Did you know that Expressive Language skills are actually hard-wired in your newborn from day one? Expressive Language is defined as active, outbound communication, in other words, speech, gesture, writing, or signing. These important skills allow your baby to let you know her basic needs, such as: “Mommy, I’m hungry,” “Daddy, I’m tired,” or “I’m wet; change my diaper!” According to the Ohio’s Infant Toddler Guidelines,¹ babies can “express [these] needs within minutes after birth.”

During her first three months, your baby will use sounds, eye contact, body language, and facial expressions to show you her pleasure (or lack thereof!) in her experiences. She will cry to let you know that she’s hungry, uncomfortable, or in pain, and giggle or coo to show joy or pleasure. She may even babble back when you talk to her. While all these sounds are very basic and don’t make much sense to your adult ears, they are the building blocks that make up the foundation of your baby’s future communication skills.

The first forms of communication to expect from your baby are crying, cooing, or making a face (whether happy or sad!). Between zero and three months, you may hear her using different types of cries for different needs: one for a diaper change, another for a meal, etc. Paying attention to the differences in her cries will help you best meet her needs. This, in turn, will motivate her to communicate more as she grows. As your newborn becomes familiar with the voices of her parents and other caregivers, she will let you know she’s listening with either a physical or verbal response.² In particular, listen as she begins making sounds while you talk, her first “conversations!”

One more thing to keep in mind: because your baby uses the same body parts to make sounds as she uses for eating, be sure to watch when you feed her. Does she eat easily, coordinating her breathing and swallowing? If she appears to have some trouble, consider talking to your care provider about your concerns to make sure that your baby’s language development is not affected.³

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Play Tips:

Do you want to know how you can support your baby’s development of Expressive Language skills at this age? It’s easy! Read on for some simple tips to incorporate into your daily play time together.

1. Talk with your baby directly, face-to-face. This meaningful face time shows your baby that you are giving her your undivided attention when she wants to have “conversations” with you.
2. Follow your baby’s lead and repeat the sounds she makes. If your baby is expressing herself through “speech,” you can support her language development by copying her sounds. By doing this, you are essentially saying, “Yes, I understand you. Talk some more!”
3. Record your baby’s sounds and play them back. With the sound or video recorders on your mobile phone or computer, record her many sweet sounds and play them back for her to listen and respond to. Watch your baby’s reaction to her own baby sounds – do they cause smiles, or even more babbles? – and save the recordings as a keepsake.

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Expressive Language developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) she has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

• Communicates with coos, squeals, cries, or gurgling sounds.

Sources:

¹Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association (2006). Ohio’s Infant Toddler Guidelines. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from https://jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/InfantToddler.pdf.

²National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (2010). Speech and Language Developmental Milestones. National Institutes on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/speechandlanguage.aspx.

³Morris, Suzanne Evans, Ph.D. Speech Language Pathologist. Feeding and Pre-Speech Characteristics with Mild Sensorimotor Impairment. New Visions. Retrieived February 22, 2014 from http://www.new-vis.com/fym/papers/p-feed5.htm.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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