talking/babbling
 

I have just started taking full time care of my 6 mo. old son. To make a long story short, I have not been here at all since he was a month old, I was attending my last semester of college 4 hours away and only saw him on the weekends. He was being taken care of by my wife's grandmother from Bulgaria, she spoke no english. She was very controlling over him and wouldn't even let me change his diapers (not a man's job where she is from).

So to the point, when should a baby start babbling, you know, the bababababa mamamamamama sorta sounds? I talk to him all the time, but I don't think I've ever heard him attempt to chat with me or anyone else, like you hear they should in all the books...

The earliest that I've heard of a kid talking is about 9 months, although my 2 year old nephew isn't speaking yet. Since I'm about to become a dad for the first time myself, I've been doing some reading, and I think that the general consensus is aroun 14-18 months, although some kids are slower and some are faster. Part of it has to do with the development of the soft palate, the tongue and the interaction between the two.

Worst case, your son will be biligual with English and Bulgarian which could lead him easily (or so I hear from a Bulgarian friend) into Russian, Ukranian and other Slavic languages.

my best advice is to always speak to your kid like they are an adult. My daughter is not quite three but speaks as well as (or better than) most four year olds I meet. The reason is that A) we never, ever spoke "baby talk" to her (no "wook at duh widdle baby, she so cutesy wootsy!") and we've always talked to her in full sentences and addressed her like she was an intelligent human being. No "Baby want bottle? Mommy want hug!" She'll turn 3 in March and I get comments every single day about how big her vocabulary is and how complex her sentence structures are.

I also think that it's never too early to correct them for grammar, etc. Certainly you don't want to be mean about it or even super strict, but the longer you allow bad habits to linger, the harder they will be to correct.

My point is, talk to your kid at the level you want them to speak. If you talk dumb, they'll learn dumb. That's just my 2 cents.

Your child is about the age when babbling starts to occur...just keep speaking to him, and he'll catch on soon enough.

AMEN. As one who has proven this theory in my own daughter, I can tell you this is extreemly benificial (at least in my daughters case). My daughter, 2.5 years old, can hold up partial conversations with not just my wife and I, but friends and even strangers. We, my wife and I, have spoken to her only a handfull of times in a goo goo ga ga type of speech, usually opting to simply have warm tones in our voices (unless she is in trouble, of course).

My son babbled at about 3 months, but he's the exception I think; his father would make nonsense sounds and they'd have 'conversations'. His sister said 'dada' to her father at 6 months. But my son didn't speak clearly at all until 2, his sister much earlier.
I cringe when I hear voices go up a couple of octaves when people talk to babies and they screw up words thinking it sounds cute! Please try not to.
Use simple nouns, bottle, book, diaper when speaking, always point things out to him (please, people,they're not horsies, they're horses). But don't be quick to correct his interpretation (daughter couldn't say horses, they were reesies, which is fine, at least she didn't confuse them with fish).
If we keep in mind that as parents, we are their first teachers as well as their gateway to the world, the job becomes clear and enjoyable.

My son is 11 weeks, and he's been cooing for the past few weeks. Just cute little "Wuh, aiiiewww, gaaaah, maaaah, buh, hiiiiieeeeeeeee" sounds that make you want to melt... :-)

ANYWAYS...

The following is taken from the Children's Hospital of San Diego website:

Maybe it's lack of stimulation that's keeping your baby from cooing/babbling? You can always take him to the doctor for a real professional's opinion.

Good luck!

6 Months is probably the very beginning of recognizable "babbling" sounds from a baby. You'll probably begin to hear patterns. I'd consider it different than cooing sounds. He's probably just starting to realize that, "Hey, this is my voice. I can control it. Cool. Let's scream during dinner."

On the subject of language:

My wife stayed home for the first 18 months of our daughter's life. At that point she was talking, but only in a way that her mother and I could understand.

We decided that it would be best for her to go to a day care at this point since she really loved being with other kids. After a LOT of research we settled on the Foreign Language Immersion Childcare Center (FLICC). They speak only Spanish to the kids.

Within a month (I'm not kidding) her language skills grew enormously. She began to speak (English) in complete sentences. Most likely this is because there were kids a year older than her in the class who had better language skills.

She's 4 now and is still at FLICC. She speaks clear and articulate English. She can speak Spanish and can translate for us in some cases, because neither her mother nor I speak Spanish.

My point is this: kids learn best from other kids (sometimes not exactly what you want them to learn ;)). That is one of the main concepts of the Maria Montessori schools. Not to say that we, as parents, don't have a lot to teach our children; but put a kid in a classroom with kids a little older than he or she and watch what happens.

Well thank you all for your suggestions and advice, it seems I was under the wrong impression as to when they should start the babbling.

You should get this book: http://www.kidsource.com/books/images/0894805770.l.gif

It will give you an idea of what to expect regardign milestones. Ultimately, don't be too worried about it.

Oh and I too agree with Derwood. I've only ever spoken to my kids like adults.

you have a problem that he's not babbling? You do realise once he starts, you'll have troubling stopping him :D

YES!! I attended Montessori schools for quite a while when I was very young, and I think it played a very important role in my socialization and learning style. I love the idea of putting your kid in Spanish immersion, too... wish someone had done that for me! :thumbsup:

My eldest son was speaking in complete sentences before two year old. "May I have a glass of milk please, (insert name)." My youngest daughter didn't speak that much until she was two. Now they are both equally intelligent and doing great.

I do echo, DON'T BABY TALK! Speaking as a former kindergarten teacher there is nothing worse then a child who baby talks in Kindergarten.

well, he finally started babbling, saying mostly something like bababababababab. I'm happy now :)