Crying, Cooing, Communication: Baby's First Year

babies learn a lot their first year of Life by their first birthday a baby will be able to follow simple directions that's a candle can you blow it out and might even say a word or two there's a lot you can do to help them get to this point from their first newborn cry babies are constantly soaking up new information they start learning right at Birth by talking playing and reading with your baby you can help them learn about their world do you like it when I rub your back long before they say their first

words babies are building communication skills communication is made up of two parts receptive and expressive skills receptive skills are what babies take in it's time for your bottle and expressive skills are what babies put out these two parts of communication are equally important and both begin to develop at Birth baby learns receptive and expressive skills by watching and imitating you Mama good talking it's important to respond when baby cries CS or tries to communicate with you in any way what's wrong this shows them that you are listening and that communication is a two-way street that's

better describe to baby what you are doing let's get a fresh diaper on you talk in a slow sing songy voice are are you smiling at me point out objects while you talk sock this is your sock respond to and imitate baby sounds ba Bubba yes this is a ball and describe pictures while you read together here's an elephant he is big and gray all of these activities will help baby learn new words keep track of your baby's communication development make note of important Milestones by 3 months your baby should hold eye contact with you

turn their head towards sound quiet or smile in response to your voice and make sounds other than crying is baby putting everything in their mouth good this helps them learn how their lips tongue and jaw work by six months baby should begin babbling like ba ba ba and wah wah wah and use babbling to get attention around this time baby will enjoy games like peekaboo and fear loud and unexpected noises oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you by 9 months your baby should be adding new sounds when babbling and look at people and

familiar objects when named where's Teddy baby will begin to use body language to let you know what they want ah ah ah you want to be picked up come here and they will continue to learn new skills through imitation good job by 12 months baby should use Mama and Dad to call mom and dad make sounds back and forth with others and respond to simple directions at this time baby will pay attention to where you are looking and pointing look at the doggy and maybe saying their first one or two words you can help baby

learn even more words by building on the ones they already know doy yeah big doggy if you're concerned that your baby is not reaching Milestones trust your instincts talk to your healthcare provider and don't hesitate to schedule a screening with a speech language pathologist for more information please visit pathways.org call 1 800 955 child or contact us at friends pathways.org