Learning to Talk

There’s lots you can do to help your child develop into a confident communicator.

Before children will start to use their first words, it’s important they’re able to listen to what you say to them and communicate in other ways such as pointing or using sounds. This development begins as soon as your baby is born and every interaction you have together is building their brain connections. So it’s never too soon to start talking with your little one!

Here are our tips for how to help:

Chat:

• Talk to your baby as you go about your day together
• They will be learning to listen and love to hear your voice
• You can help them tune in by being face to face, slowing down what you say and leaving pauses to wait for them to respond
• If you notice your child is interested in something, you can name it for them
• As your baby gets older you can get them involved in everyday tasks like hanging out the laundry, preparing food and helping wash up

Next steps – as your child starts to use words you can build on what they say by repeating it back and adding an extra word e.g. if they say “dog” you can say “yes! Look at the dog!”

Play:

• Join in with your child’s play and let them lead the game
• Copy what they do with the toys, this helps your child feel important and boosts their confidence
• Comment on what they are doing to help them learn the words e.g. “the car’s coming!” “that’s a big tower!”
• Try not too ask too many questions or your child might feel ‘tested’

Next steps – help your child to act out everyday things they know about by including a teddy/animal toy in your routines together. Show them they can pretend to wash/feed/put to bed the toys to help develop they imaginative play.

Read:

• Let your child chose a book to share with you
• Don’t worry if they don’t want to hear the whole story, you can just look at pictures together
• Wait to see what your child looks at or points to in the book then name it for them
• Try to find books with pictures of things your child likes e.g. animals/vehicles to keep their interest for longer
• Visit your local library to find some books and join in singing and rhyme sessions there Libraries | London Borough of Waltham Forest

Next steps – see if your child can tell you the story when you look at familiar books together. You can prompt them by asking “what happens next?” remember to give them lots of time to think and plan what to say.

More information:

• Growing up bilingual – Speak to your child in the language which is most natural for you and your family. Lots of parents worry hearing more than one language can cause delays but we know that isn’t true – more than half the children in the world grow up bilingual and it’s a great start in life.
• Dummies – babies need lots of practice making sounds before they start talking and being noisy is a normal part of development. If your child has a dummy try to limit this to sleep time only at 6-12 months to give them the chance to try out sounds and words as they play and explore.
• Screen time – screens are all around us and children love the colours, songs and pictures they see. Too much screen time however makes it harder for your child to listen to the words you use around them and can mean they are slower to start talking. Try to limit how much time your child spends on screens to no more than 1-2 hours a day. This means the rest of the time they can learn to listen, play and chat with you.
• Children and Family Hubs –We also advise that you try to attend some of our fantastic Best Start in Life activities across the borough. These sessions are a great way for you and you’re your child to meet other children and to learn to play and communicate. You can find details of these here: Best Start in Life Family Hubs | London Borough of Waltham Forest

How can I get support?
If you have any concerns about your child’s communication skills, you should speak to your Health Visitor or GP. Your child’s Early Years Setting or practitioners at your local Children and Family Hub will also be able to offer you some initial support and refer you to the team, if needed. You can also refer your child to the Speech and Language Therapy service.