How to encourage your baby to communicate and help a toddler learn to talk. Talking, understanding others and knowing what to say are really important skills. Being able to communicate will help your child share their thoughts and feelings, make friends and learn.
Get your child’s attention
Sit with your child and face them. Say their name before you start speaking. Talk about something you can both see or what your child is doing this helps them to learn what words mean.
Share The Fun
Sing songs, make noises and pull funny faces, being a bit silly helps get your child's attention and makes them respond and laugh this can encourage language development.
Speak in your home language
It’s important for you to speak in whichever language feels comfortable for you.
Copy what they say
Repeat back sounds and words as it shows you’re interested and that sounds and words are important. This can help your baby's speech development.
Use simple language
Use single words and keep your sentences short. For example, “Food time” or “ you’re building a tower”.
Comments not questions
Asking lots of questions can be overwhelming for a child. When you talk to your baby comment on what they are doing and what is happening, give them time to think as children need more time to process what they’ve heard, so it may take time for them to respond.
Repeat what you say
It’s good to say the same thing over again. Babies and toddlers need to hear words and sentences lots of times to understand them and learn new words. Try and eliminate background noises eg, radio or TV this will help your child focus on your words.
Build on what they say
Adding one or two words to what your child says will helps your child onto the next stage of talking. So, if your child says “bus” you say “ It's a big bus”.
Show them the right way
Young children often make mistakes when speaking so it is important to show them that you understand, rather than asking them to repeat words correctly. Say the word or sentence again correctly for your child eg. If they say “Look its a dod”, you can say “Yes, it’s a dog”.
Talk to someone if you’re worried
All children develop at their own pace some children find talking and listening harder than others. Some children find it hard to understand what words and sentences mean. These children may need extra support. If you are worried about your child, talk to someone who can help eg speech and language therapist or your health visitor or GP.
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