How to help your toddler to talk
My son is 11 month old (he was just born and now almost 1 year old) and he starts talking but he only uses the gibberish baby talk which is so sweet. I love it and I know this is a very important step in a baby’s life. This is the beginning of the talking. I came across this interesting article about this topic and I found it really useful so I’m going to share it with you:
Your toddler’s gift of gab isn’t delivered with a bow on top. It’s more like a jabbering journey that starts with babbling and then single words and leads up to fully detailed accounts of what happened on the playground. But there’s a little milestone in the middle that makes the grand finale possible: learning to speak in sentences.
There are a couple of tips how to help your toddler over the two-word sentence hump:
- Don’t finish her sentences or interrupt her. She’ll get frustrated if you frequently jump in — and may even give up on trying to speak in sentences.
- Give her lots of opportunities to talk. Include her in your conversations with your partner and older children to give her a chance to chat.
- Avoid baby talk. Speak clearly and simply, using real words and complete sentences so she can see how it’s done.
- Narrate. As you go about your day with your little helper, talk about everything you’re doing together: “Let’s head down this aisle to get the chicken we’ll cook for dinner.”
- Respond to her words with more words. If she yells “Chicken!” at the dinner table, say “Yes, we’re eating yummy chicken for dinner.” Add adjectives to the conversation and soon she will too.
- Ask away. Two-sided conversations are a good way to boost language development because they help tiny talkers practice their new skills, so pose questions to your toddler that call for more than a yes or no answer. Just don’t pressure your pipsqueak for a reply if she’s not ready to give one.
- Devote your full attention. Stay focused when she’s speaking. If you get distracted, she will too.
Source: Starting to Speak in Sentences