How much does my baby understand?
Talking and your baby
Your baby’s
first proper words outside of mama and dada will probably be the names of
familiar objects such as ball, dog, cup, milk. She’ll know the names of
many more objects than she can label herself – test out her skills by
asking her where is her nose, where is her bed, where is her doll –
she’ll point at them for sure! And she’ll be babbling short sentences that are fully inflected, making it sound as though she is chattering away in a foreign language!How can I help my baby to talk?
You can help your baby to talk by teaching her exactly what words mean. You need to keep talking in a way that’s within her understanding – but you also need to take her that bit further. Slow down and focus on individual words. Again, keep it simple, focusing on the here and now. Stick to events and objects she’s familiar with, and show her the item you are referring to – ‘cup’; ‘cat’; ‘dog’. Labeling objects in this way will help your baby make the connection between the items and their names, and your baby will learn the meaning of words in this way long before she can actually say them. This also is a great time to start teaching your child manners, by constantly saying please and thank you as you interact with her.
After the age of one
After she passes her first birthday your baby will be acquiring new words at a rate of about four to six a month. She may use them regularly, or drop them as she moves on to new words, but she won’t have forgotten a word just because she has stopped using it – it will be stored in her brain! For some toddlers, 50 words is a benchmark – after she hits this she may experience a vocabulary explosion, picking up new words faster than you can keep up with. However, she’ll probably make the bare minimum of sound needed, because at this stage the muscles of her mouth and tongue aren’t yet developed enough that she can enunciate clearly. You will likely be able to decode what she says, but strangers will find it difficult!
Your baby's independence
One of the biggest milestones that happens around your baby’s first birthday is that she gets on the move. She may have been crawling
since she was eight or nine months, and some babies are already
toddling at one year old. This has implications for her sense of self
and her independence because it helps her to understand that she is a
separate person. When she becomes aware of herself as her own person you may well notice her becoming possessive of her toys: now she knows she is not part of you she realizes things can be hers and not yours – this is when you might start to hear her use words like me and mine. She also will comprehend that since she’s her own person she can do what she wants, so be on the alert for her to become more willful… it’s the run-up to those toddler tantrums!
Along with a growing understanding that she is separate from you comes the realisation that you are separate from her – and could potentially abandon her. Expect that to translate into separation anxiety over the next few months. This tends to peak at about 18 months and then subside.
Your baby’s growing independence makes it vital that you take steps to toddler-proof your home once she’s on the move – why not watch gurgle's video on how to baby-proof your garden and read our feature on baby-proofing your home for some top tips?
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.
Last Modified:
Mothercare
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