Talk, read, and sing daily to support language milestones

Narrate your daily routine, read board books, and sing simple songs to your baby starting from birth. Consistent verbal interaction is the single strongest predictor of language development in the first year.

Language Milestones to Listen For

• 2 months: Cooing, making vowel sounds ("oo," "ah")
• 4 months: Babbling begins, squealing, laughing
• 6 months: Consonant-vowel combinations ("ba," "da," "ma"), responds to own name
• 9 months: Strings syllables together ("bababa," "mamama"), understands "no," points at objects
• 12 months: Says 1-3 words with meaning ("mama," "dada," "uh-oh"), follows simple one-step directions

Tips

• Respond to babbling as if it were conversation; this back-and-forth ("serve and return") builds neural pathways for communication
• Reading aloud exposes babies to more complex vocabulary than everyday speech
• Bilingual households should continue using both languages; babies can track multiple languages simultaneously without confusion
• Limit background screen noise during interactions, as it competes with live speech processing