Baby Language Development

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It is amazing how quickly communication skills develop in babies. Learn how communication happens, how speaking and listening develops, and what parents can do to get their baby talking.

Between the magic of a child's first words—received by a parent's enraptured attention—and the time when the child grows, real communication sometimes gets lost. It is not uncommon for frustrated parents to feel like their toddler or preschool has selective hearing and isn't listening to a word they say.

What happened between that moment of non-communication, and that miraculous moment of birth, not so long ago (when a mother crooned to her newborn baby, talking softly, communicating in the oldest manner known to mankind)? How does communication happen? How do speaking and listening develop, and is there anything we can do to improve communication skills and get the baby talking within our homes?

Babies Are Great Listeners

The old adage that babies are born with a clean slate, just waiting to be filled in by environmental stimuli, has been proved wrong time and time again. Infant language researchers believe that babies are born with a genetic aptitude for language. Studies have shown that mere hours after birth, a newborn can distinguish his mother's voice from that of another woman. At around four months of age, a baby smiles and recognizes his name. Babies only eight to nine months old can remember words from a story or a simple piece of music they have heard previously. By the time they say their first words around one year of age, children can understand hundreds more words; and once the language spigot is opened, the flow continues.

Yet, communication takes place long before a child speaks his first word. Mothers have learned to distinguish a "hunger" cry from an "I'm lonely, please pick me up" wail. A baby responds to his mother's voice with eye contact, coos, and gurgles, waving arms and legs, subtle body language, then not-so-subtle smiles and cries. A scolding or encouraging tone has come to mean everything, even before the words make sense.