How To Understand What Your Baby Is Saying

Have you ever considered the timeframe of when your baby goes from baby talk to actually saying words you can understand? It's faster than most think and to be honest, it caught me off guard.

I mean not that I didn't want my little one to develop on-schedule but I just didn't expect it to happen so fast.

So let me slip into explaining how development works as each month goes by.

After just 30 days after being born your baby should be able to somewhat comprehend speech.

And it should come as no surprise since they are constantly listening to our voices and watching our facial expressions.

Simple sounds will also begin.

These include sounds of happiness, hunger, crying etc.

Speaking of crying it's important to understand that crying is a big part of your baby growing up.

When they cry they do so for several reasons. It's up to you the parents to figure out what for. Crying is a part of the development of their communication skills and they will use it to speak to you.

As your baby slips into their second month of life the world is becoming a bigger and brighter place. It won't take much to instill excitement in them. They will be wide-eyed about even your voice.

More distinct sounds should pop up in their vocabulary as well. We've all heard those sounds. The "goos" and the "gaas". You may also find that there is quite the collection of communication sounds they could choose to use.

As you hear them make sounds you should respond to them. Speaking to your baby will help them develop their ability to speak.

When the third month begins your little one will be responding to your voice. They will recognize it and react to it. It's quite an intimate moment.

Now is the time to turn up talking with your baby and even add in some singing, if you haven't already done so.

When the fourth month rolls around more and more communication should be taking place with your baby. You may notice a greater amount of smiling - while their babbling may have a noticeably singsong quality to it, often ranging into a high pitch that delights him as he learns to like the sound of his own voice. There will be lots of repetition to the sounds that your baby makes.

It is important that you always respond to your baby's sounds with your own voice tones. This is your chance to have a "chat time" with your baby and you should take advantage of these times - you are helping him to discover the art of conversation. There will also be certain times when your baby may also not be in the mood for talking. He will turn his head in the other direction and may put his arm over his face. He may be showing signs of anger or frustration by crying out, especially if something is taken away from him.

When month number five arrives you will find that your baby is becoming better at communicating. It's possible that you will notice him imitate some sounds and gestures. By now he'll most likely be able to let you know if he's happy or sad. When attention is wanted your baby will babble until he is given the attention he feels he deserves. Interestingly, if you always respond to his communication efforts (whatever these may be) he'll repeat them whenever he wants your attention this way.

During this month it's likely that your baby will be looking at your mouth moving while you talk. Talk to him from across the room and he'll be able to find you with ease. He is learning to control his vocal sounds as he watches your response to his sounds.

At the beginning of month six your baby may now be using consonant-vowel combinations. It's quite possible that he has discovered his mirror reflection and is probably having conversations with himself. Your baby's language is becoming much more precise.

On the seventh month your baby is now continuing to learn how to use his newfound language skills. He may be able to do things such as wave goodbye and may accompany his wave with babbling sounds. He can say "mama" or "dada".
Month eight should have your baby playing games such as pat a cake and peek-a-boo. Even though he can't speak the words that belong to these games, he can babble and talk to himself. It's likely that your baby knows what the word "No" means by now as well.

From month number nine to their first birthday it is possible that by now your baby understands requests and commands such as "give it" or "don't touch that". Similarly, she may understand simple questions such as "where's your rattle?" At this time you should be encouraging your baby to use gestures (and you should respond to them). For example if your baby indicates she wants to be picked up then say "you want to be picked up?" while picking her up. This helps the learning process. You should also talk about everything that you do, and use gestures (and short sentences) as you're doing them.

Let me list some ways for you to assist your baby as they develop:

· Talk with your little one whenever they communicate with you. Paying attention and listening to them shows them that you care.

· Try to get your baby to speak to you. Try to get them to describe, talk about, make a sound about what they want or feel.

· When you are reading a book make sure to talk about it in simple language. Babies are great in picking up so many things as they listen to you.

· Be patient. Sometimes it takes a while for your little one to gather their thoughts and talk or make a noise. Wait for them.

From one-year-old and on an even greater adventure awaits you. Your little one will be able to say a few words and understand many. Cherish these moments as they seem to go by so fast for us parents.

For more info on parenting and or baby talk visit Parenting.com.