From birth to 3 months, your baby:

• Reacts to sudden noises by crying or jerking their body
• Enjoys soft noises and familiar voices
• Makes different sounds (like - ah, uh)
• Gets excited when you come close
• Knows if there is a strange person or unfamiliar situation
• Makes noises (coos, gurgles)
• Turns toward a new sound
• Looks at objects and faces
• Is calmed when you hold and comfort him/her
• Smiles at you
• Usually has different cries to let you know they are hungry/tired

• Looks toward sounds and voices
• Reacts when you show him/her a spoon or bottle
• Smiles and laughs when happy, makes noises when he/she is not
• Tries to talk to you, to himself/herself, and to objects
• Says sounds like “um-um” and “aga”
• Watches your face when you talk
• Makes noise to get attention
• Makes sounds back when you talk

• Talk to your baby, talk about what you are doing when you are washing, dressing or feeding him/her
• Use your baby’s name when talking to him/her
• Repeat the sounds your baby makes
• Face your baby when you talk to him/her
• Do things to make your baby smile/laugh
• Show your baby picture books and talk about what you see
• Use lots of facial expressions when you are talking to your baby
• Sing songs or nursery rhymes
• Play simple games like “peek-a-boo”

6-12 months

From 6-9 months, your baby:

• Understands his/her name
• Understands simple words like “up” and “no”
• Makes different sounds like “ba-ba”, “na-na”
• Uses a voice that rises and falls
• Understands different faces (mad, happy)
• Might cry when you leave the room
• Starts to imitate familiar sounds and actions
• Tries to play “pat-a-cake” and “bye-bye”
• Starts to look at pictures in books
• Likes to do things with objects such as shaking, banging

• Looks toward a sound or voice right away
• Starts to know names of objects and body parts (blanket, nose, toes)
• Starts to point to an object when you ask where it is
• Points and makes a noise to ask for something
• May start to use a few simple words
• Shakes his/her head to say no
• Imitates simple sounds
• Does things to see how people will react
• Likes people he/she knows, might move away from an unfamiliar person
• Tugs at you or holds up arms to be picked up

• Use gestures when you talk to your baby
• Show your child how to make gestures by moving their hand
• Get excited when your child starts to point and label the object
• Use simple words to talk about what you’re doing
• Speak in short sentences
• Be consistent in the words you use to label objects
• Play simple games like “peek-a-boo”
• Tell your child to listen to the different sounds you hear (rain, telephone)
• Sing songs or nursery rhymes

Adapted from smallTALK
www.smalltalkinfo.ca

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Tags: Milestones, Reading, Literacy, Look Fors