SPEECH PROCESS IN A TODDLER

Mothers are such nice creatures, but they are somewhat so very impatient with their toddlers when the latter “fail” to live up to their expectations.

One aspect that agitates the minds of mothers in their toddlers is speech development in the babies.

Most mothers fail to realize that the speech mechanisms in children develop gradually.

But in their haste to see their children speak, mothers get both themselves and their children worked up.

Understanding the speech process or the gradual emergence of communicable sounds in the toddler will do mothers a world of good.

The following are the stages of speech process in a toddler:

0 – 8weeks
Baby makes basic noises which are associated with hunger, pain, discomfort etc.

8 – 20weeks
Cooing noises and laughing develop. They are short bursts initially, but they become more often from three months.

20 – 30weeks
Baby does a lot of vocal play at this stage of his development. Many different sounds are produced at this age.

6months
Baby starts to produce strings of sounds as he babbles.

9 – 11months
Jargon begins. Melodic sounds that seem like real speech are babbled by the baby.

12months
Baby produces his first meaningful words. Congrats mum!

18months
Baby is capable of producing a vocabulary of about 50 words. He could understand five times as many words now.

Two years
Immature speeches are uttered in addition to the production of three –and-four- word phrases.

Three years
Baby expands his vocabulary but it is still unintelligible. He may not be fluent in producing his sentences. He will asks questions in phrases instead of using question words.

Now, you can relax yourself!

Your knowledge of the above process should reduce your anxiety over your baby’s speech development. Be patient with him, and he will soon master everything to your delight.

You may try this book , which will teach you how to talk to your toddler. l recommend it for its effectiveness

Happy dialogues as you now chat with your toddler!

Sikaz