Learning to talk is a natural process that starts at birth since the baby recognizes sounds. In the first year, babies often make different voices such as crying, gurgling, and cooing. When they grow older, they start to utter simple words. At this stage, parents should know how to encourage toddler to talk so that his language can develop.
There are many ways to promote language development with more parenting tips, such as read together or name items.
However, every child has a different ability and speed in learning language so parents have to understand how to encourage toddler to talk according to the child’s condition.
It’s also necessary to know some factors that may affect language development in early childhood.
Language Development from 0 to 2 Year
Age is often associated with language development in early life. For instance, a baby age 0 to 6 months make crying sounds to communicate with parents.
As they grow older, their language develops and they can say simple, understandable words. Here is language development from 0 to 12 months every parent should know:
- Age 0 to 3 months
As early as birth, babies have their own languages that help them communicate. This language includes cooing and babbling sounds.
Of course, most parents cannot understand what babies mean but the little ones can understand what their parents are speaking. It isn’t unusual for babies to follow the voice direction and respond to their names.
How to encourage a child to talk at this age? You can sing and talk to your baby. You can also give them quiet time, so the only voice they hear is yours.
- Age 3 to 6 months
Baby is an excellent copycat. When he is 3 to 6 months, he learns how to talk from parents or other family members. What they learn includes intonation, language and expression. Parents can help their baby to be a talker at this age.
How to encourage an infant to talk at 3 to 6 months? You can talk to him and let him imitate your sound.
- Age 6 to 9 months
As the baby learns how to communicate, their language develops significantly. Babies age 6 to 9 months start to play with sounds, such as ‘dada’ or ‘baba’.
They respond happy voices with a smile and high or angry voices with a cry. How to encourage a child to talk at this stage? Playing peek-a-boo and asking a simple question can be effective to motivate them.
You can also apply some infant activities for language development such as reading a book together or sing a song.
- Age 9 to 12 months
This is the stage where a baby begins to understand simple words. When you ask him where mommy is, he will point to you.
When you say no, he will stop and look at you. Some babies begin to utter simple words, but some others don’t. Asking them to make sounds is how to encourage toddler to talk at 9 to 12 months.
- Age 1 to 2 year
We can say that this period is the most crucial moment of child’s language development.
at this age, the baby should be able to speak clearly enough.
So, how many words should a 2 year-old say? Babies are able to compose 2-4 words in one sentence and have recognized several uses of adjectives.
Tips to Encourage Toddler to Talk
Parents play a significant role in helping their children to talk. As children learn language from parents and the environment, it becomes necessary to be a good model so they can develop their languages excellently.
Basically, teaching children to talk is the same as teaching children to swim, Boost their self-esteem, walk, etc. As parents, we cannot force our children to develop quickly if it is not the time
Here are several tips on how to encourage child to talk when your toddler grows bigger.
Read together
Reading bedtime books can be an effective way to encourage your toddler to talk. Reading to your child allows them to be exposed to abundant vocabulary.
It helps the child to know words and arrange them into sentences, so they can talk fluently than children who aren’t read by their parents.
Two-way communication
Establishing effective communication is how to encourage toddler to talk. Even when your child cannot talk, he learns language from your expression and words.
He learns to understand how to communicate if you explain what you are doing. For instance, when you dress them, narrate your activity. Many experts believe that this is the best the best strategies to promote language development.
Name items
When toddler not interested in talking by 2 previous tips, another way can be done by naming items. Toddlers are curious and want to know the name of the items around them. When they point to an item, you can help them by naming the items.
Expand the responses
Expanding responses to your toddler is another effective way of how to encourage a child to talk. When your child points to a cat and says ‘cat’, you can expand the response and say, ‘yes, it’s a cat. Cute, brown cat.’
Factors That Affect Language Development in Early Childhood
Children have different language development rates and it can beinfluenced by many factors. Unfortunately, some parents don’t comprehend this and they push their child to develop like other children.
Learning how to encourage your toddler to talk won’t be effective without understanding these factors:
Health
Health issues can influence a child’s hearing that cause problems in understanding language. Physical development also contributes in language development. For instance, vocal cords impairment can hinder a child from talking.
Environment
Before learning how to encourage child to talk, parents should know that environment plays a major role in children’s language. Children are exposed to abundant words each day tend to develop faster than those who aren’t.
The family environment is also good to always motivate children to continue to grow better.
The family relationship also affects development. Child with a harmonic families tend to develop better than child with divorced parents.
Cognitive
Intelligence is often associated with language development. Children with excellent cognitive development commonly pick up on the language earlier.
Language Delay
Most babies talk at 12 to 18 months. Some babies, however, cannot say even simple words as they grow older.
This communication disorder is known as a language delay. There are many factors that cause language delay, but the main factor is language developmental milestones that are not met.
Children have different language abilities and development rates. But those with language delay commonly have trouble understanding others or expressing themselves. There are some symptoms of language delay, including:
- Poor articulation
- Not talking by 2 years
- Not babbling by 15 months
- child not talking at 3
How to encourage toddler to talk when he has a language delay? When your child is diagnosed with this disorder, the doctor will help implement a treatment plan. The plan may vary depending on the type of problems.
Talking is a natural process but it can be affected by many factors. Parents can learn how to encourage toddler to talk so they can optimize a child’s language development.