Baby Talk: 4-6 Months
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If you are reading this, it means you did it, you survived the 4th trimester! Now that the first three months are under your belt, you are probably noticing that baby is staying awake for longer stretches, becoming more in tune with the world around him, and starting to experiment more with his voice.
When baby is 4 to 6 months old you will see even more changes in his language development. He will begin to really listen to the world around him and start turning in response to sounds. He will begin to express both pleasure and displeasure through facial expressions, laughing, and crying. One of the biggest changes you will notice will be when baby really starts to experiment with his voice.
Within the 4-6 month time frame, baby will begin playing with his voice in what is called “vocal play.” Baby will experiment with his voice by producing squeals, blowing raspberries, and then closer to 6 months – babbling. You may notice the babbles starting with baby producing consonants in isolation (ba/da). As he becomes comfortable producing these sounds in isolation, he will then begin experimenting with producing the same sound repeatedly: “bababa” or “mamma.” Baby will start repeating the consonant slowly and then will become faster with time.
The most beneficial ways to interact and play with your baby are things that parents tend to do instinctively. However, If you are searching for a little more guidance in these interactions, read on.
Speech and Language Fun:
Talk: While holding your baby’s gaze, smile and talk. Talk to baby during diaper changes, when feeding him, and during bath time. Be sure to wait and give baby time to respond to your voice. The pattern of “you talk and I respond, then I talk and you respond,” is the foundation for back and fourth conversation. Slow down, listen, and really observe what baby is doing and you might be surprised by what baby has to say!
Narrate: Describe the day in detail to baby by talking out loud. It may become mundane to describe life in detail, but the more you talk, the more baby is exposed to language. Baby is like a sponge absorbing everything you have to say.
Imitate: Using the “you talk and I respond, then I talk and you respond,” strategy from above, copy the sounds baby produces and then wait to see if baby will imitate you. You can then produce a different repetitive sound and pause to see if baby imitates you.
Play Peek-A-Boo: Hide behind a scarf, towel, or hands to facilitate the game of Peek-A-Book. This simple turn-taking game is good practice for how to have a conversation later on.
Sing: Simple songs are calming, attention grabbing, and interactive. Singing with baby provides a great interactive activity and supports future speech and language skills, such as auditory discrimination, phonological awareness, vocabulary development, and auditory memory. Some simple songs that baby might love are Hush Little Baby, Pat-a-Cake, The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle.
Read: Read, read, read! Start with books with simple pictures in high contrasting colors. Baby might also enjoy books that introduce him through a variety of textures that you can encourage him to touch. Reading well before baby is speaking, is an important bonding experience and exposes baby to language, rhythm, sentence structure, and new vocabulary.
Sensory Play:
Babies learn best through their senses which is why sensory play is so important for a developing baby. Any activity that allows baby to safely explore using a combination of their senses (touch/smell/sight/hearing) in creative and spontaneous ways is considered sensory play. By providing baby with the opportunity to play with a variety of open-ended, everyday materials, you are providing baby with sensory experiences that plays an important role in early brain development .
Some ideas for sensory play for baby age 4 to 6 months:
Materials in a bag: This is a taste safe approach for exposing baby to a variety of textures. Place sensory materials in a ziplock bag and tape the bag to the floor or high chair tray. Some ideas for fillers include water beads, pumpkin guts, beans, or shaving cream.
Water Play: Line a shallow tray with a little bit of water. Place floating objects and cups in the water and allow baby to explore. If baby is working on tummy time he can watch the objects float around in the water. If baby is able to explore more allow him to move the objects around and splash in the water.
Sensory Bottles: These can be created and used as baby grows. Quiet sensory bottles can be created to stimulate vision and noisy sensory bottles can be created to stimulate vision and hearing. The directions for our favorite glitter calm down bottle can be found here.
Tin Foil Play: This is a super simple activity that baby will love and is an awesome reinforcer for tummy time. Take two sheets of aluminum foil and tape down to the ground. Place baby on the foil and watch him experiment with the sound when he slaps his hands and kicks his feet.
*Please do not leave baby unattended with any of these sensory activities These activities are designed to be facilitated by an adult.*
Toys:
Baby is becoming interested in objects that can be manipulated, objects that make fun sounds, and objects that he can fit in his mouth. So, any toy that baby can hold, shake, mouth, and drop are a good bet for a baby this age. I highly recommend avoiding toys that require batteries and stocking up on old fashioned toys that provide baby with more opportunities for open ended play.
Rattles: There are are so many rattles to choose from and ultimately your baby will let you know what he likes best. There are rattle booties, balls, and graspers. Rattles will promote cause and effect learning and might even produce a little chuckle.
Mirrors: Mirror play support baby’s ability to focus, track images, and explore faces (both his and yours). It promotes social development as baby interacts with you and his siblings. I recommend choosing a durable play mirror like this, but I have also been known to pull our full length mirror off the wall for baby to explore.
Teethers: It is part of child development that babies will try to put everything into their mouth and teether are a safe way for baby to chew and explore while mouthing. Teethers can be bought in different shapes, colors, and sizes and many toys have different textures on them to provide a safe way for baby to teeth the toy. We love this teether, but again, every baby is different so it might take a couple tries to find the right teether to match your baby.
Balls: Babies naturally gravitate towards balls and are fascinated by the continuous movement. You can start out with a large ball that baby can accidentally bump and watch roll away from him – he might even be encouraged to chase after it. Baby may also like balls in a variety of textures to support development of the sense of touch.
Crinkle Books: These books are an extension of the crinkle paper that baby may have been exposed to early on. The crinkle paper in book form gives baby the opportunity to explore books while providing him with auditory and visual feedback. This is one of our favorites that baby can listen to the crinkle, turn the pages, and explore the flaps on each page.
Baby Piano: This toy is a fun way for baby to explore cause and effect. Baby can use hands or feet to activate the key. He may begin exploring the toy by accidentally playing music and as he matures will become more purposeful in his music playing. This is the piano we currently have, but I just found this one and I love the two-in-one component.
Remember, every baby develops at his own pace, so there is a large window for when baby will reach his developmental milestones for this reason. There’s nothing to worry about if your baby is hitting his important milestones within a period that you and your pediatrician are happy with. If you as the parent are having concerns, do not hesitate to bring it up to your doctor.