4 Sure Ways To Encourage Your Baby To Start Talking

Literally speaking, babies are born ready to learn many of the skills they will need as time goes by. Starting from birth, they hearken to the words and sounds in their surroundings and attempt to make meaning of them all. After months of listening to your baby babble, it’s a thrilling experience to finally hear them speak their first audible word.

While your baby is born ready, there are little and rewarding efforts you can make to cheer your baby on to start talking.

When Generally Do Babies Start Talking?

Babies generally attempt to start talking anywhere between 9 and 14 months old. Yet, some perfectly normal babies don’t say a recognizable word until they are about 18-months-old. Every baby is unique, and as long as your child is healthy, you really should not panic if they haven’t said their first word in the first 9 to 14 months.

READ ALSO: READ ALSO: 8 Simple Ways to Help Develop Baby’s Speech

How To Get Your Baby Talking

Experts say a baby’s understanding of words and sounds begin as early as month 1, even though, it takes some more months for baby’s brain to sort out individual words from the flow of sounds all around her. The surest way to urge your baby on to start talking is by speaking with her often but there are a few more tips below:

1. Speak Slowly And Focus On Single Words:

Speak clearly to your curious child. Focus on single words, rather than sentences and speak slowly so she can focus on one word at a time.

2. Name Persons Or Objects

As much as possible, use names instead of pronouns when speaking to your child.  Name the people you’re talking about: “Mummy is sleeping” or “Here is dad’s hat”. Expressions like that are clearer and easier for babies to understand than “This is my hat” or something in that line.

3. Sing Songs

Your baby will learn valuable language skills from the simple rhythms and playful repetitions of nursery rhymes and songs.

4. Repeat The Words

Repeating the same words, singing the same song and naming the same colours every single day can get boring for you as an adult, but your little one finds it incredibly interesting.

Since it helps reinforce your child’s growing understanding of how a particular sound attaches to a particular thing — it is well worth the repetition.

READ ALSO: Your Baby’s Age-appropriate Hearing Milestones

Within a few months of identifying that there are individual words strewn into that jumble of sounds she’s hearing every day, your baby will start to experiment with making sounds of her own. All of which brings her closer, day by day, to saying her first word.