Gurgles To Gab: A Guide To Language Development In The First Three Months.

I would not layer a bunch of sounds on top of each other. That's a lot for a newborn. To three month old to process. So one sound at a time. So you're going to talk and, or sing. You're going to engage in frequent conversations with your baby. You're going to talk about anything and everything. You're going to sing nursery rhymes and lullabies to them. If you don't know any, you can Google it. Talk to them. Describe what you're doing. Mama's walking down the stairs.

Mama's changing your wet diaper. And now you have a dry bottom. Daddy's mowing the lawn. Daddy's running the vacuum. Labeling everything that's going on in your environment puts language to behavior. Hearing parents, voices is essential for language development. They must see your lips and tongue moving as they hear your language. So you want to do as much. Looking at your baby's face while you're talking, as you possibly can. You want to hear some things to look for in this timeframe?

You want to look for your baby to respond to the sound of your voice. So remember, this is going to be an emerging skill. It's not going to be present at birth. It's going to be emerging between birth and three months. You want to look for your baby to turn her head to locate sounds. There may be a dog barking on the other side of the room and they will begin to kind of move their eyes to look around for where that sound is coming from.

Your baby will cry different cries to communicate what they need. Yes. Crying is one of the very first language skills that you're going to hear. Eating or sucking is also a language skill, all the development in the lips and the tongue and the cheeks. That's all part of language development. You're going to look for your baby to make simple. Sounds like. Eh, when she is awake, you're going to watch for your baby to look at people when they are talking to her.

You're going to look at her eyes and watch the movement. Your baby's going to begin to make sounds with her saliva. Your baby will begin to CU using vowel sounds like, ah, E a hole, respond to your baby's cooing when your baby starts to coup and make vocalizations. Mimic their sounds in return. This. Encourages a conversational type exchange. This demonstrates the concept of back and forth communication. And encourages your child to make more vocalizations. Your baby will take turns.

Imitating sounds with you. We call this reciprocal vocalization. So when your baby squeals, you need to squeal and return when she says. You're going to say back. Back and forth. And that mimicking strengthens the desire for your baby to make sounds. It's an encouragement to her. It's a positive reinforcement, so to speak. Okay. Here's the second thing. You can do to help support your baby's language development. You want to provide eye contact. And demonstrate.

Facial expressions face-to-face with your baby. So during your interactions, you want to maintain eye contact, use exaggerated, facial expressions. To capture your baby's attention. And help them understand emotions and social cues. Babies and young children do not acquire language from screens. They must see your lips and tongue moving as they hear your language. So that face-to-face contact is essential. Number three. The third thing you can do is read to your baby.

And I know that this feels kind of uncomfortable or strange for some parents. Just get a few board books, you can get them at the library. TJ Maxx has a really great. Affordable. Section of great developmental toys and books, but get some simple board books, black and white books are great at this age or brightly colored books. They don't even have to have words, you just show your baby the pictures and you can talk about the pictures. Tana Hoban did.

A series of four books black on white, white on black. And I can't remember the names of their two right now, but they're just black and white pictures and you're just going to label them and tell them there's a mitten that goes on your hand in the winter time. So it's the language and the relationship time. That's important. They're in there reading.

Your baby's not going to understand the words, but reading books with colorful pictures and rhythmic language is beneficial for their language development. So just get a few board books and you can read the same ones over and over because they take something new. Every time you read a book, even if it's the same book. The fourth thing you can do to support your baby's language development is to do some baby sign language. And again, you can get this online there.

Our systems and books and all kinds of things you can purchase, but you can Google basic baby sign language. And get. The simple milk diaper and more three simple signs. And that's all you really need. But you can introduce these simple signs. And your baby's not going to sign back yet for many, many, many months, but it can aid in communication. They can sign more way before they can say more.

So. So this is a great tool to help with frustration that may occur as your baby gets older and help with some of your learning, your baby, what your baby's needs are. Fifth thing you can do to support early language development. Is music and sounds. Play music expose your baby to various sounds and music. Use rattles chimes. Even clapping or snapping. That engages your child's auditory senses.

So remember that at this age, the primary goal is to create a warm, loving, and stimulating environment for your baby. These activities should be enjoyable and not forced. You can make these part of a developing routine after your baby has rested been and been fed. Typically a small time of alert play emerges. Their eyes are especially wide open, especially bright. You'll see a little bit of movement and they're telling you, Hey mom, I want to play. So it's a great time to read to them.

Have some talk time. And, and just really engage in some, some beginning level kind of play. So, this is also a great time to playfully bond with your baby. So if you've drifted off, come back to me for a recap. Are you there? Here are the five things a parent can do to support language development. One. Talking and singing to your baby. To make eye contact and facial expressions. Three, read to your baby for teach three or four simple signs.

By learning those signs yourself and making the signs as you talk, always use language with those signs. And fifth. Is to play music. And offer a variety of sounds and your environment. These are all simple, fun things you can do with your baby. You can do them while they're sitting in your are laying in your arms. You can do the Mueller doing tummy time. These are all important things. To get from gerbil gurgles to gab. And just take your time. Enjoy this quiet time with your baby.

And just spend these this time getting to know them.