How to get your toddler to talk? Speech development is one thing parents are always anxious about in the early years. One mum shares how she was able to overcome her fear and encourage her child to talk.
Kian's Speech Delay
I used to be so worried about my son, Kian’s speech development when he was younger. As a new mum, I didn’t know how to converse or talk to my little baby boy without feeling awkward that he couldn’t talk back to me. But now that I have adjusted to being a mum and talking to my kids, I no longer have to worry about that.
When Kian was a baby, it would be just the two of us for most of the day since his daddy had worked at night and slept during the daytime. I wasn’t very good at making conversations, and talking to my little boy just seemed awkward at times. This led to little exposure to speech.
My sister is a child psychologist, and when Kian couldn’t say simple words at 1 year old, she grew concerned that he may have a delay in his speech development. My mother, on the other hand, said that it was just because I didn’t (and wasn’t) talk to him that much.
I will admit, at first I was a bit hesitant to converse with a baby that couldn’t talk back, but as I did research and read more about it, I was able to adjust to the needs of my child.
Kian started saying simple words and babbling more complex words at 1 year and 7 months. This was the time we visited my mother for a couple of months, so he had people he could talk to. My mother was great at encouraging him to talk and teaching me how to engage with him as well.
When I had Kali, my second child, I had already become more at ease with how to speak and keep a baby entertained. When she was a newborn, I would already be telling her stories and reading books to her - something that I was too ashamed to do with Kian because of my lack of knowledge and hesitancy to do it. This led to Kali being able to talk at a much younger age than Kian.
As I said, Kian didn’t have that much exposure to speech and communication when he was younger, but Kali did. But even though Kian was a bit delayed, he is now back on track with his speech development and his communication skills now that I am more hands-on as a teacher.
How to Encourage Your Child to Talk
Here are some of my tips for new mums when it comes to getting your child to start talking:
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Speak normally
As I said before, I didn’t talk to Kian that much as a baby, which in turn, led to little exposure to speech. Children learn from copying; it is important to speak properly (and not in baby talk) so that when they do start to speak, it is normal and proper.
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Use open-ended questions
Asking questions is a great way to encourage your child to talk and respond to your cues. Open-ended questions are the kind of questions that need more than one-word answers. These kinds of questions require more words when answering, thus, giving your child the opportunity to practice answering with more words.
Try to ask questions that would engage a longer or more wordy response. Instead of asking, “Do you like the food?”, try asking “What do you like about the food?”
Even if they may not answer, or if they do answer and you can’t understand it, make it a habit of asking questions. They may not be able to say the words, but their brains are engaged and are thinking of a response, which is also great for development and the process.
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Use flashcards
I started using flashcards and pictures with Kian a few months ago. The flashcards help a lot with recognition and correlation especially during the Covid pandemic when we could not go out and explore things.
I realised that with the help of visuals like flashcards and pictures, Kian learns words more easily and can identify objects which he isn’t exposed like "lion," "helicopter," "fire truck," and those kinds of things.
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Encourage
Find opportunities and ways to get your child to use words and speak. Describe random things when you are near your child, and ask them to describe them too.
Ask questions about whatever your child is doing. Sing songs about anything around you guys. Encourage your child to talk and praise them when they do.
Start at a young age, even early as newborns, and in no time, you will see the results too.
Now, at almost 3 years old, Kian has a wide vocabulary of simple words that he can properly pronounce, and can somehow say some complex words. Meanwhile, Kali can say basic words and communicate with us as early as 1 year old.
Don’t feel discouraged if your baby has a delay in talking or other things. Remember, not all babies grow and develop the same. Some may be faster than others while others may take some more time. As parents, we can guide and teach them, and just be there for them.
Republished with permission from theAsianparent Philippines.
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