How Does a Baby Start Talking

The answer to "how does a baby start talking" is: by repeating every word he/she hears! This is a normal, healthy stage, and it's exactly right for his age. Nothing to worry about at all.

Sounds like you have nothing to worry about! They learn by hearing and repeating.

Do you read to him? That also will help him develop his language.

Yes, it's the same. He's practicing the word when he repeats it. Think about the way you would learn a foreign language. By repeating the words over and over. First, just the words. Then phrases. Then sentences. Then paragraphs. on and on, one step at a time.

Google "baby language development" to find sites to learn about the way a baby learns to talk. There are many sites that address this issue.

Looking back at previous posts, I sense that you're a worried first time mom. I urge you to take a parenting class which will teach you about child development and what to expect. There is a very wide range of normal. Many hospitals and clinics offer such classes.

If you'd prefer get a book on child development and read. Focus on the wide spectrum of what to expect. Let go of the need to compare your child with the more precocious child. Since his pediatrician is not concerned, why are you? He sees many children and knows from training and experience what to expect and when to get help.

It's important for you to let go of much of this anxiety. Your baby feels your stress and may be less willing to venture out. Don't hover over him. Give him full reign to be who he is. Rejoice in who he is and what he's doing at the moment instead of worrying that he might not be OK.

Find a way to spend time with other mom's. In our area there are places that mom's gather for coffee and talk while their kids play. One is called Cafe au Play, a play on the words Cafe au lait. Look for places that have a play area for children and check them out. You can also find support groups thru the Internet and newspapers. Ask for suggestions from your pediatrician's office.

Totally normal. Expect him to repeat everything he hears. Be careful what you say!

Talk to your child, read simple books to your child and point things out...
Say simple nursery rhymes and sing songs ! This all teaches language and sounds !

If your toddler says, "Dog"...Say, "Yes, that's a black dog and he is barking." With a toddler...expand upon the language because toddlers are like little sponges to learning from hearing what is said to them.

"Signing" a few words is GREAT, too !

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Kids will repeat lots of words; that's why as they get older you have to be careful what's said!! They're like little parrots!! lol!!

I remember when my nephew was about four years old and not realizing he was close by, I yelled out "What the hell?" to someone. Well, don't you know, a few minutes later, I hear the exact same words (even with the inflection) coming out of my tiny nephew!! I was so upset with myself. I had a nice little talk with him and thank heavens, he never said it again. At least not around me!! lol!!

Good luck!!

Google baby language development. You'll find a lot of info on how they learn. Think of how you learn a new language - repeat, repeat, repeat. Totally normal.

LOL! My oldest barely spoke before his 3rd birthday. Graduated with honors!

Sounds like your little one is right on track! Mimicking the words/language of others is one way that your son is learning. When he repeats the same word over and over, he's practicing saying it. We adults are adept talkers, but for children, actually getting the mouth/tongue positions correct to form those words can be a challenge sometimes, so practice only makes perfect later on.:)

I don't know about Megan and her prodigy child, but that's not on the scale of "normal", C., so please don't look at what she's talking about as a benchmark. Your child doesn't need to be in studies.

The best thing you can do is talk, talk, talk to your baby. React favorably when he repeats a word. "Yes, that's a truck! The man is driving a truck!" His little brain is opening up and soaking it all in. In addition to talking to him, read, read, read to him. It will get him interested in books. If he is antsy and doesn't want to sit still for it, pick your times better and read to him during quiet time.

It's at the 2 year well visit that the doctor should be assessing your child's ability to talk. If you look up speech expectations and 2 year olds online, you'll see what the benchmarks look like. Children who are below that or children whose speech is hard to understand should be evaluated by a speech therapist.

Children who have a hard time communicating can get very frustrated because they don't have the words to explain what they are feeling. Saying to them "Use your words" from early on to help them internalize that they need to try to tell what the want is how daycares help children understand the expectations to speak rather than to hit when they are frustrated. It's a great way to handle kids at home as well.

I asked the same question 5+ years ago. Except mine was closer to 18 mo then. I got the same responses. I always believed that the right time for children to speak is when they speak, that was until I had my second baby.

There was 1 person who's advice I took to heart. I will give you the same advice she gave me. Have your child evaluated by your school district. He may likely be a candidate for early intervention.

Sure he may talk fluently by the time he is three, but what if he doesn't. As a parent you are his best advocate. If there is a speech issue or any other issue, afford him some therapy.

My daughter is a testament of success with early intervention. My daughter started with 4 words (including uh-oh). She also repeated words she hears (sometimes she still does)- its called echolalia. It is one of the signs of autism. It is not a stand alone criteria for diagnosis and I am not inferring nor do I want you to come to that conclusion. All I am saying is get him evaluated and go from there.

BTW my dd is now seven and speak with very clear words. She is starting to read too (among other things). I will be forever grateful to that lady who gave me that advice.

Here's the website. It was fairly easy to find http://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early...

Your son sounds just fine. The range of normal is pretty wide, but I distinctly remember that the 15 month well baby questionnaire asked if my son used 3-5 words other than "mama" and "dada."

Relax and talk with your baby just like you've been doing. He's picking up language and he'll continue to do so. If he's verbalizing ANYTHING while clearly trying to communicate something, treat it like he's talking and respond in kind, "Oh, the kitty? Yes, she is a good kitty isn't she? Do you like kitty?... Oh, me too!"

My son spoke much younger than yours but the timing isn't important to your question as the process. Yes. He stuck with the same few words for a short while, then started adding a new word every few days, then started echoing anything he was asked to it's all part of language development.

Show your baby things and then say the word. Hand him a ball and then say ball, over and over. And say "now you say it".. they catch on rather quickly if you are repetitive and dont show frustration. Many kids listen for a LONG while before they start to speak, and boy watch out after that because you cant shut em up :)

Totally normal....... he is trying out the different sounds he hears, to see if he can make them, also....

As your son starts babbling, repeat those same sounds back to him... it will encourage him to babble more, which is the early development of language.

My grandson was somewhat delayed in speech, but at about age 3, it all clicked, and now we can't keep him quiet!

I have some really good information for you that I think many people might not know about. I didn't know abiut this until I found out that my oldest daughter was an infant language prodigy at a pediatrician's visit that I took her to at 6 months old. Here we are in the doctor's office for a well check-up and vaccines and my daughter was saying at least 15-20 different words and also was able to repeat words I said to her if I asked her to. Our Pedi almost fell to the floor!! Me too...because I thought something was wrong with her! My daughter was then asked to participate in an Infant Language study and I did allow her to do so with my supervision. She indeed was a language prodigy. What I came to learn is that speech and language is only learned during specific "windows" of opoortunity. I thought kids learn to talk 24/7 as they hear everything we say and do. Not true. The brain only allows certain windows of time to open itself up to the actual mastery of language and speech. We don't have any way of knowing when the window is open or when it was closed, either. Isn't that just great? So, we have to always keep talking and reading to our babies to saturate every opportunity possible in case that window is open. If it is closed at the time, the child is not currently absorbing the cognitive functions of learning or processing language but is actually focusing on another skill which is often a fine motor or large motor skill that demands a lot of energy from the brain and the whole body. Also....babies that have chronic ear infections are very susceptible to language delays or speech problems due to the muffled sounds a child has during an infection or all-out hearing loss during the infection until it clears up. It all makes sense as to why our hearing and the chronic ear infections are such an issue when it comes to learning language and new speech patterns.

I found out all of this when my daughter was participating in this Infant Language study. it was run by high-level professors, child psychologists, developmental specialists, and speech pathologists to better understand how children learn to speak proficiently and why some children do this very early as opposed to those that suffer speech delay. They told me that talking, explaining, playing, reading, and singing were all the necessary tools that are needed to stimulate the brain if that "window" was open. Lord knows, I am such a goofball with my kids that I had no shortage of verbal diarrhea and funny stories and songs to share with them. Much to my surprise, I also gave birth to an infant language prodigy and who would have ever thunk it??? She started speaking at 5 months and never shut up since! I hope this has been an interesting tidbit of information. I learned a lot and I'm glad I could share it with you!

To be Honest -- 15months is a little early to be too concerned. I think my doc wanted between 5-20 words around this age and when by 18months he only had 20 we began to investigate further.

It deepends on the circumstances ... your child could be repeating in an effort to communicate (MOST LIKELY based on age) or your child could have Eccolatia.

My suggestion is BEFORE you do any research on Eccolatia or other speech efflictions you keep a Journal of your child's speech activities. Here is an example of what we kept while diagnosing my son with is speech issues.

Word- mama
Sound - maahmah
Circumstances- he was asking for me
Environment- at home, he was playing and I was cleaning in the other room.
Where it was heard- from Mama, when referring to herself, from "Talking Baby Doll" and Daddy when referring to "Mama." (Include anything that uses the word or phrase that you can think of.

I used this method as well when I concluded that Cailou and a few other tv characters were not the best of influences on my son.

I also kept the date/time and frequency of use for the word(s) used. Diagnosing any speech "issues" require understanding patterns, triggers and other environmental factors.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance! May be am being a bit paranoid. He just started taking steps. Could be he is also concentrating more on walking. I would talk to him more rather than worrying all the time. Thanks again!

Talk to him a lot. It will improve a lot by 18 mos. hopefully he understands you, sign language is also great.

I would say this is completely normal and good sign that he has good hearing and he is learning. I like what Grandma T suggests. Hold out an apple and say apple. Point to things and say what it is. He is at a great point to where you can really start teaching him. Read books to him, at least every night. But what ever you do, DO NOT talk to him in 'Baby Talk'. I know preteens that still have a hard time pronouncing words because when their mother talked to them she would purposely mispronounce words and use 'hers' instead of 'she'. Make sure that you talk to him. It's easy to forget to simply talk the your baby because they can't really hold a conversation, but it will help.

He is doing what he should be doing. Do not worry about anything do what comes naturally. Pint to shoe and say shoe. I think Kristina means well, but by doing all the things she did with every word, she missed out just enjoying her child. If kids are not speaking at 2 could be a problem. What usually will happen is one day they wake up and callMommy. Then ask for something. Like I would like to have breakfast!!!!!! These kids just bypass the baby talk. Heck, my daughter did not talk until she was 3. She is brilliant.

So just have fun with your baby!

So Megan with the prodigy and psycho babble, is saying what we all say and do what is natural: talk yo your baby. E dry thing is made so complicated these days, when in reality it is all so simple. Have a great summer with your perfectly normal little boy.