Hey moms and dads!

I hope you are all keeping well, quite amazing to thing were almost nearing the end of July!

This is a short post on first words! Your adorable little one will begin to utter their first word at around 12 months-18 months, and there is nothing quite as thrilling! Today, I have listed a few techniques and simple ways you can help your baby say their first words.

#ELYtips for facilitating first words

Use the ‘Say What You See’ technique. This is when you label things in your environment or simple narrate some of your actions, for example, during bath time you can use words like, “bath time”, “tap on” “water”, “ducky”, “bubbles”, “splash”, etc. You can use this technique just about anywhere (at home, in the park, in a restaurant, at playgroup, in the car…anywhere!
Follow your child’s lead. Find out what motivates your child, what catches their attention, what they like to play with, and use these opportunities to map words and language on to their actions and interests.
Ensure questions are kept to a minimum, and comment instead, so your little can hear, remember, understand and eventually repeat a word!
Try and troubleshoot what your child might be saying. If they say “daw” when they see a dog, this should be counted as a real word, rewarded, and modelled correctly!
Read to your child, and point out pictures on the pages, even if the words are not included in the text.
Use symbolic noises such as “brum brum”, when playing with cars, or “uh oh” if something falls, or “weeeee” when going down a hill in the car, or on a slide or swing in the playground.
Copy your little one’s babble, noises and sounds.
Sing nursery rhymes, and add actions to engage your child.
Incorporate simple words like “up” every time you go to lift your little one up, or “more” every time you offer them more food, bottle, toys, etc.
Count all attempts of your toddlers words, even ones that are not clear.
I know it’s hard, but try not to compare your child to other children, and if you are worried, call your pediatrician or make an appointment with a speech and language therapist.

As always, I’d love to hear from you, so get in touch at hannah@elyhq.com. For more insights, go to www.elyhq.com and follow us on Instagram @elyactivities.

-Hannah