How To Talk To Your Baby And Understand What Shes Saying Back

Engineer It is incredible, but within a years time your baby will progress from random crying to talking. This is quite an achievement for your baby and in a very short period of time. In this chapter we will look at your babys development when it comes to language. Youll also discover what you can expect to see every month but its important to remember that these stages of your babys development are broad and because every baby is different these are not meant as exact milestones.

One month. Your baby will be able to understand speech long before actually talking. From birth he will look at your face and listen to your voice. He may make a small range of noises that will start to mean something to you - these may be made when he experiences feelings of hunger or pain (such as crying and certain sounds while he is breathing). When your baby is eating, you may notice him making sucking type noises and sounds of contentment. The way that your baby cries is an important communication method while he is actually unable to talk. Crying lays the foundation for speech as your baby learns to control his vocal cords. Crying is also a babys way of indicating hunger, discontentment, or general discomfort. Through responding to this crying you let your baby know that she is important to you and this can really be reassuring for a young infant.

Two months. As a child enters his second month he is far more aware of the world things such as sounds, even that of your voice, will amuse and fascinate your child. Change the tone of your voice and this will keep him amused. Your baby will respond with a variety of cooing sounds, vowel-like sounds, and sometimes some consonant sounds such as a k. You will find that your baby has quite a collection of cooing sounds that she uses to communicate with you as well as discover how to use the sound of her own voice. During this time, try and talk with your baby this will encourage her response and help in the development process. By looking into your babys eyes you are communicating an important thing to her that you are listening.

Three months. By now you will find that your baby is able to recognize your voice and may come to you or face you when your voice is heard. You may notice him laugh out aloud and may even scare himself by doing this (as he does not initially know that he is the one making the sounds). Your baby will be making sounds such as ahhhh gooo. He will squeal when he is happy and content, again often startling himself as he learns his own abilities.

At this stage you should not only talk to your baby but also introduce other communication forms such as singing and story telling. The greater your effort in trying to talk with him, the better his response is likely to be.

Four months. By now more and more communication should be taking place with your baby. You may notice a greater amount of smiling while his babbling may have a noticeably singsong quality to it, often ranging into a high pitch that delights him as he learns to like the sound of his own voice. There will be lots of repetition to the sounds that your baby makes.

It is important that you always respond to your babys oohs and ahhs and whatever other communication methods she is using - respond with your own voice tones. This is your chance to have a chat time with your baby and you should take advantage of these times you are helping him to discover the art of conversation. There will also be certain times when your baby may also not be in the mood for talking. He will turn his head in the other direction and may put his arm over his face. He may be showing signs of anger or frustration by crying out, especially if something is taken away from him.

Five months. As each month progresses you will find that your baby is becoming better at communicating. Its possible that you will notice him imitate some sounds and gestures. By now hell most likely be able to let you know if hes happy or sad. When attention is wanted your baby will babble until he is given the attention he feels he deserves. Interestingly, if you always respond to his communication efforts (whatever these may be) hell repeat them whenever he wants your attention this way.

During this month its likely that your baby will be looking at your mouth moving while you talk. Talk to him from across the room and hell be able to find you with ease. He is learning to control his vocal sounds as he watches your response to his sounds.

Six months. Your baby may now be using consonant-vowel combinations. Its quite possible that he has discovered his mirror reflection and is probably having conversations with himself. Your babys language is becoming much more precise.

Here are some ways that you can help your baby develop her language skills:

Speak very slowly and clearly.

Identify and point out items, objects and people as you talk about them.

Use shorter sentences sentences.

Using repetition when singing songs and nursery rhymes helps the learning process.

Reading to your baby is a good idea and should be done as often as possible ask your baby questions and point things out to make the process as interactive as possible.

Let your baby respond in his own way when communicating with her.

Seven months. Your baby is now continuing to learn how to use his newfound language skills. He may be able to do things such as wave goodbye and may accompany his wave with babbling sounds. He can say mama or dada.

Eight months. Your baby is playing games such as pat a cake and peek-a-boo. Even though he cant speak the words that belong to these games, he can babble and talk to himself. Its likely that your baby knows what the word No means by now as well.

Nine to twelve months. Its possible that by now your baby understands requests and commands such as give it or dont touch that. Similarly, she may understand simple questions such as wheres your rattle? At this time you should be encouraging your baby to use gestures (and you should respond to them). For example if your baby indicates she wants to be picked up then say you want to be picked up? while picking her up. This helps the learning process. You should also talk about everything that you do, and use gestures (and short sentences) as youre doing them.

Here are some ways to help your baby with the learning process:
Look at books and talk about the pictures in simple languages. Where possible try and use books that your baby is able to hold.

Talk often to your baby using simple words to identify objects in his life. Name trees, numbers, colours, and animals as you take your baby for a walk. You should also use your babys name often this way she will be able to recognise it.

Talk back to your child when she talks with you.

Introduce concepts to your baby, such as the big dog or the little mouse.

Give your baby time to get his words out; dont be tempted to complete sentences for him.

Continue to read to your baby as much as possible. Reading should be part of your daily routine.

From day one start to talk in a simple, short and uncomplicated way with your baby even though she will not understand what you are saying this is laying the foundations for learning language.

Twelve months. After one year babies are generally able to say one or two words and are able to understand 25 words or more. For example if a person in the room asks, where is daddy? your baby will look for you. Your baby is also able to point at things (and ask for things in this way).

About the author:

Keziah Engineer is the author of the best selling ebook THE BABY CARE BOOK a resource that teaches new parents absolutely everything they need to know about their newborn babies:

Breast Feeding Basics For Your Newborn Baby Keziah .EngineerIt is a myth that bottle-feeds and breast-feeding is equally good. Mothers milk is the best for proper growth of the child. There are certain nutrients in the mothers milk that helps the baby fight illnesses while also promoting brain development. As compared to breast fed babies, the formula-fed babies are more prone to illnesses.

Ideally you should start breast feeding the child within 2 hours of its birth, but do not worry if for some reason you are not able to do so - many mothers feed their children after a few days because of some medical reasons and they turn out to be just fine. Apart from milk avoid giving the child any water or pacifier because the child is still learning to breast-feed and things like the bottle nipple and pacifiers can confuse the baby while nursing because milk doesnt flow as fast as it does through bottles.

Do give the child enough time to breast-feed. Dont limit the time. It could frustrate the baby. An average of about 10 to 45 minutes can be taken by the baby to completely satisfy itself.

So how should you hold your baby during breast feeding? The answer to this is that see to it that the gums of the baby are on top of the areola because there is a chance of nipples becoming sore if the baby just chews on the nipple instead of taking in the areola. You can hold the baby in a cuddling position and feed it or you can lie on your side placing your baby facing you. Usually when the baby has had enough milk it will let go of the nipple on its own, but the baby takes usually half an hour on each side.

Well now move on to another critical issue which every breast-feeding mother needs to know about what to eat during the process of breast feeding. It is very important for a breastfeeding mother to have a healthy and balanced diet. A variety of foods are required during this period including:
Get lots of vegetables and fruits try and have an intake of 5 portions a day of fruit and veg.

For additional energy try and take in starch rich foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, pulses and rice this will provide a good source of energy.

Foods such as wholemeal bread, vegetables, pulses, cereals and pastas will provide fibre women occasionally experience bowel problems after childbirth and an intake of fibre on a daily basis will help with this.

Proteins such as lean meat, fish, eggs and poultry.

Try and get two portions of fish per week (including some oily fish). Do not exceed 2 portions of oily fish per week.

Dairies such as cheese, milk and yoghurt are an excellent source of calcium and should be included in a breast feeding mothers diet.

Some doctors advise taking vitamin supplements such as Vitamin D (10 mcg per day). Your doctor will be able to advise which supplements will be right for you.

In addition to the foods that you should eat above there are certain food types that you should steer clear of at this time. As above you should restrict your intake of oily fish to two portions per week but you should also avoid eating more than one portion of swordfish, marlin or shark per week as these fish contain high levels of mercury. You should also be careful with your intake of caffeine and alcohol. It is true that some breast feeding babies react to the foods that their mother has consumed. Some doctors believe that it is wise to lay off peanuts during this stage as well approximately 2% of the population is allergic to peanuts however your baby may have a higher chance of being allergic if the mother/father/brothers/sisters have problems such as asthma, eczema or hayfever. If you believe your baby may be at risk due to these factors it is worth consulting your doctor.

About the author:

Keziah Engineer is the author of the best selling ebook THE BABY CARE BOOK a resource that teaches new parents absolutely everything they need to know about their newborn babies: