07/10/2026
The first year of your baby's life is filled with incredible milestones, and speech and language development is one of the most exciting!
At Tots Talk, we know how crucial this stage is for setting a solid foundation for future communication. Here are a few key speech and language milestones for babies:
Cooing & Babbling:
From around 4 months, your baby will begin to make sounds like cooing and babbling. Encouraging this is really important. Respond to their sounds with excitement and imitate them, which helps build their understanding of conversation.
Developing Eye Contact:
By 6 months, babies start to engage more with eye contact. This is the first step towards forming social connections. Smile, make eye contact, and interact often to help them strengthen this important skill.
Recognizing Names:
At 6-9 months, babies start recognizing their name and will often turn to look when you call them. You can support this by saying their name frequently and associating it with positive interactions.
Gestures and signs:
By 9-12 months, your baby will likely begin using gestures like waving, pointing or reaching to communicate. You can help by introducing simple signs (like "more"or "all done") and encouraging them to communicate in this way.
Understanding Simple Words:
At 12 months, many babies begin to understand a few simple words like "mama," "'dada," or ""bye-bye."" Repeating words and associating them with actions can help them start to link language with meaning.
The key to helping your baby's speech and language skills flourish is to keep it interactive, fun and responsive. Talk, sing, read and play with your little one every day - and watch as their language skills develop.
Interested in supporting your baby's speech and language development? Join us at Tots Talk for fun-filled classes that nurture all of these skills and more!
Book here
www.totstalk.co.uk
Fridays in Beckenham BR35JE
9.45am 1-3yrs
10.30am 3-12months