Before your baby starts to speak your first word, they will communicate with you via crying and cooing. They will develop speech when they get a little older. The first stage of speech development is babbling in babies. It is a joy for parents to see their baby making their first sounds and trying to communicate.
Babbling is an important breakthrough in the language development of a child. As parents, it is important to encourage the babble and show appreciation by clapping and laughing. Different babies have different milestones when it comes to babbling and other modes of speech development. In this article, we explain when you can expect your baby to start babbling and related timelines from first sounds to first speech development.
In This Article
- What is Baby Babble?
- How Does Babbling in Babies Develop?
- When Do Babies Start Talking?
- How to Encourage Your Baby Babbling to Speak Words?
- When Should You Worry About the Baby Not Babbling?
- FAQ’s
What is Baby Babble?
Baby babble is nothing but baby jargon. It is the combination of vowels and consonants that make up words like “pa”, “a-ha”, and “ga-ga”. They might be meaningless to adults, but the beginning of articulation and speech in infants.
It is the second mode of communication for the baby after crying. Babbling should not be a sign of worry for the parents. In fact, it is a healthy sign that your baby is babbling. It is a stepping stone to the development of infants’ speech. It is a sign of the development of the brain and nervous system. Your baby is trying to understand the meaning of conversations around them through the babble. This can take the shape of proper speech in the later stages of growth and development.
How Does Babbling in Babies Develop?
Baby babbling develops with time and goes through various stages. They develop such tonality to express themselves through pain and pleasure. The stages that depict how baby babble develops are as follows:
Birth to Three Months(0 to 3 Months)
Crying is the basic mode of communication in this stage followed by sulking and cooing. This is the pre-babbling stage where the baby produces sounds like “Aaaaaa”, “Oooooo” and “Uuuuuu” to interact with their guardian.
Four to Six Months(4 to 6 Months)
This is the stage where the baby tries to babble for the first time by combining vowels and consonants. They produce cute yet gibberish sounds like “goo-goo”, “boo-boo” and “ba-ba”.
Seven to Twelve Months(7 to 12 Months)
The baby produces more advanced babbling sounds like “baba-baba”, and “ma- mamma” with improved vocalization and understanding.
This is how the baby babble develops throughout various stages and development.
[Read : Top Reasons Why The Baby Is Crying]
When Do Babies Start Talking?
After the babbling stage, the baby continues to develop speech and gain control over emotions and words. They utter one-liner words that convey their emotional thoughts. They start talking during this stage:
One to Two Years(1 to 2 Years)
During this stage, the baby has crossed the babbling stage and utters more meaningful one-liners. Their vocabulary grows and gains command over the language. The grammar is not perfect in the beginning but it will get better with time as their cognitive functions develop.
Two to Four Years(2 to 4 Years)
The baby develops speech and has good control over their vocabulary. They can go on from uttering a proper word to a two-three lettered sentence in length.
During these two phases, the infant has a proper command over words, and they transition from entering the talking phase to the babbling stage.
How to Encourage Your Baby Babbling to Speak Words?
Here are some of the ways to encourage your baby to babble.
- It is important for the parents to listen to the baby’s conversation with utmost care and sincerity.
- Imitate the baby’s babble. You will see that your baby is more cheerful when you emulate them and it will encourage them to babble more.
- Give your baby a picture book and talk about it.
- Sing and dance with your baby. You can hear them imitating some words from the song if he/she hears that particular song daily.
- Take your baby to an amusement park and introduce them to new places. You can also take it as a sight-seeing opportunity and point out objects such as “trees”, “trains” and “parks” to the baby. You will see that your child will also imitate you and express himself in an adorable, baloney way.
- Do not interrupt your baby during babbling. It is good for the development of the auditory nervous system and speech.
- Always encourage your baby with a cheerful nod and a bright smile.
- Try giving your baby a variety of foods. Include vegetables and fruits in their diet. You can see that your child reacts to a certain kind of food. They gaggle sometimes which is normal and crucial to encourage babbling.
[Read : Understanding Baby Talk: Communicate With Your Baby]
When Should You Worry About the Baby Not Babbling?
If your child is unable to use his voice to communicate then you should be concerned about your child’s language and speech development.
There could be many reasons for your baby not babbling. Some of them could be
- Hearing loss
- Nervous System Impairment
- Lack of communication
- Maturation delay
- Less social interaction
It is advisable for the parents to visit the pediatrician or a speech therapist at the earliest to find out the root cause of the problem.
Babbling in babies is a huge breakthrough in the development of speech. Your baby will start babbling at around 4-6 months of age when they will attempt to play with the sounds and utter endearing, mumbo jumbo syllables.
It is highly recommended for the parents to be loving and respond whenever their child babbles. Take them to beautiful places and talk to them in one-liners so that they open up and babble. It is very crucial to be engaged in every aspect of child development so that the baby is healthier and happy. You should acknowledge the fact that the happy baby is a talkative baby.
FAQ’s
1. What Age is the Babbling Stage?
The babbling age usually develops around 4-6 months. After crossing the pre-babbling stage of crying and cooing, the baby produces sounds that are a combination of vowels and consonants. The baby speaks in a cute yet balderdash way producing sounds like “pa”,”ga”, “Koo”, and “da”.
After 7-9 months, the baby has reached the advanced level in the babbling stage where he/she produces more refined words like “mama” ,”baba”, and “dadadadda”. You may feel that the child is imitating you. These two stages are the babbling stage.
2. Should I Babble Back to My Baby?
Yes, you should babble back to your baby. It will help the baby in the following ways.
- Improves cognitive development.
- Helps in the development of muscles around the mouth and its surrounding region.
- Helps in brain development.
- Encourages baby to be a happy and communicative baby.
Read Also: When Will My Baby Speak Her First Word?
