Your baby  starts learning to talk during the first two years of life. The baby begins by making sounds such as “oohs” and ” aahs “. As early as  6 months, he will begin to utter words like “mama” and “dada”. He will start picking up words from people around him.  From 18 months to 2 years, the baby  makes 2 to 4 words sentences. As your baby grows mentally, emotionally and behaviorally, he will begin to use words to describe what he sees, hears, feels, want and thinks.

How do babies learn to talk ?

 
Language starts while the baby is in utero. Your baby gets use to the sound of your heart and voice and can discern among yours and others.

Birth to 3 months

Crying is your baby’s first form of communication. You may be able to tell your baby’s needs from the sound of his voice. Around  this time the baby is also starting to recognize how sounds and how sentences are structured.

4 to 6 months

Your baby will start babbling words like “baba” and “yaya”. He may be able to respond to his name. He may also chip in ” mama” and “dada” now and then. You may notice that your baby like words like “da” and “ka” because he likes  the way they sound and feel in his mouth when he says them.

7 to 12 months

Your baby  vocalizes now. She is trying out tones similar to what she hears. You can help the baby by talking and reading to him.

13 to 18 months

Your child is now using one or more words and she knows what they mean. He  may even raise his  tone when asking questions. He knows language is important and uses it to communicate his needs.

19 to 24 months

The baby uses less than 50 words and understands most of what he says. It is essential to watch your language around this time because he picks up more words everyday. By age 2 , he may be using 2 to 4 letter words and may be singing tunes. He  will start talking about what he  likes or dislikes. Pronouns may confuse him at this time.

25 to 36 months

Your child with start getting a hang on his pronounce. His vocabulary will continue to expand and he will understand most of the things you say. He will start putting nouns and pronouns together. By the time he is 3, he will be able to carry on a sustained conversation.

How to help your baby talk ?

 
You can help your baby talk by doing the following :

• read to your child . It is  a great way to introduce your child to new vocabulary
• talk to your child. Describe what you are doing, ask questions and sing songs
• be a good listener. Let your child know you are interested in what he is talking about

 
If you have problems with your child’s speech such as speech delays , let your child’s doctor know.
 
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