If it your first child many of you wonder, when he/she will start speaking and for some of you, your child does not start speaking soon.

So when should you first consult a doctor?

Generally, speech development is genetically predetermined but also depends to a large extent on the exposure you have given to your child.

By the age of 3-4 years, a child has a capacity to learn 26 languages if given adequate exposure.

Studies show that children need to be exposed to a second language at least 30% of the waking hours to learn that language.

It is not A COININCIDENCE THAT EVERY CHILD LEARNS HIS MOTHER TONGUE WITHOUT ANY EFFORT .It is because his parents have exposed him to that language for more than 90% of the time.

We give you a step by step process of speech development.

0-3 months

What s/he can do

You may not know this but your little baby has been listening to you from the time she has developed her hearing apparatus in the womb. When she is born, she recognizes your voice and also the voice of others at home. Amazing but true!
In fact, you can nurture her five senses even in the womb. Read our website for this section of ‘intelligent parenting’.
 At this time she communicates to you through crying but soon she will start gurgling and saying ‘aghoo..’. She starts talking in her own way.

Hers/ his capacity

Did you know that at this time she can distinguish all the sounds of all the languages and that this ability will fade by one year of age?
By two months, she can connect the lip movement with the sound. You may even notice that she will concentrate on any unfamiliar sound and cry at sudden noises.

Your role
Now is the time to talk to your child and keep on talking about everything and anything like’ I am giving you a bath and using this and … Now we are going to have breakfast…and so on and so forth ’
Your child at this time shows no reaction but is trying to understand the sounds that he processes and starts connecting things together.

It has been shown that talkative parents have children with good linguistic abilities later on.

4-6 months

What s/he can do

Now your child knows and connects common words like ‘mama dada, his own a name, etc’ he has also started communicating by varying his crying and doing certain urgent gestures when he is hungry. Babbling also starts and a string of sounds may emerge. Laughter also starts with a sound and eyes may start communicating with lip movements.

His/hers capacity

He may focus when told the word ‘mummy’, and by six months knows his own name too. He may also start responding in his own ways to anything that You may want to talk to him. Children at this stage may start showing interest when some music is put on. You may see him smile or focus on certain types of music too.

Your role

This is the time to start saying nursery rhymes to him and also to start talking in full sentences like ‘that is a table’.
You may also play games like peek a boo with your child and start imitating animal sounds. It pays to reward your baby’s babbling with a big smile or a clap.

Alert

You must go to your doctor if he doesn’t turn towards the sounds by 4 months of age.If he refuses to show reactions like squeals and babbles too, it becomes imperative to get him checked for hearing.

7-12 months

What s/he can do

Her babbling will become more understandable and she will also communicate by pointing and trying to talk. She will start understanding and showing ‘bye / tata /mama/water/’ etc. Her first word comprising just two syllables will be between 10-12 months and some kids can even say up to 3-4 words at the age of one year. She will understand direction like ‘open the door/it is hot etc’.

His/hers capacity

Apart from understanding directions, she also discerns the intonation or the sharpness of your voice. She may understand when you are angry or happy and can point to certain known objects. Some children may learn to show body parts and home items like fan, light etc.

Your role

This is the time to start showing her the picture books or telling her stories with pictures in them. Though her interest would be to chew the book, she is already learning a lot. Also you may also start showing her the flash cards with common words written on them.

13-18 months

What s/he can do

Some children take time in starting to speak but once the first word is out, he will keep on adding more words and at the age of 18 words he will be ‘word rich’ by 15-20 words. They tend to pick up nouns and common words but soon add verbs and adjectives to them. Some of them may even start talking in two word sentences like ‘my ball’, want water’.

His/hers capacity

At this time your child knows many more words than he can actually say and seems to understand everything. He can make out your mood by listening to the tone of your voice. He may start to follow commands like ‘drink your milk’ or ‘open the door’

Your role

You can start playing games like ‘I spy’ or ‘what’s that’ to increase his vocabulary. When he ask you for something in one or two words like ‘water’ , you can complete the sentence for him like ‘yes, you can have water’. You may also start reading out story books to him.

Alert

By 18 months your child should be at least able to speak a few recognizable words depending on the stimulation he has got. But it is time to show your child at least once if he is not speaking at all at this time.

19 to 24 months

What s/he can do

By 18 months, your child understands and follows long sentences of 6-8 words. By 20 months, the milestone in language developments gets a boost and your child can understand more than 100 words. He may start increasing his vocabulary by 10-12 new words everyday and can speak in almost complete sentences of 4-5 words. An average 2 year old can say about 50 words.

His/hers capacity

Now she can understand more than 300 words and listens to you carefully registering every word you speak. She starts communicating by gestures and words and has added more adjectives and verbs in her speech.

Your role

At this time your child will want to listen to the same story or rhyme again and again and enjoys listening to familiar words and language. It helps her to make concepts more clear and you must encourage this.
She also starts repeating the words and language you use, so watch out before using slang or profanities.

Alert

Talk to your doctor if your child is unresponsive to simple questions you ask her or cannot put two words together to frame a sentence.

25-36 months

What s/he can do

This is the time when she develops finesse in her language and uses complex sounds like ‘ph’ ‘th’ etc. some of them can even start telling short stories.
He has started asking a lot of questions at this age about ‘how, when, where, what etc’.

His/hers capacity

He has learnt the language by this time and can converse completely his ideas. He can start understanding verbs and plurals and opposites at this time. He likes to listen to long, complex stories at this time and follows two step commands like ‘go to the bedroom and get your bag’

Your role

Try to converse at all times with him and read out a lot of stories to him.

Alert

This is the time when temporary problems like stammering, stuttering may emerge when your child is too eager to speak or has stress upon reading or speaking. You may have to wait for some time but if your child has an unclear speech or stammering for too long, you may visit your doctor.

Read more in the site ‘ourbabysworld.com’

 Some parents become overly concerned when their school aged child is more interested in spending time alone than he is in spending time with his peers. 

 Know that this is not uncommon, and that many children simply prefer alone time to social groups until they get close to the teen years. However, if you suspect that the reason your child is having problems making friends is because of a personality issue then you should start addressing it as soon as possible.

Figure out what the problem is, whether it is because your child is bossy, hyper, cannot follow the rules or if the problem is poor self control.  One you determine if there is a problem, you will be close to a solution.

Read more in our site ourbabysworld.com

What is the prerequisite to make good teeth?

The important thing to remember is that the entire set of milk teeth or the temporary teeth gets formed in the womb itself. So it is what you eat during pregnancy that is important for a good set of milk teeth in your child.

The food items important to make strong teeth are

·        Calcium and phosphorus (milk and cheese)

·        Vitamin D (fortified milk, vitamin pills, and sunshine)

·        Vitamin C (vitamin pills, oranges, other citrus fruits, raw tomatoes, cabbage,amla)

·        Vitamin A and some of the B vitamins.

·        Fluoride is also very important for the formation of good teeth and should be added in a minute amount in the diet of the mother while she is pregnant, and in the diet of the baby and small child while the permanent teeth are being formed.

There is much less tooth decay in those parts of the country where fluoride occurs naturally in the water.

Heredity also plays a role in the formation of good teeth.

Look up our nutrition section for other food items rich in these vitamins

Can I skip breakfast for my child?

For most of the parents, the most difficult part of getting up is the thought of forcing down breakfast down your child’s throat in the morning, before the school bus arrives and the easiest way out is to give only a glass of milk or pack something up.
But parents, it has been scientifically proven that having a good breakfast improves school performance but also is important for healthy living.

The best morning meals are a combination of whole grains, proteins and fruits. Some of the things that you can give are

GRAINS

• Whole grain cereal- many are available in the market and you may mix them in milk
•  Brown bread
•  Dalia
•  Oatmeal
•  Idli
•  Whole grain crackers/biscuits
•  Whole wheat chappati or paratha with soya flour or gram flour
•  Whole grain bun

PROTEINS

• Whole milk or milk substitutes like cheese, paneer, curds etc
•  Boiled or scrambled eggs
•  Egg bhurji
•  Yoghurt with jaggery
•  White butter/peanut butter or nut butter

FRUIT

•  Either fresh juice
•  1 piece fresh fruit
•  Chopped fruits(mixed)
•  Dried fruits

My child does not eat breakfast. What can I do?

Eating breakfast is a matter of habit. It is your job to sit every day with the breakfast. Let your child eat whatever he likes and in the amounts he wants. Do not force him to take more than he can but make it a daily habit to sit with him. You may make it pleasant by reading out a story to him, playing soothing music at a time or just talking to him.

WE DO NOT ADVOCATE PUTTING ON THE TELEVISION TO EAT AS THIS DISTRACTS HIM AND HE CANNOT ENJOY WHAT HE EATS.
If you sit with your child daily and do some interesting activity with him, he will very soon start having breakfast happily.

Remember that having a healthy breakfast is the foundation for a good mental and physical growth for your child.

Read more in our site ‘ ourbabyswold.com’

Labor is painful but you have a few alternatives apart from medications which will help you to go through this phase easily. For pain relief, you may engage in

• Deep breathing exercises that you have learned in your antenatal classes or with us in our site.
•  Aroma therapy which infuses the atmosphere with certain essential oils may cause the release of hormones in the body that will relieve you.
•  Some centers may advocate a birth pool, which is delivery in water. You can talk to your doctor about it.
•  Acupressure: for acupressure to work properly, it must be started at the beginning of the labor pains
•  Psycho prophylaxis: there is a new method of delivery which is done by hypnotizing the mother. We do not recommend this.
•  Laboring positions: these are the various positions that you can take with your partner for physical and emotional support. It not only gives a little relief from the pain but also helps in bringing the two of you to share this experience together.

1. Squatting in the mid labor period helps the rapid descend of the fetus and also offers relief to you.
2. In early labor, walking or standing under the shower offers soothing effect .
3. Lying on the side can also relax the abdominal muscles and relieve you.
4. Kneeling down against a support such as your partner can definitely help in a better tolerance to labor pains.
5. Sitting is not a good position as it slows down labor and delays it.
6. Lying on the back, though common, is not a very good position as it presses on the great vessels and can cause decreased blood flow to the baby and also result in a decrease in your blood pressure.
7. Massage for relief. This is wonderful way for relief and your partner can do it for you. The neck, back and feet massage releases endorphins which are pain relieving hormones. Also just a light fingertip massage can be given on the back.

Read more about labor in our site.