When asking a question about when a child will start talking, it should be understood that this does not happen spontaneously. The first conscious words and sentences are immediately preceded by several so-called preparatory stages.
Speech development stages
From the very first days after the birth of the baby, the crumbs show initial vocal reactions, namely, crying and screaming. Of course, they are still very far from our usual speech, but these are important processes that allow us to develop respiratory, articulatory and voice devices. After 2 weeks, the baby begins to respond to the voices of the speakers, listen when they talk to him. And from 2-3 months, the babies have a characteristic hoot (sounds like "aha", "aha", "gkkh" and others). Until six months, babies continue to “play” with sounds in this way, and by the age of 7-8 months, they have the ability to imitate the sounds that adults make (“ma-ma-ma”, “tya-tya-tya”, “pa -pa-pa ”, etc.). This means that the moment when the child begins to speak is just around the corner.
What determines when a child speaks?
It should be understood that all children develop individually, and there is simply no single answer to the question of when the child will begin to speak. However, it is noticed that sensible kids who prefer quiet games surrounded by toys begin to speak a little earlier. And the fidgets seeking to explore the whole world around them, touch and taste everything, just do not have time to learn more and talk - their life is already full of vivid impressions.
On average, girls say the first words earlier, and for boys this moment comes later for several weeks. However, here everything, again, is relative.
When a child begins to speak also depends on the attitude towards him in the family. If you constantly indulge all his desires, think for him several steps forward, there simply will not be an incentive to talk - he will get everything he wants. Tensions between relatives and the depressing atmosphere in the house also negatively affect the development of speech, the baby becomes unsociable and withdrawn.
On average, the basic vocabulary should be formed in the baby by 15-18 months. But if at the age of 2-3 years the baby babbles and hardly speaks only some words, it is better to consult doctors who will help identify the cause of such a delay. Maybe he has a short bridle of the tongue that prevents him from speaking, or a weak hearing.
How to help your child start talking?
Of course, the moment the child begins to speak in sentences, it is still a long way off. But you can bring this time closer if you help the baby to master oral speech. What do I need to do?
Comment on your actions (“Mom feeds Anya with porridge”, “Mom washes Olya’s hands” and so on), show the baby the surrounding objects and name them. Soon after hearing a familiar word, the child will be able to show on the subject. It is extremely useful for the baby to become aware of speech.- Ask the child to do something, for example, bring a toy already familiar to him by name or go to one of the parents.
- Read fairy tales to the kid, sing children's songs, show different pictures and explain what the objects depicted on them are called.
- In no case do not allow fussing! You must pronounce the words clearly and clearly, otherwise the baby will not understand how they are pronounced correctly.
- Try to talk with simple sentences - complex kids are most often ignored.
- If possible, for some time it is worth restricting the communication of the crumbs with relatives and friends who have speech defects - they stutter, lisper, burr, etc.
Keep patience - and very soon in your family's life will come that amazing moment when the child begins to speak. Komarovsky, as well as many other distinguished pediatricians of our country, do not tire of repeating that the main thing is to allow the baby to develop and not put pressure on him. Even if the crumb does not speak at a time when all peers are already learning to put words into whole phrases, most likely, at this time he simply develops other areas of thought and activity, and therefore there is no reason for concern!