16 Oct Babies First Words 101
When your baby learns to talk, it marks one of the biggest and most important milestones in their young life. This is something that many parents look forward to and something that many parents have questions about. Before your child even speaks their first words, they are going to start crying, babbling and making all types of noise. This baby-talk is non-verbal, but most parents can quickly interpret what these sounds mean, whether it indicates that baby is hungry, anxious or needs a change.
Eventually, these noises develop into actual verbal cues. Here are some of the milestones you can expect leading up to baby’s first words.
3 Months- At 3 months, your baby won’t be able to talk, but they will be listening to your voice and looking at your voice as you communicate with them. Typically, this is when baby’s start “cooing” which is an early type of vocalization they learn from hearing sounds and music around their homes.
6 Months- By this time, babies should start babbling and making all types of different sounds. These will be less sing-songy like cooing and sound more like actual words. You may hear your child say “ba-ba” or “da-da” which can be interpreted as “daddy or mama” but typically, it is nothing more than sounds. By the end of the sixth month, babies typically can recognize or respond to their own names and can even understand language tone to tell if people are happy or upset.
9 Months- At this point, most babies can understand some basic words such as “bye-bye” and most importantly “no.” They may start to make more noises that sound like real words as well.
12 Months- Between the age of 12-18 months, most babies will be able to say some simple words such as “dad and “mama” and can actually understand what they’re saying. They may also understand simple requests such as “stop” or “no” and be able to react.
18 Months- At this point, your baby should be able to say several simple words, and are going to reach a phase where they are repeating a lot of the words or the sounds they hear you say. They are also typically able to point to people and objects and give you the name for that person or thing.
If your baby is not talking by this 18-month milestone, they may just be a late-bloomer, but you may want to talk to your pediatrician about this and other important milestones. Here at Continuum Pediatrics, we can help you keep track of your baby’s milestones, including their verbal milestones to make sure they are staying on track. Just give Continuum Pediatrics a call at 817-617-8600 to schedule an appointment with one of our pediatricians.