Speech
Did you know babies are able to listen from 23 weeks in the womb?
This means that your baby will start hearing and learning words before they’re even born. So you know that saying of start them young? You really can when it comes to speech development.
Why talking to your baby is important?
As parents you have the biggest impact on your Baby’s learning as you spend more time with your baby than anyone else. The way you talk to your child makes a big difference in how they learn a language.
Babies learn language from the words they hear around them and the interactions they have with you and other adults every day. You can encourage your baby to say their first words by talking to them lots! Point out and name things your baby seems interested in or can see around them. Babies need to hear words repeated in different contexts before they’ll understand and use the word so don’t worry about saying the same thing over and over again.
If you haven’t already downloaded your speech and language development cards you can do that here.
Here are a few tips.
Talk to your baby about what you’re doing in a tuneful voice, keeping your language simple. Talk about what you see and what you’re doing throughout the day, such as going to the shops or for a walk. It doesn’t really matter what you say. If you can, get down to your baby’s level so they can see your face as you’re talking.
Reading, songs and nursery rhymes are all great ways to play and interact with your baby and for your baby to hear words being repeated. Every child in England is entitled to a free Bookstart pack before they are 12 months old. Bookstart also gifts additional needs packs for babies and toddlers, as well as black-and-white booklets for newborns and dual-language books. Click here for your free book start pack. Sandwell's libraries also offer Play Talk Read sessions for children under the age of 5, click here to view sessions available.
Try and have a special time each day to play and interact with your baby without any distractions. Turn off the TV or other background noise so your baby can tune into your voice. Notice ways that your baby is communicating with you and give them time to get their message across. Respond positively to any attempts your baby makes to communicate. Smile, nod and repeat the sounds your baby makes back to them.
Babies love games like ‘peek-a-boo’ and it teaches them important skills like taking turns, paying attention and listening. As your baby develops another good game is the naming game. Point out things like their toys or things they like or are interested in, such as animals or vehicles.
Try to limit the amount of time your baby spends looking at a screen. The more time they have interacting with you or someone else, the better.
The NHS has compiled a comprehensive list of tips to help your baby to learn vocabulary.
The early warning signs for when your child’s vocabulary is not as developed as it should be
- Your child is not saying a handful of words by the age of two.
- Your child is not joining words together by the age of two and a half.
- Your child cannot be understood by people outside of the family by the age of four.
- Your child is concerned about the way they sound or is showing signs of frustration when they aren’t being understood.