Developmental Milestone- Baby Talk
Even though baby isn’t speaking in full words or sentences, it doesn’t mean that she isn’t using other means of communication, a developmental milestone known as baby talk. By using sounds and noises and gestures, baby is communicating with you about her needs and wants, and what she notices around her.
At 3 Months
During the first three months, baby is still observing how you use your mouth to speak with her. Baby will turn her head towards sounds and watch your mouth as you talk. She’ll even try to speak back by making cooing noises and a sing-songy type of sound.
At 6 Months
At this age, baby will start to put together vowel and consonant sounds in a repetitive fashion: ba-ba-ba-ba. Even though she doesn’t really understand that ba-ba is her bottle or da-da is her father, she enjoys making the sounds and will eventually connect the word to its meaning. This is what is traditionally referred to as “baby-talk.”
At 9 Months
By nine months, baby will start to understand what a few basic words mean. He might not be able to verbalize the words just yet, but he will understand what you are saying. His own verbal abilities will have progressed to the point where he can change his inflection or tone to reflect what he is feeling or trying to say.
At 12 Months
At one year of age, baby will usually have said his first word, almost always a variation of mama or dada. This is a huge developmental milestone that most parents look forward to. In addition, baby should be able to follow simple directions, like “put that down.”