The best conversations with the smallest of people

Communicating with babies and the young

I’ve always loved babies. Growing up as one of the oldest of 20 grandchildren meant there was never a shortage of babies to hold and play with. Some of my earliest memories are of deliberately finding pictures and objects with stars in them, so my baby cousin would say ‘star’ over and over. Perhaps I was destined to be a speech language therapist all along!

So, imagine my delight when my sister and her partner announced they were pregnant, and we knew we would all be living together!

It’s been fascinating to watch as my nephew has grown and developed some early communication skills. He’s only 4 months old, but we’re already noticing his desire to communicate with us, and we love watching as he responds to us and takes turns in some ‘conversations’.

One of the first things we noticed was his ability to copy us. We’d stick out our tongue, then wait, and in time, we’d see him sticking his tongue back out at us. We try to get face to face as much as we can, this helps us to share a moment more easily and is teaching him how to share attention with an object or another person.

When we come home from work, my nephew will look at us, and when he realises who we are, will smile. He’ll squeal, join some sounds together and then look at us. He waits, while we respond and then will ‘say something’ back. He especially likes to talk about the rubgy! Oh, and how tough his day was!

More recently, we’ve noticed when he isn’t the centre of attention, he will make a noise to start an interaction! When we reply, we’re helping him to start to learn how conversations work. His sounds, will gain a response. We keep the interaction going, pausing, and then replying. Talking to a baby is the easiest way to lose track of time! Who could’ve though such a little human could dictate so much of the attention in the room! Sometimes we copy his sounds, other times we add new sounds, or use 1-2 word phrases to model to him.

He has his frustrated cry down pact too. When he can’t reach something he wants (and his legs just won’t move him there), or if he has to roll his least preferred way- we know about it.

People games, such as peek-a-boo are just starting to become part of our everyday routine. This will help him to learn more about taking a turn in a conversation. Sometimes, our response is met with a smile and a squeal, other times, a confused look- ‘why is she hiding behind her hands?!’

We can respond to some of his gestures to, and consider these to be ways he is intentionally communicating. We know when he reaches for something that he wants it (current obsession is putting everyone’s fingers in his mouth to gnaw on- and he will strongly pull your hand to his mouth).

Communication starts from birth (well, science would say before birth) and these simple interactions can teach so much. All of the vocalisations, gestures and eye gazes are his way of communicating. The way we respond and the interactions we deliberately share with our littlies are developing their preverbal communication skills. These preverbal communication skills form the foundation for words, and for more complex communication skills.

Now, I’m off to chat to the baby!

Megan King