Talking to newborn babies

Communicating

Communication encompasses so much more than just words, and before you hear actual words from your baby, you will begin to interpret her "language." Like adult language, this communication involves taking turns, dealing with personal emotions, and understanding other people's emotions.

Even in her first few days, your baby begins to develop the ability to respond to your tone of voice and to your facial expressions. By two months, she begins to use sounds, to link them to the way her parents respond to her. When a baby's cries of hunger bring her parents to feed her, she learns that with her voice she can begin to take some control over events.

In the first two months, the baby begins to babble and coo, often to express pleasure. When parents respond to the baby's babbling with baby talk of their own and look into their infant's eyes, they are beginning to teach her how to take turns in a conversational exchange. By about three months, parents make a subtle change in the way they talk to their babies. A mother might say, "How are you?" then pause as if waiting for the answer. That's the baby's cue to respond by babbling or laughing or just smiling.

Another important change happens about the three-month mark. As the baby's ability to focus her eyes improves, she starts to fix on interesting objects, especially brightly coloured toys. At this point, parents can pick up the object the baby has spied, bring it close to her and begin talking about it. A parent might pick up a doll, wiggle it, and say, "Look at the dolly." This helps the baby make a connection between an outside object and language -- the real basis of communication.

Nothing is as important to the infant's developing mastery of language as just talking to her. Researchers say it must be "directed talk" -- about things or actions on which the child has already focused. It may seem intimidating to have the responsibility of helping your baby learn vital communication skills in the first six months of life-along with all the basic daily care of feeding, burping, bathing, laundry, health checkups, and outings. Don't worry. Researchers say that most parents progress through their child's stages of communication at just the right speed without even being aware that they're doing so.

Experts cannot agree on whether we have a built-in ability to teach language skills to infants or whether we learned from our parents. Whatever the answer, most parents' instinctive responses to their child's attempts at communication seem to work without extra training. But there are a few things you can do as part of "directed talk" to focus your baby's developing communication skills. Make conversation a part of everything you do with your baby. Respond when he makes noises and gestures -- because he's pratising his side of the conversation, you have to do your part. Ask questions just as you would with an older child who is capable of answering. Such exchanges give your baby a chance to respond any way he can -- with a look, a frown, or a giggle.

You may show him books, read a story, and talk about the pictures as you turn the pages. Don't expect a baby to take more care of a hook than of a rattle. However, it's not too early to begin developing awareness that being read to is part of quiet time. And listening is an important aspect of all communication.

Although most parents listen eagerly for their child to say his first word, experts suggest they should watch for a more important development. Your baby should be learning to pay attention to you when you speak and to show pleasure and excitement over sounds. If by the age of three months your child seems indifferent to your conversation or doesn't seem to have the idea of taking turns making sounds, talk about it with your doctor who may choose to test her hearing or assess developmental progress. A child's inattention to sounds might signal a developmental problem, or it could be a sign of hearing problems. Keep in mind that even deaf babies babble and make noises in the same way as hearing infants, but at the age of six months they fall completely silent. Parents are usually the first to spot a hearing problem in their child.