| If all of your friends toddlers are babbling away | | | | understood by their family. If your child cannot |
| and your toddler is not talking yet you may have | | | | communicate with family members and be |
| reason to become concerned. One of the things | | | | understood by the age of 30 months there would |
| parents often use to gauge their child's | | | | be cause for concern. At any stage, if your child |
| development is how early they start talking. | | | | is not meeting the age appropriate developmental |
| Babies start off experimenting with noises from | | | | timelines you should seek professional opinion. |
| an early age, usually consisting of babbling noises, | | | | Trust your instincts, more often than not parents |
| the typical "goo goo" and "gaa gaa" sounds, these | | | | know best. |
| will turn into "ma ma" and "da da". These babbling | | | | If your toddler isn't talking yet there are things |
| sounds eventually progress into Mommy and | | | | you can do to encourage speech development. |
| Daddy. So how do you determine whether your | | | | Keyword signing, otherwise known as baby sign |
| child has delayed speech development and what | | | | language has been shown by researchers to |
| do you do if your toddler is not talking yet? | | | | increase language acquisition by up to 3 months. |
| On a daily basis your child will find different ways | | | | Children using sign language have the language |
| to shape their mouth and change the noise they | | | | re-enforced to them by the parent as the |
| are making; the first step in their speech | | | | gestures are used in conjunction with the word. |
| development. Parents naturally spend a great deal | | | | Parent's who use sign language with their children |
| of time talking to their baby's but they do this | | | | are often more aware of their communication |
| instinctually and mostly to enjoy the social | | | | with their baby's and flood them with language on |
| interaction it offers. Many don't realize that this is | | | | a daily basis. Gesture based baby sign language |
| also essential for the development of their speech | | | | also improves word comprehension as the |
| and language skills. | | | | gesture is a natural movement that mimics the |
| Babies recognize the sound of their parent's | | | | meaning of the word. Reading to your child is |
| voices from even before birth; they become | | | | another important strategy that will go a long |
| familiar with us when they are in the womb. | | | | way to improving your child's language skills. When |
| Parent's voices are comforting for them, | | | | they are exposed to reading at an early age they |
| especially for newborns before their vision is fully | | | | pick up on the way language ebbs and flows and |
| developed. Babies and toddlers mimic their | | | | are more likely to have an interest in books later |
| parents; that's how they learn. The more verbal | | | | on. |
| communication you engage in with your child, the | | | | So if you are concerned that your toddler is not |
| faster they will learn. | | | | talking yet, assess the developmental timeline as |
| By the time your child is the age of twelve to | | | | make sure they are reaching the recommended |
| eighteen months your baby should be saying | | | | milestones. Not all babies develop at the same |
| words like Mommy and Daddy. Over the next | | | | rate and the normal range can differ by months. |
| year of your child's speech development, they will | | | | If you are looking for ways to encourage speech |
| learn to put together small sentences and | | | | development because your toddler is not talking |
| communicate their needs to their family members. | | | | yet, keyword signing and reading are both great |
| By the age of 21 months most children can be | | | | places to start. |