Even though your little one can't talk yet, you can actually start communicating with him from an early age. Not only fun, this activity can be useful for development, you know, Bun! Come on, see here what are the benefits of communicating with babies and how to do it.
Do not think the baby can not be invited to communicate. After birth, babies can communicate by smiling, laughing, or crying when they feel uncomfortable. However, in general, babies will be more active in chattering when they reach around 7 or 8 months.
Long before a baby can speak, even since in the womb, he is also able to understand the words that his mother often says and capture the emotions felt by those around him.
The Importance of Communicating with Babies
Below are some reasons why parents need to communicate with their babies as early as possible:
1. Sharpen the ability to understand and respond
Maybe you don't realize it, but as mentioned above, your baby already understands roughly the words spoken to him through his tone of voice and facial expressions.
Even though your little one doesn't fully understand what you're saying, but for sure, your little one is happy every time they hear your voice and see you smile at him. Usually, babies will respond by turning to the source of the sound, blinking, or even laughing.
2. Sharpen speaking skills
Communicating with babies is also beneficial to hone their speaking skills. This is because babies learn to talk by imitating the sounds they hear and paying attention to their mother's lips.
Babies begin to talk by using their tongue, lips, roof of the mouth, and growing teeth to make sounds, such as screams oh and Ah. Those words will then become real words, like Mama and papa.
Next, the baby will pick up more words from the mother and the people around her, so she can begin to form sentences using 2–4 words.
3. Sharpen other skills
Babies who are invited to communicate also tend to more quickly master other skills, such as the ability to interact with others, count, read, write, and learn various languages. This is presumably because he is used to responding to things around him.
Tips for Asking Babies to Talk
Seeing the importance of talking to babies, mothers need to pay attention to several things that can make interactions more interesting and fun for their little ones, including:
- Smile as often as possible to your little one.
- Look your little one in the eye every time you change his diaper, breastfeed, or when he is going to sleep.
- Your little one responds every time he says something by imitating what he says, even though the words are not clear, such as Mama or bu-bu.
- Speak as often as possible with short sentences and clear vowels, for example You want to eat?, Wow, cold, yes?, or Daddy's home! with full expression.
- Look and point at the object you are talking about, so your little one can quickly associate the word you say with the object in question.
- Repeat certain simple words over and over, such as Mama and eat.
- Use body movements to reinforce your words, such as flapping your hands when you say the word bird or spread your hands when you say the word aircraft.
- Read and show colorful illustrated stories from an early age, because your little one will be happy and stimulated by seeing the colors and listening to your mother's voice.
You don't need to worry if your little one has not shown signs that he understands what you are saying. The reason is, every baby grows and develops in a different way and time.
It is important for mothers to remember, communicating with babies needs to be done as often as possible every day. This will not only make you happy, but will also bring your relationship closer to your little one and stimulate their development.
Don't forget to regularly check your little one's progress to the doctor or midwife according to the schedule. Don't hesitate to tell the doctor if you are worried about your little one's ability to hear and respond to sounds, learn to speak, or understand words.
