*Be aware of any concerns with your child’s hearing. If you do not think your child is responding to a range of sounds, be sure to talk with your pediatrician about having his hearing checked. Even a mild hearing loss can effect language development. Be particularly vigilant regarding hearing if your child has had a lot of ear infections or failed his newborn hearing screen.

*When your child starts producing those early sounds, repeat the sounds you hear the baby make. Continue this through the entire sequence of coos, vowels and consonant vowel combinations. By six months old, you may find that your baby will take turns with you. These conversations both emphasize to your baby how important his sounds are and lay the groundwork for turn taking in conversations.

*Talk to your child from an early age. Babies love the sound of your voice. It doesn’t really matter what you are saying at these early ages, just let the baby hear words from you.

*By about 4 months, you will be able to distinguish your child’s communication. Cries will sound different if she is hungry, angry or tired. Even at this early stage, label these differences as communication. “Oh, you are telling me you are hungry”. “I think you are saying you are very angry”. Even babies begin to learn that they are powerful communicators. This encourages their desire to be effective communicators as they begin to learn additional strategies.

*Many parents add a few natural signs for their child beginning at about six months. Common signs selected include up, more, eat, want and all done. See the bibliography at the back of this section for some information on baby signs and how to use these with your young child.

*This is a wonderful age to encourage a wide range of interactive games. Babies in this age group love peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, and simple games that include motor imitation.

*Begin reciting simple nursery rhymes to your child. You can find many of the traditional nursery rhymes in books, some of them with great pictures for sharing with your child. You may get tired of the same nursery rhymes again and again but children love repetition at this age. Repeating these familiar sounds helps your child begin to practice some of the sounds she has heard you say again and again.

*Children begin to love simple songs at this stage. Songs that include hand movements are particularly fun for one year olds because they can participate in the song before they are able to say all the words. Traditional favorites include Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and RowRow Row your Boat. These are short and include repetition of the same words and sounds.

*Begin looking at simple books with your baby, if you haven’t started already. At this age, the best books have simple, realistic pictures of things babies see in their daily lives. One year olds are not ready to listen to long stories, but love to have you point out pictures and name things in the books. By repeating the same books, children begin to add these words to their vocabulary. A very good beginning book for babies can be made by taking pictures of people in your child’s daily routine (Mom, Dad, siblings, grandparents, childcare providers) and pictures of favorite toys and places. These can be put into a child-safe picture album and used to help your baby attach word labels to all his favorite things.

*This is a great stage to use some specific language techniques with your child. One of the easiest and most useful techniques is called parallel talk. Parallel talk is an expansion of the descriptive talk you used with your child as an infant but now you are going to describe what your child is doing. Use simple words “You are making the car go” “Crash, blocks fell down”. Describe what your child is doing or paying attention to at the time. This attaches language to the experience and lets the child know that what he is doing is important.

*By eighteen months, children usually have 10-20 words; some have many more. At this stage, begin to expand on her single words by adding another word. For example, if she says “cookie” you can answer her with “More cookies” or “Big cookies”. By doing this, you are acknowledging her communication and modeling the next step in language.

*At this stage, children begin adding words at a much more rapid rate. A common concern of parents is that the words are not clear. Children are still practicing their sounds and sound combinations throughout the year between two and three years so this is not normally a cause for concern. At this age, we never want to correct a child’s pronunciation or draw attention to errors in words. If your child says “tookie” you can help her by saying in response: “You want a Cookie”. This way, you will support the language your child is developing by indicating you understand what she is saying and you will be giving her the correct model at the same time.

*Children often are frustrated with their inability to say everything they want at this stage. It is important to give your child enough time to try to communicate. As often as possible, wait patiently for him to complete his thought.

*Choices using visual cues help reduce frustration in two year olds. Motor skill ability still typically surpasses verbal ability, particularly in the early part of the two year old year. You can reduce stress for both you and your child by holding up two boxes of cereal and letting him choose which one he wants for breakfast. The same strategy works for the shirt he will wear that day and the book he wants to read. You can then help him use the words he needs for communicating verbally: “You want cheerios today”.

*Continue to expand your child’s experience with music and interactive games. Much like the one year old, she will love anything that repeats and rhymes. Children are ready for slightly more complex songs at this stage than they were at one. Many children love Old MacDonald and will begin to imitate sounds that the animals make. Wheels on the Bus is another perennial favorite.

If your child loves the songs but still has trouble remembering animal names or who is on the bus, you can make song cards by cutting simple pictures out of coloring books or magazines and letting them use these to help remember the choices.

*Many two year olds are ready to sit a little longer when looking at books. If your child still has a short attention span, do not try to read a story but continue to point out pictures and describe what you are seeing in the book. Many children begin to like short stories with lots of pictures and repetition. Some favorites include Brown Bear, Goodnight Moon, and many of the simpler Dr. Seuss books. Nursery rhymes continue to be a favorite and children will begin to finish some of the more familiar phrases.

*Continue to use language strategies started when your child was a one year old. Parallel talk, described under the section on one year olds, continues to be an effective way to support growth in language skills.

*Use shorter phrases than you use in talking to other adults. We tend to talk very rapidly and run all of our words together. Make a conscious effort to use three and four word phrases when talking directly to your younger two year old. This will help him attach meaning to all the words and allow him to add those words to his vocabulary.

*Twos love to go and do…Providing your child with some new experiences is a great way to stimulate language. This is a great age to go to a zoo or a wildlife park but you can have the same impact on language by going to a farm or taking a drive in the country. Talk about what you see and then draw or find pictures of the animals when you come home. This will expand your child’s vocabulary and also work on her memory.