Why your baby makes strange noises and what to do about it

Baby talk is very cute. But did you know that it's crucial to respond to baby talk in the right way?

Much has been written about talking to your baby. But the way you respond to your baby's attempts to communicate is just as important. Your responses develop your baby's speech and language milestones, which in turn influence your child's learning ability. In fact, researchers have found that the way that kids are talked to results in differences in processing abilities – even as early as 18 months.

So what can you as a parent do when your baby makes noises? Here are tips that many pediatric speech-language pathologists use when working with babies and toddlers. The same tips apply to little ones who do not have words yet. The tips are just modified to your child’s current level of output.

The tips are simple, but they are extremely effective in jumpstarting your child’s speech and language skills.

1. Make sure to acknowledge your baby’s attempts to communicate

A baby is more likely to use her voice if she knows that her voice gives results. So, if she looks at you while babbling or cooing, do not look away.

Instead, pay attention to her. Smile at her, nod. Maybe say “uh huh,” or “yes.”

2. Praise

An extension of tip #1. Make sure that your baby knows that her babbling is appreciated. Babies are like older people. They love hearing nice things about themselves.

So make yourself very animated. Say “nice job!” or “look at you talking away!” It might sound silly to you at first. But your baby can tell the difference between praise, scolding, and indifference.

If her attempts to communicate are met with encouragement, she will try to say more things. The more she tries to say, the more she practices. The more she practices, the faster her communication skills will develop.

3. Imitate

Take whatever silly sound your child is making – whether it is raspberries or gurgling or jargon – and copy it. Look into your baby’s eyes, and say whatever he said back.

When you imitate your baby’s sounds, he will pay attention. This way, you are working on your baby’s joint attention, or the ability to pay attention to something with you. Joint attention is an important foundation for talking. If a child does not have joint attention established by 1, it is likely that he will not yet say his first words.

4. Have your child imitate you.

Imitating your baby’s sounds is also important because it develops his turn-taking skills. Although you are essentially “forcing” your turn by imitating him, he will see how to imitate. And with time, when you say things, he will be more likely to imitate.

When you want your baby to copy your sounds or your simple words, your best bet is to go with words that start with /p/, /b/, and /m/. These are the first sounds that your child gets. So words like “mama” and “papa” and “ball” and “baby” are good bets. You might just get the first sound at first, like “ma” or “pa” or “ba”, but that is normal.

You can have your child imitate you by first setting the foundation with you imitating him. Then you can get down to your baby’s level, make eye contact, and repeat what you say very slowly and clearly, 3-4 times.

Avoid commanding your child, with phrases like “say this.” This is following directions, more than it is communicating. Also, try not to force your child to copy you. Try a few times, then do something else. Come back an hour later for a few times and try again. Your child is still very little, and should not be engaged in anything even remotely resembling drill. He learns best through play and positive attention.

So there you have it. Four very easy tips that you can add into how you normally interact with your child, to jumpstart speech and language.

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.