Everybody’s attention remains chiefly to a baby’s first words during a few months right after its birth. Everyone becomes restless to hear the baby talking in different sounds. However, not all children start talking at the same time. Following a few steps may help parents whose children have problem talking.

Talking to the baby a lot:

Talking to the baby is the best technique to teach it to talk. Members of the family should talk to the child in standard language. You can ask your baby some questions for which he/she can reply with broken words. Many parents allow their babies to watch TV for this purpose. Instead, you should read him/her stories from books and make different sounds while reading.

Singing a song or rhyme:

Even though your baby does not understand the song or rhyme, he/she may yield internal responses to them. He/she may sleep at the sound of the song. If you cannot sing a song, you can use the sound system. While this technique may seem to be more of recreational apparently, it will help you lot to teach your baby to talk.

Keeping the surroundings favorable:

Avoid any argument, quarrel or chaos in front of the baby. Try to keep him/her amid cheer and happiness. Do not get restless if your baby starts crying. Have patience and take him/her in your arms to pacify the little one. Parents’ quarrelling affects a child’s mental setup which may lead to speech problems and other issues.

Correcting pronunciation:

Broken words and distorted pronunciation from a baby’s mouth may sound interesting. Do not encourage him/her to talk like this because by doing so, you will encourage him/her only to grow up with speaking issues and speak improperly. Instead, try to correct his/her pronunciation by speaking in proper form. This practice will make him/her utter sweetly.

Giving your baby ample time:

Amid a tight schedule, try to give your baby as much time as you can. Play with your baby and talk to him/her without considering whether or not he/she understands. Try to spend some happy time with your child so that he/she never feels helpless or lonely.

Speech therapy:

Speech therapy is not very familiar to many parents. With the help of this procedure, babies may start talking early. If your baby does not start talking, he/she will fail to make advancement in different stages throughout the entire life, from schooling to various social activities.

Putting emphasis on particular words:

Sometimes, emphasis on specific words or set of words works well for children with speech problems. For example, put stress on the word ‘bath’ while bathing your child and emphasize the word ‘go outside’ while taking him/her for a walk or visit.

Talking with signs and gestures:

If you notice that your baby is trying to talk with signs, you can add some meaningful words to them for better understanding. For example, you may say ‘bye bye’ if the baby stretches its hands.

Teaching to talk through games:

You may keep a playing object out of your baby’s reach. When your baby wants to take that by hand, you may pronounce the name of that object clearly and ask “Do you want it (object)? Here’s your (object).”

Emphasize on imitating your baby’s gestures like smiling or facial expressions. Make him/her clap hands, kiss on the palm, etc.

Using symbolic words:

You can use symbolic expressions like ‘pip’ sounds to indicate cars or ‘mew mew’ to indicate cats. Pay attention to increase your baby’s vocabulary. Teach him/her the names of body parts like hands, head, ear; different objects like cars, comb, chair; and verbal expressions like eating, sleeping, going, etc.

Visual method of teaching to talk:

Prepare a book that contains 8-10 very familiar images and start teaching your two-year old child to talk through those images.

Efforts to enhance attention:

Some children are not interested in seeing things or making sounds or talking. You can follow some techniques to enhance your child’s ability to concentrate on something by playing hide and seek, titillating or singing a song with gestures.

What not to do while teaching:

·        Do not force your child too much for saying anything.

·        Do not ask your baby too many questions or tell irrelevant words.

·        Do not try to teach your baby too many words at a time. It may cause the baby to lose interest in talking. Speech therapy is a long-term treatment procedure. Proper implementation of the techniques will surely bring in positive results.

·        Many parents believe their babies can talk if they are allowed to play with other children, but it might not be so. You should try to teach him/her at home first. Go for speech therapy if necessary.

Conclusion:

The above tips are for those children who have delays in speaking. If your baby cannot speak due to particular mental or physical issues, take him/her to a doctor.

Contact our call center to consult doctors at SuperMom for any children and maternity affairs from 9am to 5pm from Sunday-Thursday (except Government holidays). Call at 08000-888-000.