Language & Communication 3 - 6 m

The Foundations of Speech

At three months, your baby takes “baby steps” toward comprehending and expressing words. You will doubtless thoroughly enjoy hearing him prattle away in a symphony rich with vowels and consonants and marvel at his gradual advancement in understanding the meaning of different words and sounds.

Sophisticated Babble

As your home resonates with the music of “gahhh” and “coooo”, your baby is sharpening his conversation skills. Soon enough, repeated combinations of consonants and vowels, such as "baba" or "papa" will complement his repertoire and he will initiate a dialogue with you using his expressive verbal skills. Your baby’s non-verbal skills are also developing by the day, and he uses his body to communicate what he wants. For example, baby will look in a specific direction when he wants you to take him somewhere.

A Developing Sensitivity

Always a keen observer, baby’s receptive skills improve significantly at this period and he absorbs and comprehends more of his surroundings. You will notice baby is very sensitive to changes in tones: an aggressive or anxious tone can cause a baby to cry and a happy tone may very well bring a smile to his face. Baby also has better control over his own tone of voice and will use different tones to express different feelings. At around 3-4 months baby is still unable to understand actual words, but at about six months this will change and he may begin to show signs of understanding familiar sounds. For instance, he will turn his head when he hears his name – connecting this sound to himself in some way.