Six Ways to Encourage Language Development in Your Baby

You bring your sweet baby home from the hospital. A few weeks later, he or she starts to smile at you and stay awake for longer periods of time. Your baby’s first word may still be a long way off, but did you know that there are several simple, low effort things that you can be doing to help your baby learn to communicate?

Believe it or not, your baby will develop skills in their first few months of life that set the foundation for the milestone that all parents look forward to -- the first word.

As your baby develops language, they will first learn to desire social interaction with other people. This is important because only through social interaction will your baby learn language. As your baby hears you talk and use words to label objects, they will develop the ability to understand what you are saying (receptive language). After they are able to understand words, then they will start to use these words to communicate with others (expressive language). Check out another blog post of ours for an overview on receptive language and expressive language!

But what does this look like practically? How exactly can you work on these skills with your infant? Here are six simple activities that will help set a solid foundation for your baby’s language in their first year of life:

1. Let your baby see your face.

One of the first things you can do even from the day you come home from the hospital is let your baby see your face. Do this often. In fact, your face is one of the most important things for your baby to look at. When you hold your baby, try holding them facing you so they can look at your face. We all know that tummy time is an important skill to practice. Did you know that when your baby lays belly down on your chest, this also counts as tummy time? Since looking at your face is your baby’s biggest motivator, he will slowly start to learn to pick up his head to look at it. While doing tummy time on the floor, get down on your tummy as well and face your baby. This will make tummy time a social activity as well as give your baby a motivator (your face) to lift his head. Give your baby fun reasons to look at your face such as sticking your tongue out or making funny facial expressions. They will eventually try to imitate your expressions. Your baby will learn how to imitate actions and facial expressions before imitating words. After this, they will learn to independently use words!

2. Talk with your baby.

From the day you bring your baby home from the hospital, talk to them! Narrate what you are doing. Act as if they understand you! Use a method of talking to your baby called Motherese or infant-directed speech. This method utilizes a slow-pace, high-pitch voice that is very engaging for your baby. Research has also shown it to be very beneficial for language development. When your baby is just a few months old, they will begin to laugh and then start making sounds (cooing or babbling). When this happens, be sure to talk back to your baby. Pretend like you understand what they are saying. Have a conversation! This will teach them that you are interesting and worth interacting with. They will also learn that they can vocalize to get your attention. When you respond, this will reinforce their sounds, and they will learn that communication is a back and forth dialogue between two people.

Diaper changes are a good time to talk to your baby as they are already facing you and looking at you. Use simple words to talk to your baby. As they talk back to you in babbles or coos, talk back to them. Don’t be afraid to babble back at them so they can learn to imitate you. Your baby must learn to imitate sounds before they can imitate words. And once they can imitate words, they will then learn to use those words independently!

3. Play on the floor with your baby.

When your baby begins to start holding toys and picking them up to play with, actively sit down or lay down with your baby on the floor and play together. Not only is it good for motor development for your baby to be free to play on the floor, but children also learn best through play. Teach your child it is fun to play with others. The more you talk to your baby as they interact with you through play, the more they will be exposed to language.

4. Read with your baby.

This is probably the piece of advice you have heard most as a new parent. But you may not understand exactly why it’s important. The best part about reading is that it is a shared activity between parent and baby. Whenever a baby is able to participate in a shared activity with an adult or older child, there is an opportunity for language to be learned. When you are reading a book, position yourself so that your baby can look at you and the book easily. You are then able to see what your baby is looking at so you can label it and give them the word for what they are seeing. As your baby continues to hear a word, they will begin to understand that word in reference to its picture. After hearing you use the word dog every time they see a picture of a dog, eventually they will understand what you mean when you say the word “dog.” Then you might be able to ask “Where’s the dog?” And your baby would look at the dog or point to it. Eventually your baby will see the picture of the dog and independently say “dog!”

5. Use gestures.

Gestures are an important step in language development. Babies will be able to use gestures before they will be able to use words. The use of gestures is important because it shows that your baby understands that actions or words symbolize something else. They will learn that when they use a gesture, it will help them attain a purpose or acquire a desired object. Every time a parent leaves to go to work, wave “bye bye.” It may take weeks or months of modeling this, but eventually your baby will learn that in this situation when someone is walking away and getting in the car, that they should wave their hand. Then eventually they will be able to pair the word “bye bye” with that gesture. Here are some other gestures you can model for your baby: pointing, clapping, baby sign language, and blowing kisses.

6. Sing to your baby

Singing to your baby is another shared activity between parent and baby. It not only encourages social interaction, but it is an opportunity for your baby to learn new words. Singing engages babies and catches their attention. When you combine gestures such as clapping or hand motions, you are also teaching your baby that communication can happen through gestures as well. Some of my favorite songs are: “If You’re Happy and You Know it,” “Wheels on the Bus,” and “Open Shut Them.”

If you have questions about your baby’s language, reach out!

I know first hand that parenting an infant is difficult work, so I hope that you’ve found these language development tips to be simple, achievable and able to easily be woven throughout your day during diaper changes, feedings, and wake time. As always, if you have concerns about your child’s language development or if these skills don’t seem to come naturally to him or her, please reach out to us at Steel City Speech for a speech and language evaluation!!

Resource: What should my child be able to do?

**As an additional helpful resource, refer below to a chart taken from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association regarding infant language milestones

    Hearing and Understanding
    Talking
  


    Birth–3 Months
 - Startles at loud sounds.
- Quiets or smiles when you talk.
- Seems to recognize your voice; quiets if crying.
    Birth–3 Months
- Makes cooing sounds.
- Cries change for different needs.
- Smiles at people.
  

    4–6 Months
- Moves her eyes in the direction of sounds.
- Responds to changes in your tone of voice.
- Notices toys that make sounds.
- Pays attention to music.
    4–6 Months
- Coos and babbles when playing alone or with you. 
- Makes speech-like babbling sounds, like pa, ba, and mi.
- Giggles and laughs.
- Makes sounds when happy or upset.
  

    7 Months–1 Year
- Turns and looks in the direction of sounds.
- Looks when you point.
- Turns when you call her name.
- Understands words for common items and people—words like cup, truck, juice, and daddy.
- Starts to respond to simple words and phrases, like “No,” “Come here,” and “Want more?”
- Plays games with you, like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake.
- Listens to songs and stories for a short time.
    7 Months–1 Year
- Babbles long strings of sounds, like mimi upup babababa.
- Uses sounds and gestures to get and keep attention.
- Points to objects and shows them to others.
- Uses gestures like waving bye, reaching for “up,” and shaking his head no.
- Imitates different speech sounds.
- Says 1 or 2 words, like hi, dog, dada, mama, or uh-oh. This will happen around his first birthday, but sounds may not be clear.
  