How do I know what my baby wants? Everyone knows that babies cry when they are upset. They smile when

Researchers call the special way we talk to babies “motherese” or “parentese.” This sing-song speech, often accompanied by exaggerated facial

How do you talk to your baby? Would you say, “hellooooo, sweeeeetie! How’s my baaabeee? Such a pretty baaabeee.” Does

At birth, infants can respond to human voices. They are also capable of distinguishing between the sounds of different languages,

Within the first few days after birth, infants are sensitive to the stress patterns or rhythms of the words they

At birth, infants can respond to human voices. They are also capable of distinguishing among the voices of different people,

In their first months, infants start making sounds other than crying. Cooing sounds often occur when a baby is quiet,

For the first several months, crying is an infant’s most common form of vocalization. Some cries may sound different from

At birth, infants show the ability to respond to human voices and speech. In one experiment, infants only a few

Babies prefer human voices to other sounds and are especially drawn to the voices of their caregivers. After 1 month,

Infants start communicating right from birth.  Crying, smiling, vocalizations, looking at your face, and looking away are all ways your

Many infants begin babbling routinely at around 4 months, often entertaining themselves for long periods by producing new sounds (for

After 2 months, some infants begin repeating a few of the exaggerated vowel sounds they hear when their caregivers speak

In their first months, most babies begin to make cooing sounds. Some believe infants at this age begin to participate

Long before babies begin to learn specific words, they engage in an important sound-sorting process that enables them to distinguish

As adults, we do this all the time to obtain feedback from the world around us, but it’s fascinating to

When infants are spoken to, they will often pay special attention to a person’s lip movements. Even at 10 to

A baby’s name is generally used much more often than other words. Studies show that babies are early as 4

By 4 months, many babies begin listening for the individual sounds in words, noticing how vowels and consonants combine into

Babies begin voicing their emotions and desires frequently at 5 or 6 months, laughing to show pleasure and crying when

Although children don’t yet understand what words mean, they may stop doing something when a parent or caregiver says “no.”

Guiding your baby with your facial expressions and words. Eleven-month-old Cameron can walk, and he can go just about anywhere

Between 6 and 12 months, babies can literally “hear” the specific sounds of all languages spoken. When compared to adults,

“Mommy! Mommy! Book! Book!” he says before you tuck him in for an afternoon nap. You grab his favorite book,

By 4 months, babies begin listening for the individual sounds in words, noticing how vowels and consonants combine into syllables,

During their first 6 months, infants will often coo or babble while their caregivers are talking to them. By 7

Even though babies often say their first words at around 12 months, most have learned quite a few words by

By 8 to 10 months, babies attempt to communicate with others using gestures and pre-verbal sounds. There are two common

Between 8 and 12 months, babies may stumble on words like “mama” and “dada” accidentally, learning what they mean when

Around 9 months, many infants understand that some words refer to specific objects. Although they can’t yet speak words, many

Between 8 and 12 months, the coos, gurgles, and other “baby” sounds become more like the sounds of the home

At 10 months, some infants will begin to repeat back words they hear, although they may not yet know that

The remarkable achievement of using words to represent things usually begins around 12 months, but babies can vary by several

Naming objects is the First step If you’ve spent much time around young children, you’ve probably had conversations like this:

Talking with an 18-month-old is hard for those who don’t speak toddler language! Some words toddlers say sound just right.

Between 6 and 12 months, babies can literally “hear” the specific sounds of all languages spoken. When compared to adults,

Although there is a tremendous variation in the age that toddlers begin speaking recognizable words, their first few words generally

Toddlers make visible progress in their comprehension skills early in their second year, demonstrating their growing understanding of language with

At the end of their second year, toddlers begin communicating in two- to four-word sentences. This process begins when children

Research has shown that children at 2 years can have a vocabulary of around 200 words, although some normal children

Sometime around 18 months, most children experience a “word spurt” (or “naming explosion”) that leads to large increases in their

Before they reach 20 months of age, many children begin to add single words together when they speak. These early