations in baby talk to teach your baby the give-and-take of adult conversation.

·         Imitate your baby's vocalizations -- "ba-ba" or "goo-goo" -- then wait for your baby to make another sound, and repeat that back.

·         Do your best to respond, even when you don't understand what your baby is trying to say.

·         Reinforce communication by smiling and mirroring your baby's facial expressions.

·         Because gestures are a way babies try to communicate, imitate your baby's gestures, as well.

Baby Talk: Talk Often to Your Baby

Babies love to hear you talk -- especially to them, and especially in a warm, happy voice. Babies learn to speak by imitating the sounds they hear around them. So the more you talk to your baby, the faster your baby will acquire speech and language skills.

·         Many adults use a special tone of voice when talking baby talk -- a high-pitched voice with exaggerated expression. This natural baby talk mimics the female voice, which babies the world over associate with feeding and comfort. Keep in mind that talking "baby talk" won't prevent or delay your infant from learning adult speech later.

·         Engage your baby's listening skills by talking often to your baby throughout your day, narrating your activities together. Talk as you're feeding, dressing, carrying, and bathing your baby, so he or she begins to associate these sounds of language with everyday objects and activities.

·         Repeat simple words like "mama" and "bottle" often and clearly so your baby begins to hear familiar words and associate them with their meaning.

Parents often wonder where their child's speech ability is on the learning curve. The timeline for each child varies greatly: Some babies can say a few words at 12 months, but others don't talk until they're 18 months old -- and then spout short sentences.

·         At 1 to 3 months: Babies already love to hear the sound of your voice and may smile, laugh, get quiet, or get excited and wave their arms when you talk or sing to them. Your infant's baby talk usually starts with cooing and gurgling, with some vowel sounds, like "ooh," appearing at around two months.

It's not too early to start reading to your infant. Being read to helps stimulate the developing brain. Many babies are soothed by music, and begin to recognize simple songs by reacting with smiles, gurgles, and waving arms and legs.

·         At 4 to 7 months: Babies now realize that their baby talk has an impact on their parents. They babble more and watch for their parents' reaction. Babies experiment with more sounds and intonations. They begin to raise and lower the pitch of their voices as they babble, just as adults do when asking a question or adding emphasis.

As you introduce your baby to simple, short words like "cup" and "ball," hold up the object to show that it's related to your speech. Read colorful picture books to your baby. Point to the pictures, and name simple objects to reinforce your baby's early speech development and model the importance of language and reading. Practice using short words and then pausing. This will allow your baby to respond with his or her own baby talk and encourage the give-and-take interaction that's needed for adult conversation.

·         At 8 to 12 months: It's a unique joy for parents to hear their baby say "mama" or "dada" for the first time. But the first few times may actually be accidental. Baby talk at this age is still primarily a hit-or-miss playing with sounds like "ga-ga," "da-da," and "ba-ba."

Smile, face your baby, and continue to repeat simple words clearly throughout the day. This will help your baby's growing brain to store the sounds and meanings of words for everyday objects. At this age, babies love one-on-one interaction with you. They also love games and songs with language, like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Patty-Cake."

Baby Talk: See Your Baby's Doctor If ...

During the first year, your baby should respond to your baby talk by cooing, gurgling, and beginning to babble back. He or she should respond to "no," to his or her own name, and to simple requests like "come here."

So while normal language development has wide variation, it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your child's growth. Have your baby's speech evaluated at each well-baby checkup, and talk with your baby's doctor if you're concerned about delayed speech or a hearing problem. And remember: Your baby loves to hear your voice, so don't be embarrassed by your own "silly" baby talk.

·         Now’s a good time to begin teaching her some simple sign language. She'll soon connect your hand movements with the wants and needs she's trying to express ("more," "eat," "milk," "all done"), and it won't be long before she can make the signals herself

          

Saying her name, speaking to her (a lot), and helping her key in to the sounds around her (that's a bird chirping!) are all wonderful ways to help hasten her first real words in a few months. Try these tips for chatter that matters.

• Pop quiz: Ask lots of questions ("Should we walk to the park or the library?" "Do you think Grandma would like this birthday card with flowers on it, or this one with the birds?"). Then follow up with an answer ("Yes, I think Grandma would like these pretty birds"). Yup, you're talking to yourself, Mom, but you're also modeling the give-and-take of conversation.

• Moment of silence: While keeping up a steady stream of speech helps your baby beef up on vocabulary, she also needs time to try her own hand (or mouth, rather) at talking. When she starts yakking, pause, look at her face, and really listen as she tries to master an "mmm" or an "ahhh." She'll be delighted that you're paying such close attention.

• Play-by-play: Stumped for a topic of conversation? Just tell your baby what you (and she) are doing. "Mommy is zipping up Allie's jacket — zzzip! — to keep Allie nice and warm. Now let's put on some mittens — one, two — and a cozy hat. How about this one with the purple flowers?" Does she know what you're saying? Not yet — but she will soon!

• Surround sound: What's that noise? Point it out to your baby -- "Listen, a doggy is barking!" or "I hear a car going zoom, zoom down the street." This is great practice for the toddler and preschool years, when you'll want her to have good "listening ears" — that is, ears that both hear, and heed, your rules.

• Story time: Books are a super source of new words for a baby. Try nursery rhymes, sturdy board books, even whatever's on your own nightstand (Hey, reading to your baby may be the only chance you get to dig into a novel, so go for it!).

Emphasize individual words over and over again, especially those for familiar objects: "Let's play with your ball. Here is your ball, your redball. We can roll the ball back and forth!"

 Try teaching him simple commands, such as "kiss mommy" or "pet doggie." He probably won't be able to comply on his own at first, but if you show him patiently what you mean, he'll eventually perform (and how thrilled you'll both be then!).

·         Questions. Enlist your baby's "help" in making all those little decisions you face every day (Peaches or bananas? Yellow socks or blue?). Ask her what she thinks, then wait earnestly for a reply! It's good practice for the toddler years, when you'll want to offer her the chance to have control whenever possible.

·         Her own "words." Sure it feels silly, but you can have an entire conversation based on alternating "ba-ba's" and "ga-ga's." Parroting her own sounds back to her will make her feel listened to and interesting (and isn't she!). It also encourages her to try imitatingyou. Before you know it, she'll reverse the game by repeating your words (so watch your language!).