Language development in babies and toddlers
Language development progresses rapidly in the first years of life. By the sixth birthday of your child, it is usually largely complete. What happens during these six years? How does your baby go from the first incomprehensible sounds to the articulation of complete sentences? In this article, we will introduce you to the most important milestones of language development. Additionally, we will give you tips on how to easily support your child's language acquisition in everyday life.
Milestones of language development
The exact age at which children start to speak varies greatly. Some say their first words as early as 9 to 12 months, while others not until they are 2 years old. Just as one child begins to walk earlier and another later, there are significant differences in language development as well. Nevertheless, there are certain milestones in the progression that children typically reach at a specific age. But you don't need to worry if your child deviates from these, as they are only guidelines. Surely, your little explorer will soon be almost unstoppable when it comes to speaking. :)
Before the birth
The fundamentals of language development are laid even before birth. Your child's hearing ability begins to develop in the womb. There, it is exposed to a variety of sounds, such as the gurgling of your digestion and the flowing sounds of your blood. Sounds from outside also reach the child. Your baby perceives these and can already recognize your voice.
Immediately after birth
The first expression of your baby occurs immediately after birth: it cries. This crying is the beginning of sound development. Your baby is expressing its needs (for example, hunger, tiredness, or discomfort). By responding to it, speaking to your child, and calming it down, it learns that its needs are met when it communicates. From an early age, your little explorer can distinguish different vocal sounds. Usually, it responds to a calm, friendly tone with a satisfied facial expression, while arguments or crying have the opposite effect. Additionally, your baby can already determine where a sound is coming from and turn its head in the corresponding direction.
In the 1st year of life
At around 2 to 3 months, your baby begins to pay attention to your mouth and lip movements when you speak to them. It learns that certain expressions belong to specific situations. In this way, their language comprehension develops. Your baby starts to experiment with different tongue and lip movements. At around 6 to 9 months, it produces increasingly more syllable sequences ( bababa, mememem ). Sometimes your baby practices this babbling all by itself while playing. Sometimes it also mimics your expressions, so you can have a little dialogue.
In the 2nd year of life
Your child's babbling gradually increases until finally the first real word emerges. For many children, this is Mama or Papa . Don't worry: which word comes first doesn't indicate the preferred parent of your baby. ;) This special moment often occurs around the first birthday. However, some babies take a bit more time and start speaking at 1.5 or 2 years old. Don't be discouraged if other children are faster than your little explorer. Every child learns at their own pace! Your child already understands much more than they can speak. They probably respond to their own name and understand commands like give me, wink wink or nein .
We believe that the first word is an event that must be captured for eternity! :) Therefore, we have a milestone card set for you, with which you can photographically capture this and 12 other firsts of your little explorer: Simply download, print, take a photo, and enjoy!
Initially, the vocabulary increases only slowly. On average, children aged 18 to 20 months know about 50 words. Each clearly used expression counts as a word, including wauwau for dog or hamham for food. When your child knows about 50 words, the so-called vocabulary spurt begins. Now it learns about ten new words daily at a rapid pace.
From 3 to 6 years of age
After approximately 20 to 24 months, the first two-word sentences appear ( Dad sleeping ). This is the beginning of sentence development. By about 2.5 to 3 years old, they will form three- and multi-word sentences. By around 4 years old, your child masters most sounds. Individual sound substitutions ( I can do it myself. ) are still completely normal at this age. They usually give themselves up on their own. The questioning age reaches its peak: your child wants to know everything, learn everything, understand everything. They ask you with who?, where? and above all why? a hole in the stomach. Even if it may sometimes be a little exhausting: it shows that your little explorer's language development is in full swing.
How can you support your child in learning to speak?
Learning with fun makes it easier for children! The more cheerful, carefree, and creative you and your child are with language, the more confidently they will learn it. Psychologist Wolfgang Wendlandt has developed a beautiful image of language development in children. He compares language acquisition to a tree. Just as a tree only grows when it receives enough light, water, and warmth as nourishment, language also requires certain nutrients: warmth, love, and acceptance ensure that it thrives splendidly in your child. With the following activities, you can further promote language acquisition:
Mouth Acrobatics
Finger plays
Finger plays are suitable even for young children. They provide initial experiences with rhythms and rhymes. Younger children may not yet be able to recite the verses, but they can already participate through their voice, facial expressions, and gestures.
Appropriate manner of speaking
We adults instinctively switch to a child-friendly way of speaking when we converse with children. We speak in a higher pitch, gentle tone, short sentences, and with many sounds, the so-called Baby Talk . This altered way of speaking is quite important and helpful for children in language acquisition. But make sure to still speak correctly, (so rather no Muttu heia machen use) so that your child does not learn incorrect expressions and structures. With older children, baby talk can quickly seem artificial. They may therefore feel not taken seriously. So, use an age-appropriate, slightly simplified, but still correct way of speaking.
Picture books
Picture books offer numerous prompts for conversation and are thus important helpers in language development – even before your child says their first words. Just five minutes a day provide your baby with important stimuli. Talk to your child about the pictures in the book instead of just the text. The fun should be the main focus. Make reading aloud a special time for just the two of you and enjoy it.
What can you do about language irregularities?
Almost all children go through phases of language development where progress suddenly seems to slow down. Understandably, as a parent, you may then worry. However, much of it will resolve on its own over time. You can turn to the pediatrician if your child
does not babble or only little after the first few months or suddenly stops
noticeably less or less understandable speech than other children of the same age
suddenly stops learning new words after two years.
If necessary, the pediatrician will refer you to a speech therapy practice. If you suspect a hearing impairment, you should also consult your doctor, as speech deficits can also be caused by impaired hearing.
The language development of your baby progresses sometimes faster, sometimes slower. However, if you "water" their language tree enough, it will grow quickly, and before you know it, complete sentences will emerge from the first word. We wish you and your little explorer many wonderful conversations!