Supporting Your Baby’s Communication

Talking Point is a resource for parents and professionals with information about communication, including supporting your baby’s communication.

Talking Point says that speech, language and communication play a vital role in our lives. Without being able to talk to, and understand other people we can’t do things like:

• Communicate with our families.
• Buy things at the shops.
• Watch television.
• Build relationships.
• Socialise.
• Learn.
• Go to work.

Fortunately, most children do learn to communicate. Children develop communication skills from birth. They rely on speech, language and communication to be able to learn at school and play with their friends. They need these skills to reach their full potential.

Children need to:

• Learn to understand words, sentences and conversations. This is often called ‘receptive language’.
• Learn how to talk using words and sentences. This is often called ‘expressive language’.
• Know how to use their language socially. For example, listening as well as talking, or talking to a teacher differently than to a friend. This is often called ‘pragmatic language’.
• Say speech sounds correctly so they can be understood by others.

Children begin to understand words before they can say them. They then learn how to say these words and how to put them together to make sentences.

Children develop speech, language and communication skills at different rates. Some develop quickly, while others may take longer.

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 6 months, usually children will:

• Turn towards a sound when they hear it.
• Be startled by loud noises.
• Watch your face when you talk to them.
• Recognise your voice.
• Smile and laugh when other people smile and laugh.
• Make sounds to themselves, like cooing, gurgling and babbling.
• Make noises, like coos or squeals, to get your attention.
• Have different cries for different needs. For example one cry for hunger, another when they are tired.

There are lots of things you can do to encourage your child at this stage:

• Copy sounds your baby makes. This will encourage more noises and is the start of conversations.
• Hold your baby near your face when you talk to them so that they can see you clearly.
• Talk to your baby about what you are doing. This will help them to start to learn words. (stitech.edu)
• Talk in a sing-song voice to your baby. This will keep them interested in what you are saying.
• Have some special time with your child each day to play with toys and picture books.

Speech and language skills develop from a very early age. However, some children do not develop the early skills they need.

This can be very difficult to spot from an early age. Here are four examples that would cause concern at 6 months:

• If a baby is not startled by loud noises.
• If a baby does not engage in eye contact when spoken to.
• If a baby does not smile back at someone smiling at them.
• If a baby does not watch a speaker’s face with interest.

If you have any concerns, you should speak to your health visitor, GP or paediatrician.

For more information go to: Talking Point

Written by Rachel Harrison, speech and language therapist, on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. www.integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk