What Is The Age A Baby Talks?

Most parents for the first time are curious when the baby will say “mama” or “dada’; the first words of a baby are special and unforgettable memories for parents.

A few pointers regarding when a baby talks:

• The receptive language of a baby develops much before the expressive language; the baby first absorbs what is spoken to him/her that soon becomes the baby’s vocabulary.

• Observing a baby up to the age of 3 months it is significant to note that the baby communicates first with crying; this indicates that the baby wants to communicate something. It is observed that different cries of babies are used to communicate different things.

• Between the age of 4 to 6 months most babies start babbling making the sounds using vowels, followed by vowels and consonants; he/she makes sounds like 'Ooh' and 'Aah', followed by words like 'Da-Da' and 'Ba-Ba.' The baby responds by either cooing or smiling.

• The baby becomes more receptive and follows simple instructions between the ages of 7 to 12 months; most babies blow kisses and wave goodbye at this stage. This is the exciting phase when many babies try to imitate the parent’s gestures and sounds.

• Parents could help their baby to start talking by imitating the baby sounds of your baby and smiling and laughing back at him/her; this encourages the baby to imitate you.

• Most babies utter the first words between the ages of 11 to 14 months, with babies saying approximately 20 words by the time they are 18 months. It is however found that most boys speak later than girls; also not all babies in the same family start talking at the same age.

• At 4 years most children start chatting away and narrating stories; it is a real pleasure for parents to hear stories from children. 

• A baby develops vocabulary faster when the parent talks to the baby as he/she does tasks for them; when putting on his/her shoes say, "Mummy is putting your shoes" and while putting him/her in the pram say, "Mummy is putting you on your pram."   

• Parents can help their babies to learn new words by reading out from first word books. He/she may first point out words before being able to ultimately say them.

• A baby’s development of learning and speech skills is affected by their state of health, nutrition, emotional factors and social factors; There is a need for consultation with the doctor if your baby does not start babbling at the age of 1 year, if your baby does not respond or turn his head to loud sounds or his/her name being called and when your baby does not say anything at the age of 16 months.

To conclude it has been observed that certain gifted children also speak late.  

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