When Do Babies Say Their First Word

The maximum age for a child to say their first word is 1 year of age, but most children say their first word before the are 1 year old. Biologically, children who are considered perfectly normal usually do not say reasonable words until they are 18 months old. But some smart babies can use broken syllables in referral to someone or something they want.

The most famous words for babies to say as their first word is mama and dada referring to their parents. Research has shown that Dada is more easier for most babies to say than mama, so don’t be shocked when your infant first word turns out to be Dada, it doesn’t mean your baby has started picking sides so soon already, of course mama and Dada are not the only first word babies can say, the can also say words like baba or yaya.

When Do Babies Say Their First Word

 

When do babies start babbling

Because no individual is the same, and children develop differently, all babies do not start babbling at the same time, some babies start blabbing earlier or later than others. But majority of babies start to babble at 4months of age and will continue to improve in speech for many more months. In terms of majority, there is a list of months and what you should expect in regards to your child’s speech development.

When they are up to 2 months, they will begin to coo and gurgle. At 4 months, they will start babbling and trying to talk. At 6 months, they will begin to recognize voices, and start to distinguish people and objects with names. At 9 months, starts to say a few simply words and try to express themselves with words, and will also try to refer to you as Dada or mama.

You do not need to worry if your baby seems to be behind schedule on speech, it just means he might be a late talker or he isn’t ready yet  and there probably isn’t anything medically wrong with him.

 When do babies start talking

Babies start talking almost immediately after they have been born, but they do not use words, they talk by crying for things they want. Babies start attempting to express themselves with words (Talking) around 9 months and 18 months. But babies can start talking earlier than 9 months because of the cartoons they watch, the music they listen to and the conversations that you make around them, the will try to mimic you and repeat everything you say.

Below are the steps of how a baby’s speech progress and enhance as they grow older;

4 months old

Even in the womb, babies can hear sounds around and can hear you when you speak to them. But when they grow older, smart babies can make out meaning of words like they know you are talking to them when you say sit at some point by the end of four months.

Also at the end of four months, some babies can begin to babble, in an attempt to repeat what they have heard from you or someone else. You may also notice the sound of her cry will change, mostly because she isn’t communicating her discomfort with just tears, but also with babbling while crying.

6 months old

Before now, most babies find the different voices and sounds they hear jumble of noises especially since they don’t understand it. But at six months of age, they will begin to know that those voices and sounds belong to various people and objects, and he may be able to distinguish between other voices and his mothers voice.

Also by the end of six months, he will most likely know his own name and the names of other people and objects around him, such as his bottle or his blankie. He will also start babbling broken syllables such as eh, ah, no, oh, and certain consonants sound such as d which will soon be dada, which will be for baba and m which will be for mama.

9 months old

By nine months your baby will know a lot of words and will be doing the best of his abilities trying to say them the way you do, because he will mimic you and people around him a lot. By the end of nine months, he will be able to say longer words such as da-da-da-da-da-da, ba-ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma-ma or no-no-no repeatedly. And that is how his speech will continue to develop until he can say reasonable words that you will be able to understand .

How to encourage your baby to start babbling and talking

If you have noticed that your baby has not started babbling at 4 months or older, the best thing to do is to try and encourage him to babble, which can be done by talking to him regularly. Talking to him will not only encourage him to start babbling, but it will also enhance his ability to understand, it will help him to start understanding everything he hears.

There are few ways which you can encourage your Baby to start babbling and they have been listed below;

Start repeating whatever he says; When you say things, your baby hears them, and at some point he will try to say what you have said and of course he won’t say it properly, do not try to correct whatever he has said, rather you repeat what he said the way he said it. It may sound silly, but repeating what he said back to him and smiling as well will encourage him to say more things

because when you repeat what they say back to them, babies find it very fun. You might even try to tickle them while you repeat it and make them laugh.

Respond to what he says; when you have encouraged them to start babbling, they will also try to communicate with you or ask you for something while babbling, do not ignore him, respond to what he is saying like if he says ‘no’ try to make out what he doesn’t want and take it away.

This way the both of you has already started making conversations and he will believe you understand what he says and he will continue to talk to you and you should continue to respond to him.

Start reading to him more; There are a lot of books you can read to your baby to help encourage his speech, when you read to him, try pointing at the words on the book and emphasize on them especially when the words are object available at home like an apple or a ball, you can show them to him while reading to him.

Start explaining things to him; Whenever you are with your baby, at some point start explaining things happening around to him, he may not understand everything you are saying, but he will eventually, so talk to him while doing things, like when you are dressing him up, say things like “ Gabriel-is-getting-ready-for-today, today-is-a-Saturday, and-this-is-Gabriel’s-new-jean-and-stocks” and so on like that.

play with him while saying these things, so he doesn’t get bored. With this, he will begin to acknowledge things around him, and he will also understand that his name is Gabriel and what Gabriel’s stuff are.

Start asking for his opinion; When he gets a little bit older, you can start asking him questions about anything at all. For example While having a snack or ice-cream, you can ask him which flavor he wants or what topping he would like or during play time you can ask him which book he wants to hear about or which cartoon he wants to watch.

You can also ask him to choose between a pair of shoes or different colors of socks or what color of top he likes more. Even at such a young age, infants already have their own preference on various things, and allowing him to express himself with his own preference will be a great encouragement. Make sure to do whatever he says he wants, if you know you won’t do what you have asked, do not ask at all, just do what you intend to do the way you intend to do it.

Because asking for his choice and not doing what he has asked for will be a big discouragement, he might even start to cry. Do not be surprised that when you ask for his opinion next time he will not respond to you, because you have made him feel whatever he says will not matter. Children are very SMART!

Start referring to everything with their names; When your baby is older, you can start addressing familiar things around him with their names, it will help with his understanding and when you ask him to pass you a spoon, he already knows which object is a spoon.

Sing to your baby; Sing to him fun songs with hymns and rhymes that will be easy to repeat, you can sing and dance together or make funny gestures that will make him laugh, also encourage him to sing the song with you, and after a while without you, you can introduce bribe later with a candy or a new toy he likes.

When do babies start saying “Mama”

All babies are different, and start saying words at different age after they have been born, but the will most likely start making an attempt to call you mom by say mama by at least 8 months or 9 months old.

Summary – When Do Babies Say Their First Word

Although there are sets of milestones for speech and general development it’s best but to get worked up or put on your child if they slack a little because the truth is that all babies are not the same and therefore develop or reach certain milestones at their own rate.

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