Gestures and body movements: From birth, babies move their bodies to communicate when they are upset or to protest when they are being put down. Soon, they may indicate the desire for an activity to continue or happen again. For example, your baby may keep bouncing after you've stopped playing horsey.

As babies learn to control their bodies, their movements become more and more deliberate. They lift their arms to say that they want to be picked up and squirm when they want to be put down. Eventually they learn to point to desired toys that are beyond their reach, shake their heads "no," and hold out an empty cup to indicate they want more to drink. Babies also learn to play games with other people such as peek- a-boo, "So Big," and pat-a-cake.

Children must have a reason to talk or they will not develop language. The use of sounds, facial expressions, body movements, and gestures lays the groundwork for talking.

Sound development

Talking requires very precise coordination of the tongue, lips, teeth, and jaw, along with breathing and vibration of the voice box. This coordination develops as babies develop physical control and are able to experiment with a variety of sounds.

From early on, babies make "ah" sounds if someone talks to them. They soon begin using a variety of sounds. Babies will coo and use vowel sounds (such as ooh, ah, u and oo), especially if someone picks them up, talks to them, or smiles at them. Babies may even repeat these sounds again after someone has imitated them. They also laugh, yell, and scream. As babies gain more control of their lips, tongue, and teeth, they produce consonants (such as d, b, m, and g) and then well-defined syllables (such as ma, da and u). They will also babble (repeat short, specific sounds such as ba-ba-ba over and over).

At 9 to 10 months, - some babies may say "momma," "da-da," or specific names. They speak in jargon-a combination of consonants with varied inflection which sounds speech-like. They also experiment with an increasing number of different sounds (such as s, f, z, or th). Generally, they will not use these sounds when they say their first words. Between the ages of 12 to 18 months, babies tend to gradually develop new words. By 19 to 21 months, most babies have a vocabulary of about ten to fifty words.

By 18 to 24 months, children have developed the thinking skills necessary for talking. They can communicate effectively, but want to learn new words to communicate better. Their lips, tongue, and teeth are developed enough for them to experiment with a variety of sounds.

Now they're ready to use these sounds to make specific words. Language precursors are established and talking will develop at a fast rate.

For more information

Lansky, B., and M. Maratsos. 1986. Baby talk.

Deephaven, MN: Meadowbrook.

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