Language Development in a 6-Month-Old
Your 6 month old acts very differently from the way he behaved at birth. When he was tiny, he cried when he needed to communicate with you. Now he uses a whole range of sounds and lets you know what he wants, though he is still some way off saying his first real words. He learns fast from listening to you and from practising his growing speech skills.
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Hearing and Listening
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Your baby shows interest in sounds, in the way you use language and in your voice long before she has any words of her own. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association she watches your face when you talk and likes toys that make a noise. She may quiet from crying when she hears your voice and she notices changes in your tone. You may notice that she smiles at one sound or laughs at another. Perhaps she shows an obvious interest in music by waving her arms and legs. She understands many single words including "no" and "bye bye."
Expressive Language
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He is vocal now, using noises deliberately to attract your attention. When you talk to him, he makes sounds back to you and copies when you make faces. Put your tongue out at him and he will poke his out in return, though you may need to wait a few seconds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out that he uses his voice to let you know how he feels, laughing when you play with him, shouting, cooing and gurgling and using different cries for joy and displeasure.
Babbling
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Before your baby can produce clear words, she needs to master some complex movements of the muscles used for speech. She practices these in repetitive sounds such as "dadada" or "baba." This babbling sounds a little like speech, but the sounds are not real words just yet.
She makes all the sounds she will need when she starts to talk and many others as well, using her lips, tongue, cheeks, lungs and vocal cords. You might recognize sounds from languages other than yours. As she grows a little older and hears more of your speech, she babbles more of her native sounds and loses interest in the others. You need to talk to her, sing and read stories, to make sure she knows the sounds of her native language.
Nonverbal Language
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Your baby uses plenty of nonverbal language to communicate with you. His facial expressions and body movements leave you in no doubt when he wants something. Many babies enjoy using sign language for simple words because it helps them to communicate before they have mastered those tricky speech sound combinations needed for words. He finds it easier to wave "bye bye" than to say it. According to research published in the journal "First Language," baby signing does not delay speech development so long as your baby hears you say the word whenever you sign it.
Potential
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Your baby's language skills depend on her social and emotional development and on her desire to communicate with people. At 6 months she begins to grow especially close to her parents, sometimes crying when you leave. You teach her better than any other adult during this period of attachment. Enjoy talking and reading to her, singing nursery rhymes and playing language games to help her develop language successfully.
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