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About the Element

Baby Talk

Your baby's expressive verbal language skills develop quite dramatically during this period, making communication that much more fun and rewarding.   

Adorable Intonations 

Baby connects several syllables of different sounds in her expressive babble, making her "speech" sound almost real, complete with variations in inflection and tone. Her babble sounds so expressive you only wish you could understand what it all means! Until she gets a little more specific about, you will have to settle with assessing her mood through her tone and enjoying the way she uses her voice to call to you or get your attention. 

Developing Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication 

Your baby’s developing communication and understanding skills are making her a much more active part of the conversation. She reacts to her name and begins to show real interest in adult conversation. Notice how your baby "follows" a conversation with her eyes, and may even try to make her point of view on the matter known to all!  By the ninth month, your baby's developing non-verbal communication skills might include gestures and signals, such as waving goodbye, pointing to objects, clapping hands, and more. As the end of the ninth month approaches, you will notice that your baby seems to understand many words, and reacts to words from her world, such as bottle, blanket, or familiar names. She also begins to understand the connection between sounds and the objects that make them happen, such as barking and a dog, or ringing and a telephone.

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Language & Communication, 6-9m

  • 6-7 months
    • Language comprehension begins to appear. When you call out his name and he can not see you, he begins to search for you and turn his eyes toward you.
    6-8 months
    • Begins to be bale to enunciate sounds with his lips and front of mouth, such as “mama” and “baba.”
    8 months
    • Begins to show interest in adult conversations, even if they are not directed at him.
    • Begins to use his voice to get your attention or express his wishes.
    8-9 months
    • Understanding language develops rapidly. Understands that words have meaning, begins to identify worlds that he hears often, such as names of family members, or important objects, like a bottle, or pacifier.
    9 months
    • Begins to link sounds into “sentences,” begins to pronounce different sounds.

  • Give your baby a lot of encouragement and positive reinforcement, whether she succeeds or not.
    Encourage experimentation, through words, a smile, or a kiss. This will increase her enjoyment of the experience, help give her strength to cope with the frustrations of the learning process and build the courage to recognize her limitations.
    • Sing rhyming songs that include movement and sounds, such as “Peek-a-Boo" and "Pat-a-Cake".  
    • Play word games that encourage verbal comprehension, like "Where is the light?" Don't be discouraged if he doesn't always react in a clear or precise way. It takes time, and the practice is important. 
    • Offer your baby picture books, with a number of items in the picture. Tell him what's in the picture and ask him to point to familiar objects as you teach him more. 
    • You can read to your baby if he enjoys it. Even if he doesn’t understand the story, he will gain much from the tone and inflection in your voice. 

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Guidelines and tools created by child developmental experts to help you choose stimulating toys and support your baby's development