How to encourage baby talking

[moreandmore]

DS is five months and making lots of noise! I think he's been trying to talk for ages, but of course, I'm convinced he's a genius..but this morning DH asked me what we can do to help encourage the talk/babble. And I didn't really know. I talk to him all the time, I sing to him, read picture books, try to converse etc...anything else?

um

talking/singing to him is fine

at 5 months you are really not going to get more than babble/vocalising/blowing raspberries/giggles

It just takes time!

Talking is very complicated, it will take some babies longer than others, and it's no reflection on the parent for failing to 'teach them right' (unless you've locked them in an isolation room 24/7 or somthing...)

I've read books that say words can start at 6mths! But as far as I can tell this is so very rare as to be completely ridiculous. I have never met a baby that said any words that young. Most can only say a few simple words at 1yo.

I wouldn't even think about talking for now, just enjoy the stage he is at.

They pick everything up in their own time. As long as you are interacting with him then he will start talking when he is ready.

Ds is 17 months and is just at the stage where speech is really coming along.

you could refuse to give him anything until he asks for it properly........

Sorry. I probably came across as utterly pushy and mildly demented but I don't really mean "talking" - just the babble mama/dada etc etc

awww your first?

[misty-eyed memories of own PFB madnesses]

Even that takes absolutely ages...

You could try baby signing. My 8 month old DD2 already signs 'milk' and understands 'sleep', 'home' and 'eat'.

She makes a few interesting sounds copying us, hiya, mmmm (for me) dada (for daddy) and abab (for her sister) but that is repeating sounds not talking.

From when DD was a very young age, I used to lie in bed with my knees bent and DD propped up looking at me, and we used to make noises at each other. For example, I would say bababa and she would look intently at my mouth, then my eyes, then my mouth. When she made a noise, I would imitate it back, she would look delighted and do it again, and in that way we would have little 'chats'. While she would sometimes tire quite quickly of the game, sometimes she would be in the mood and would really seem to enjoy it. I found that sometimes I seemed to spend all day servicing her (nappies, feeding, washing etc) and it was good to set time aside for chatting.
While I know that babies don't require this sort of game to learn to speak, it is one of my happiest memories of her first year.

That's a good idea domesticslattern, thanks

I'm not worried - he's very engaged and engaging and obviously as a PFB, quite wonderful generally - but just curious.

Thanks all

how about just carrying on what you are doing - I quote 'I talk to him all the time, sing to him, read picture books etc'

what else could you possibly do- just relax and enjoy him!!!

I was extremely worried when my son wasn't talking in 2.5 years. We just stoped reacting on what he was pointing to, instead of asking and spent more time training (communicating) face to face. But now I can't stop him talking ))) and realize that all kids are different and some just neede more time. Plus, we can talk about speech delay only after 3 years old and after consulting a professional. If you want to know more about language development milestones of your baby, take a look mommystips.com/when-do-babies-start-talking/ Here is a lot of useful info and exercises.