Babies communicate as soon as they are born through crying, cooing, squealing, facial expressions, eye contact, smiling and body movements like moving legs in excitement or distress.
Here are some ways you can support your baby.
- When you dress, feed or bathe your baby, talk them through what you are doing.
- Talk about what is happening next e.g. what you’re going to do next in the day.
- Singing is a good way to communicate with your baby giving comfort and encouraging language.
- Read to your baby. Your baby will love to hear your voice and bright pictures will interest your baby.
- When your baby is babbling, repeat the sounds back to them. Encourage your baby to respond. Have a “conversation” with them which will help them understand the “pattern” of conversational interactions
- When you are dressing your baby point to parts of your baby’s body and then make up rhymes to sing along whilst you are pointing to bits of their body.
- Use gestures to communicate, like waving hello or goodbye.