Have you ever wondered what things you can be doing as a parent/guardian to best help your baby communicate? Here are a few tips and ideas:
Baby Talk
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- Baby talk, also known as child-directed speech, is a term used to describe a higher pitched voice, with exaggerated pronunciation of words, and exaggerated facial expressions, also known as “motherese”.
- How does this facilitate communication, or language development?
- When using baby talk, our changes in vocal pitch, exaggerated pronunciation, and facial expressions best maintains your child’s attention, as opposed to regular adult-like speech. Plus with your child’s attention on you, they can watch, imitate, and learn how to use their tongue and lips to form sounds and eventually, words!
- How does this facilitate communication, or language development?
- Baby talk, also known as child-directed speech, is a term used to describe a higher pitched voice, with exaggerated pronunciation of words, and exaggerated facial expressions, also known as “motherese”.
Be Animated and Silly
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- Babies enjoy visual stimulation, and they can get a lot of stimulation from watching you interact with them. When you interact directly with them or with a shared toy, it helps develop eye contact, engages them in joint attention (simultaneous attention on an object, between two people), and encourages social communication as you talk and interact. All of these skills are foundational building blocks to speech development.
Narrate your Day
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- Babies and toddlers are constantly learning to communicate. Just like learning a new language, you learn through exposure and opportunities. To encourage speech and to nurture language development, consider narrating your day (p.s. you can also do this while wearing your child). Talk through activities you are doing with a step-by-step monologue. By doing this, you are exposing them to more and more language that you might not use during playtime.
Use Basic Signs
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- Incorporate signs into daily routines. Signing “more” or “water, eat” while verbalizing the target word can provide an additional way for the child to express their wants and needs as well as understand what you are saying.
Validate your Baby’s Communication
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- Just as important as the other strategies, it is important to validate what your baby produces regardless of the word’s validity. When we validate a baby’s verbal production, it encourages them to keep practicing without any pressure and facilitates great oral motor control/coordination.