My First Baby Milestones -first words

According to many "my first baby" books and websites,  a lot is written about all the practical aspects of looking after a baby. These are very important  but sometimes the "my first baby" articles don't tell you that by talking to your baby you will have a happpier baby who frets and cries less.

As a first-time parent, you are probably wondering when your baby's cooing will develop into his or her first words. Other questions about communication will usually come up too . As soon as a baby is born,  the lips and tongue start to acquire the capability essential to form speech. Plus, the brain also begins to match things up with their corresponding names. You need to be patient, though, as babies normally pronounce their first real words at 11 months and onwards.

The rate at which babies acheive this milestone will vary. If you want your baby will get to this stagephase more quickly you have to make an effort to help him (or her) do so.  And there is nothing tough about it. As a matter of fact , there are many of uncomplicated and exciting things you can do to teach baby talk.

How Do Babies Learn to Communicate?

Really your little one is basically mastering the capacity to communicate day in and day out . Each and every time he or she cries , you typically do your best to make him (or her) feel far better. The way you react and the manner in which you react to your baby's noise-making generally set the groundwork for language and how you help baby talk

By two months, your child is already capable of responding to your cues. Your cues are the words you say. In addition, the higher-pitched way in which you speak keeps him/her entertained and encourages understanding of words and sentences. That's why each time you speak to your little one, he or she stares back at you and makes cooing sounds in response. It's in this way that infants talk with their parents.

By the time your little one turns six months old , he or she will normally begin to babble. This will be a sequence of sounds a little like words, but which don't necessarily mean anything . Baby babbling is the way babies love practising and  exercising  the muscles of the mouth which they will bring into use later when speaking genuine words.  At first, the sounds will only be made up of vowels like ah. ow, oh, ee, uh. After that, his or her nonsense words will then contain consonants like m,b,d, because these are the consonants infants find easiest to pronounce at first . Inside a few months, your child will attempt to mimic your words and other sounds.

How To Teach Baby to Talk

Match up things up with names. - At mealtime , forillustration, give the names for eating utensils like the plate, spoon, fork, cup and the like. Each time you say the word, point to or hold the item and repeat the word at least three times.

Have fun . - Playing games like "peek-a-boo" really reinforces listening, mimicking and taking turns -all of which are required facets of carrying out a conversation.

Read together. --In the beginning , your infant won't comprehend the words you say. Nevertheless, reading to your baby will encourage his or her senses and foster an everlasting fondness for books, which will be an outstanding foundation for later accomplishment at school.

Prattle back. -- Each time your child babbles, say something similar in reply. For instance, if he or she says "ba ba", you might copy him and say "ba ba" yourself, or reply with something like "Hey, boo boo." The fun you can have with silly sounds, in fact make learning a lot more enjoyable. Just remember to pause for a short time to let your little one babble back to get used to the pattern of a real conversation.

Sing. -- Babies, by nature, have a fascination for music. Singing, therefore, is a terrific way of introducing a wide array of sounds and words.   Songs with animal sounds are great because they will delight baby and you can have fun with the sounds long before baby can actually say words.

Your little one's first word is, definitely, an exciting milestone. Remember , though, that babies develop at unique rates. You may also find out more about how to teach baby to talk by reading the "language and communication" section of My First Baby books. Also, congratulate yourself when your baby reaches the first words milestone and appreciate that you helped to teach your baby to talk.

Teaching babies to talk - Vitamin D may play a role

It recently emerged that vitamin D may play an important role in child language development. Scientists in Australia conducted tests over  many years - monitoring vitamin D levels of mothers during pregnancy and their children's language levels at various ages. There were significant differences in that the children of mothers with least vitamin D had less well-developed language abilities.

The authors of the report caution that the results need to be replicated in other populations before firm conclusions can be drawn. However, their findings may indicate vitamin D testing in pregnant women and vitamin supplementation are advisable. The UK department of health  already has taken steps to ensure that mothers have access to vitamin D supplements through their Health Start scheme

So as well as using strategies to actively teach baby to talk , making sure your vitamin levels are at a good level may impact on how well your child learns to talk.

Baby Speech Development and TV

Reuters AlertNet - Educational DVDs don't help toddlers' language-study: "NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters Life!) - Putting children in front of educational DVDs does not help boost their language skills, according to a U.S. study that focused on one product, the Baby Wordsworth from the Walt Disney Company's Baby Einstein series.

While The Baby Einstein Co does not make educational claims, it notes on its web page that the Baby Wordsworth DVD is a 'playful introduction to words and sign language.'

A study by researchers at the University of California, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, put the DVD to the test with one and two-year-olds.

For six weeks, 88 children were randomly assigned to either watching the DVD a few times a week or not at all. Researchers then tested the language skills in each group based on how many words the children knew according to their parents and how well they did in a lab test.

At the end of the period, toddlers who had watched the DVD fared no better than those who hadn't.

Children in both groups understood about 20 of the 30 words highlighted in the DVD, on average, and spoke 10. Their general language development showed no difference, either.

The researchers also asked parents about their childrens' television viewing before entering the study. The earlier a child started watching Baby Einstein DVDs, it turned out, the smaller his or her vocabulary was.

The Baby Einstein Company emphasized in an e-mail to Reuters Health that it 'does not claim educational outcomes.'

On its web page, it notes that its products 'are not designed to make babies smarter,' but rather 'to engage babies and provide parents with tools to help expose their little ones to the world around them.'

The study's finding is in line with earlier research, said Rebekah Richert, a psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, who led the study, but it is unclear if the DVDs themselves are responsible.

Parents who place their kids in front of the screen could be trying to remedy slow language development, or they could be using the DVDs as baby sitters, cutting back on social stimulation.

'A lot of children, particularly when they're young, seem to have these kinds of (DVDs),' Richert told Reuters Health. 'My take-home message would be to encourage live interaction between parent and child.'

Although it is not well understood how watching television affects language, Richert and colleagues wrote in their report that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children younger than two stay away from the screen.

Some experts have even suggested that baby videos might be harmful by impeding social and cognitive learning.

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Teach Baby to Talk

Many people don't realise that the time to start to teach baby to talk is from the moment baby is born.

Speaking to a baby automatically fires up the brain cells within the baby. As the child hears more words and is exposed to more ideas, brain connections are made which leads to better understanding. Although your baby can't speak when he is born, he can hear, has emotions he needs to express and has desperate need to hear voices and learn about the world he has arrived in. Everything you say to your baby from the moment she is born is being stored in baby's brain for later use, until the muscles in the mouth are developed enough for her to actually make the right sounds.

Babies learn to pronounce words by listening to words. They also learn how to put together simple sentences by listening to others. Talking to your baby from day one is actually teaching him or her how to talk. sets up a good base for later communication skills development such as reading and writing. It has been shown that the more a child is spoken to up to the age of three years, the larger the child's vocabulary grows. Children with the largest vocabularies at age three go on to make the most progress at school in later years. A child exposed to early vocabulary will often have a deeper level of understanding of words and ideas than those who did not.

Communication skills are also important at a social level. As your child grows, he or she will need to be able to express thoughts, feelings, goals, and other important issues with you and with others. By helping your child early on to learn words and ideas, he or she will be better able to express those thoughts to others.

The time you spend with your baby helping him or her to learn to talk is time invested in your relationship with each other. Because you are spending time with your child, he or she will feel loved and secure. This can lead to higher levels of confidence and self-esteem later on in life. This effect is longlasting. It lasts a lifetime. Learning to teach baby to talk isn't difficult or complicated