Will my child stop stuttering? What the Experts say…

It can be very difficult for parents to watch their children struggle with speech.

Close to 5% of young children begin to stutter. Almost 75% of them will outgrow stuttering on their own within 12-24 months.

While we don’t know for sure which children will stop stuttering on their own and which will continue to stutter, we do know that the severity of the stuttering does NOT predict the likelihood of the stutter continuing.

 

Children are more likely to naturally outgrow stuttering when:

  • There is no family history. More than half of children who stutter have a family member who stutters. A family history indicates a risk for persistence.
  • The stuttering started early. Children who begin stuttering before 3.5 years are much more likely to outgrow it.
  • The stuttering has lasted less than 6 months. 75% of children who start stuttering will stop on their own within 12-24 months.
  • Your child is a girl. Three to four boys continue to stutter for every one girl who continues to stutter.

Some children have a strong reaction to their stuttering, which can create more tension and more struggling. It is actually the way children feel about themselves and their communication abilities, rather than the type and frequency of their stutter,  that will determine how much difficulty they will have communicating.

You can help these children feel less fear about getting stuck on their words by letting them know it is okay to have some difficulty when learning to talk. Just like it’s okay to fall when learning to walk, or spill when learning to drink.

 

To prevent development of negative reactions and help your child feel more ease:

  • Model a calm and accepting response to your child’s stuttering. Children learn how to react to stuttering by watching how their parents react. Remember that acceptance does not mean you are giving up on fluency.
  • Listen to your child’s concerns about speaking. Focus on the message and not on how he is talking.
  • Talk with your child about stuttering. Be supportive and straightforward to help your child understand what is happening.
  • Avoid putting your child in a position where he feels pressured to talk. Ask less questions and make more comments.
  • Create “special time”. Set aside five minutes each day for one-to-one playful time with your child, with no expectations for speech. Listen patiently and pause before responding to your child’s words.

Because of the high percentage of young children who do outgrow stuttering, some professionals may suggest waiting to see if the stuttering stops on its own.   However, therapy is recommended more often than not in order to give the 25% of children who won’t outgrow their stutters a greater chance to recover from stuttering. 

The decision to pursue treatment for stuttering should be based on the likelihood that a child might continue stuttering without intervention. It is recommended that parents consult with a Speech-Language Therapist to determine their child’s risk for continued stuttering.

 

Therapy by a clinician who specializes in stuttering is recommended when either :

  • The child appears to be at risk for continuing to stutter, or
  • The child or parents are concerned about the child’s communication abilities.

A treatment program designed to reduce children’s stuttering and improve their overall communication skills will include both child-focused treatment and Parent Training.

The Stuttering Foundation is an excellent resource for parents. In addition to providing helpful information, they also offer an international list of clinicians who specialize in stuttering.

And HERE is an excellent booklet written specifically to help parents support their young children who stutter.

An invitation to do less this season

As far back as I remember, Christmas time always evoked mixed feelings. Being Jewish, my family celebrated Hanukkah, which sometimes coincided with Christmas and other times did not.
 
My school hosted a number of Christmas related events and I envied the many families who celebrated what I believed to be a glamorous and universal holiday. Hence the mixed feelings. It all looked so great but I just wasn’t a part of it.  ANY OF IT.
 
Whichever holiday they are celebrating, toys and games are important to children. But… do you remember all the gifts you received over the holidays? Me neither. 
 
As adults we hardly remember the toys we so desperately wanted or received as gifts. What we remember most are the memories created from hanging out and laughing with family.
 
This year don’t lose sight of those things that build lasting memories. Choose to do less. Spend more time together playing and sharing stories. Invite your children to join you baking and decorating.  Create new family traditions your children can look forward to year after year.
 
Involving children in activities promotes language and social development. These are the interactions that will provide the basis for future reminiscence and story-telling.
 
For those of you still working on your gift list, I recommend you lean towards items that will provide your child with opportunities to use their language skills and learn through discovery.

Consider age appropriate novels, magazine subscriptions and cookbooks to promote a love for reading.  Consider toys that encourage turn-taking, guessing and word-finding to promote language development.
 
Here are some SLP endorsed gift options for all ages. Each item supports literacy, pretend play, guessing, turn-taking or vocabulary expansion.

1 – 3 years

     

Dot Magazine
An illustrated ad-free magazine for preschoolers. It is full of fun stories and activities. Use it to build pre-literacy skills and teach kids that reading is fun.


Munchkin Fishin’ Bath Toy 
The magnetic rod makes it easy to catch sea creatures. Use it to introduce “who” questions “Who did you catch?” and “where” questions “Where is the fish?” Use this toy to promote pretend play.


Fisher-Price Little People Caring for Animals Farm
Every kid should have a farm!! This toy encourages pretend play and conversations between the farmer and the animals. Animals are perfect prompts for teaching toddlers how to make different sounds and appreciate the connection between sounds and their meanings.

I Spy Eagle Eye Game
Young kids love searching for images. This helps develop vocabulary, particularly concepts to describe where they found each picture.

3 – 6 years


The Gruffalo
One of my all-time favourite children’s books. If The Gruffalo is not on your book shelf, order it now. One of the best books to help your child understand the unwritten text by encouraging them to consider what each character is thinking.

Dot to Dot Count to 25
Help your toddler guess what the image will be. Kids get super excited to eventually see the image for themselves. These dots follow each other in a logical manner.

 

Hape Dynamo Kid’s Wooden Domino Set
Model concepts (in-front/behind, first/last, close/far, fast-slow) and verbs (build, turn, push, fall, watch, repeat).


Cate and Levi Puppets
Handcrafted in Canada. Hand puppets stimulate pretend play and turn-taking. Puppets also encourage interaction, through scripts, which is the breeding ground for language development.

6 – 9 years

 

 

 

Wee Hee Hee
Who doesn’t love to giggle? These illustrated jokes strengthen metalanguage skills by using “wordplay”, a humorous use of words with more than one meaning.

 

 

 

National Geographic – 5,000 Awesome Facts About Everything
Kids can’t resist this book with fascinating fun facts. If you want to inspire your child to read more, just leave this bad boy lying around the house.

Scattergories
This game is so much fun and requires that kids search their own vocabulary to create lists of words within various categories. Guaranteed to keep you laughing.

Klutz Make Your Own Movie Kit
For the child with lots of Lego! This kit inspires creativity. This is stop-motion animation made easy. Among other skills, children explore their language abilities as they learn how to write scripts.

Maybe you don’t have any children on your gift list, but you’re looking for a way to give back. One way to connect with the true spirit of the holidays and make a big difference in the lives of children is by supporting The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau.

They are a non-profit organization with one goal, to ensure every child has a smile on their face Christmas Day. They collect and ship gifts to Community Agencies across metro Vancouver. Simply choose an item and give the gift of play.

Parents of late talkers are often surprised to learn they can help more by talking less.

The term “late talkers” describes children who have a limited spoken vocabulary at around 2 years of age. Keep in mind that first words appear close to 12 months, and children begin combining words prior to 2 years (refer to my blog on Communication Milestones).

If at 18-20 months your child uses less than 10 words, or if at 21-30 months they have fewer than 50 words and aren’t combining words, despite otherwise typical development, then you have a “late talker”.

Because early language development provides a foundation for the development of later language and literacy skills, late talkers are at risk for problems with language and literacy skills in elementary school and beyond.

One of the first things I do when evaluating a child with reportedly limited speech is to observe the parent and child playing together. More often than not these parents “over-talk” during play.

I attribute this “over-talking” to two phenomenons. First, most of us are to some degree uncomfortable with silence, so we organically fill the silent spaces. Second, many parents have the misconception they need to model more words and talk more for their children who are behind in speech output.

Talking more is NOT helpful to Late Talkers because:

  1. Talking more results in longer phrases.  Consider matching the length of your utterance to your child’s level or just above your child’s level. So, if your child is using single words, model single words or 2-word combinations.
  2. Talking more results in less turns for your child. Consider taking short turns saying one thing, then pause, allowing your child an opportunity to take a turn, whether that be verbal, non-verbal or just a sound.  Looking expectantly at your child and staying quiet sends the message it is her turn.
  3. Talking more results in no words being highlighted. Consider using fewer words, preferably “early vocabulary” words, such as nouns and specific words that would be useful for your child to communicate. Using too many words makes it more difficult for words to stand out and get noticed. It is the equivalent of using a highlighter to mark every word on a page. Think about which words you wish tohighlight.
  4. Talking more results in less connection. Consider what your child can pay attention to. If there is too much talking he will likely tune you out. If he has tuned you out then you have lost the opportunity to connect. Without shared attention, your child will not observe how you made the word and the words will have no meaningful connection.

Ways to SUPPORT your Late Talker:

  1. Get on her level physically. Sit on the floor and get eye-to-eye.
  2. Observe what he is interested in and comment on that. Offering words that connect to what he is paying attention to makes them meaningful. And he will be more motivated to attempt saying words related to his own interests.
  3. Match her language level. Match the length of your utterance to her level or just above her level. As I suggested above, if she is using single words, model single words or two-word combinations.
  4. Pause after you take a turn and look at him expectantly. Wait. Wait some more. Waiting is harder than you think!
  5. Listen for her sounds and words. Acknowledge them by repeating and adding one more sound or word. “Dog…. hungry dog”
  6. Resist the urge to request him to repeat you. Children learn best through natural interactions, not repetition.

Be patient, take note of small changes and celebrate progress. Progress can appear in many different ways… more eye contact, more joint play, more attempts, more relevant gestures, more copying, more sounds, more words. Be open to progress in its many forms.

And as always, if you suspect that your child’s speech and language skills are behind (check my blog Communication Milestones), I highly recommend consulting with a certified Speech-Language Therapist.

Expand Language with Water Play!

Summer is here! It’s hot!  But, that’s okay for preschoolers because they LOVE playing with water. Sprinklers, water balloons, water blasters, water parks, kiddie pools and the beach. I remember when my kids were little we set up the sprinkler under our trampoline for cool bouncing on hot summer days.

However you enjoy water together there will be opportunities to explore, engage in turn-taking, expand vocabulary and talk about concepts related to water.

It is my personal belief that so long as your child is safe and not causing any damage, let them play with water however they want. What is particularly nice about water play during summer is that it takes place outside! This means no mess and minimal clean up.

One of my favourite water games to play with preschoolers is Sink or Float. You can use it to provide your child with new information and help them think about the world and how things work. This game is also well suited to play with multiple children as it is easy to take turns.

To play you need a large bin filled with water, some random small toys and objects, and a bowl to put your objects in. I like to gather both indoor and outdoor objects. Walk around the yard hand-in-hand choosing small items such as leaves, moss, grass, sticks and flowers. Next, take one object at a time and ask your child to guess if it will  Sink or Float  in the water. Then place the object on the water’s surface and watch what happens together.

Kids go crazy for this!  They love guessing and witnessing the results.

When playing Sink or Float, get down on your child’s level so you are eye-to-eye. Give them opportunities to comment on what they have observed. Ask questions and wait for their answers. Stimulate your child’s language by modelling these water-related conceptual words:

“wet – dry,  light – heavy,  under – on top,  deep – shallow,  slow – fast”

To help your child understand a new vocabulary word use it at least a few times during play, and then use it again later in other contexts outside of water play.

When  Sink or Float  gets old there are many other ways to play with water together in the summer. Water the garden, run through the sprinkler, use water and a sponge to “clean” things outside, or pretend to be Karate Kid using water and a paintbrush to “paint” the fence. Whatever activity you choose, remember to follow your child’s interest, model water-related vocabulary, give them opportunities to take turns and respond to their words.

There is no right or wrong way to play with water. Be prepared to get wet, have fun and connect.

The Unknown Risks of Pacifiers

Using a pacifier can be an easy and effective way to help your baby fall asleep. However, pacifier usage does have its drawbacks. Among the most significant, is the increased risk of developing ear infections.

Ear infections are twice as common in children who use pacifiers.

Sucking on a pacifier can increase the movement of nasopharyngeal secretions into the middle ear. As a result, when a child has a cold, pathogens are more likely to enter the middle ear.

A child’s first middle ear infection results in damage to the mucosa of his middle ear, predisposing him to further infections. And with multiple ear infections, if there has been damage to the eardrum, bones of the ear, or the hearing nerve, there is a small risk of permanent hearing loss.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common middle ear infection in young children. It is much more common in children from 6 -12 months than in children from 0 – 6 months.   It is the leading cause of doctor’s visits by children, and is also the most common reason children receive antibiotics or undergo surgery.

Ear infections can take up to a month or longer to heal. With fluid in the ears making it difficult for your child to hear sounds, it is inevitable that she will miss out on some of the speech models and stimulation that support typical speech and language development.

Children who suffer repeat ear infections commonly experience an accompanying delay in development of speech and language skills. 

Signs your child might have an ear infection:

  • Pulling at the ears
  • Not responding to sounds
  • More crying than usual
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Fever

Some other risk factors for AOM include: a child’s age, recent illnesses, allergies, genetics, and a history of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Pacifier use is one of the few AOM risk factors that parents can control!

A further consideration when deciding on pacifier use is your child’s age. A child as young as 6 months engages in sound play, and by 12 months he is using words, with his vocabulary growing up to 50 words by the time he is 18 months old.  (See my blog on speech-language milestones.) So from 6 months onward it is preferable to limit anything that might inhibit your child from engaging in sound play, taking turns in interactions, or attempting to produce words out loud.

Maintaining a “pacifier free mouth” for your child during this period of extensive expressive language development is simply a good idea. 

If your child of 2 years or older is already using a pacifier and you would like to get rid of it, here are a few ideas shared by some creative moms.

  1. The Pacifier Fairy: Explain to your child that the Pacifier Fairy needs pacifiers for the new babies. Help her gather all her pacifiers in one bag and leave it beside her bed one night. Explain that the fairy will leave a special gift to thank her for her help.
  2. Exchange the pacifiers at the Toy Store: If there is a toy your child especially desires, explain that the toy store will exchange pacifiers for toys. This will require you speaking to the customer service representative at the store and arranging the exchange in advance.
  3. The Broken Pacifier: Make a small incision in the tops so they no longer work. Explain that the pacifiers are broken and take them away.

Sucking on a pacifier helps a child relax their nervous system and so is often used for comforting.

Tips to help ease the transition:

  1. The earlier you take away a pacifier, the easier it will be. Ideally get rid of it in the second 6 months.
  2. Go cold turkey if you can. Or start by using it only at bedtime.
  3. Offer a special snuggly toy as a replacement.
  4. Introduce other sensory integration activities during the day: blowing bubbles in water through a straw, kneading dough, a slow firm back rub.

Regardless of how you get rid of the pacifiers, be prepared for three challenging days ahead. Remember that many generations of children have endured this rite of passage, and your child shall too. The undeniable long-term gains you are securing for your child are worth it.

For further reading:
Rovers, M.M., Numans, M.E., Langenbach, E., et al, (2008). Is pacifier use a risk for otitis media? A dynamic cohort study. Family Practice, Volume 25, Issue 4, 233–236

Nelson, A.M. (2012). A comprehensive review of evidence and current recommendations related to pacifier usage. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 27, 690-699

Top Christmas Toys to Help Your Child’s Language Development

We are quickly approaching the busiest shopping season of the year. And parents will spend countless hours searching for the best Christmas toys for their children.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to identify toys that are safe, fun and support your child’s development.

Tips to get you started:

  1. Avoid noisy toys. Some toys are so loud they can cause hearing damage in children. And a child’s short arm length means those noisy toys are pretty close to their ears. If it sounds too loud to you, it will be too loud for your child. Furthermore, noisy toys do not encourage talking. If you are very keen on a toy that happens to be  noisy, simply remove the batteries or apply tape over the speaker!
  2. Pick toys that encourage pretend play. Play of this kind organically fuels children to use their imaginations and generate words and sentences describing what they are doing.
  3. Look for toys that will hold your child’s attention, and encourage her to interact with the toy. Interactions promote opportunities for your child to use her language skills to express herself.
  4. Choose toys you think look fun. The best way to stimulate language development is for you to join your child in play and talk about what he is doing. Therefore, choose toys you will both enjoy playing with.

These are what I believe to be exceptional toys and games. These toys, through their design and quality, promote play that advances language development at different ages.

Toys for 1-3 years

 Where’s Bear by Peaceable Kingdom

Offers opportunities to model vocabulary related to spatial concepts, asking and answering where questions, and language associated with problem solving.

 My Busy Town by ALEX

Features five types of games that will stimulate your child’s mind and language. Use simple phrases to narrate your child’s actions.

 GearZooz Roll and Roar Animal Train by VTech

Your child can customize his own animal train with spinning gears. There are interactive songs and phrases about animals, places and instruments. Language building activities have been incorporated into questions that stimulate thinking and following directions.

 Pet Vet Clinic by Battat B.

Includes two small plush pets, stethoscope, syringe, thermometer and keys to open colour coded doors.  This toy encourages imaginary play and action word vocabulary.

Toys for 3-6 years

 Scoop and Learn Ice Cream Truck by Leap Frog

Your child will pretend to run her own ice cream truck. Provides opportunities for extensive vocabulary through role play. She can learn numbers, colours, flavours, and skills such as listening and following directions.

   Better Builders Emotions Toy Set by Guidecraft

Contains six interchangeable bodies, faces and feet. Faces express different emotions and help children learn to name, identify and regulate their emotions. Features magnetic ball and rod construction.
  Story Train Firefighters by Janod

The inclusion of people with the train encourages more talking. Your child will tell stories about what he does with the train and the firefighters. Opportunities to use concept words and opposites.

 Barber in the tub by ALEX

What a better place for pretend play then in the tub? Add bubbles to the bath for shaving. Opportunities to practice vocabulary and phrases associated with getting a haircut.

Toys for 6-9 years

 Rory’s Story Cubes by Gamewright

Your child will practice her narrative skills while tapping into her own creativity. Provides practice planning and sequencing information. May also be used to practice writing skills.

 Pottery Cool Studio by Spin Master

Opportunities to use vocabulary related to sequencing and time. Your child can practice using past tense and narrative skills to describe what he made and how he built his creation.

 Fingerlings – Interactive Baby Monkey by WowWee

These interactive baby monkeys cling to fingers and react to sound, motion and touch. If your child blows them kisses, they will kiss her back! Opportunities to talk about cause and effect and use sequencing vocabulary.

 Eye’n Seek by Blue Orange

Play six possible games that reinforce matching, reading, vocabulary and phonemic skills.

It is my hope that this list of toys and games is helpful and brings some ease to your Christmas shopping experience.

A final word of advice regarding toy safety. Remember that typical wear and tear can result in once safe toys becoming hazardous. Check your toys regularly to make sure the are in good condition.

 

Steal These Questions to Get Your Child Talking About School

Remember when your kids were little and wouldn’t stop talking?  

I admit, there were days when I succumbed to preparing dinner with headphones on… volume set just loud enough to drown out the non-stop voices, yet soft enough to hear if anyone were to scream.

I just needed some quiet time, some “no listening” time.

Fast forward to today, those little kids are in school listening and answering questions all day. The tables have turned. Now they come home from school wanting some “no listening” time.

Your first step is to not rush in.  Conversations can’t be forced. Give them some time. We’re all more receptive to people who recognize and honour our needs.

Next, if you want your kids to talk about their day, go first and share something from your day: something you learned, something funny you heard or witnessed, someone you bumped into, details about a project you’re working on, or plans you made.

And finally, be specific with your questions. Parents hoping for a window into their child’s day often ask open-ended questions “Tell me about your day”, “How was your day?” or “Anything interesting happen today at school?” I recommend asking more specific questions. Choose two or three from the list below…

“Did anyone do anything funny today? Tell me about it.”

“Who did you play with at recess? What games did you play? I don’t know that game, how does it work?”

“What was the best part of your day?”

“What was the hardest part of your day?”

“What book is your class reading? Tell me about the story.”

“What did you learn today that you never knew before?”

“Who did you sit with at lunch time?”

“What food did your friends bring that you wished you had?”

“What is the first thing you did when you got to class?”

“If I asked your teacher about her day, what do you think she would tell me?”

 

The formula:

  • Give them time
  • Share something about your day
  • Ask a few specific questions

 

And remember, next time they plop down beside you when you are resting or engaged in your own activity, pay attention, they are saying they need you. The more you are there for them in these moments, the more they will share with you in general.

 

Understanding Social Language Skills

Social language skills, also known as pragmatic language skills, refer to the unspoken verbal and nonverbal rules governing our interactions.

These rules vary according to whom you are speaking with, where you are, and typically vary across different cultures. Someone with good social language skills will respond appropriately and flexibly to an ever changing social landscape.

While social skills are second nature to many of us, everyday social situations can be challenging for some.

A person with weak language, attention or memory skills may be unable to inhibit the impulse to talk, forget what was said, or have trouble keeping up with the pace of the conversation.

Someone with a social skills disorder might struggle to make eye contact, initiate or extend a conversation, misunderstand humour and facial expressions, and will likely make inaccurate guesses about what others are thinking and feeling.

A common characteristic of a social skills disorder, is impaired Perspective Taking. A complex process, perspective taking allows for interpretation of what is really going on by considering the thoughts, beliefs, desires and intentions of others.

The ability to consider and think about other people’s perspectives improves our social competencies, and strengthens our personal relationships. After all, social success is influenced and measured by how well we relate to and interact with others.

In Reclaiming Conversation (2015), Sherry Turkle describes how giving our attention to our children is the bread and butter of relationship building.

“Children learn how to regulate strong emotions, how to respond to other people’s social cues, and how to have conversations, largely as a result of the time parents spend listening to them, responding to them, helping them problem solve and understand themselves.”

A child’s social experiences rest on the foundation of the parent – child relationship. It is our responsibility, as parents, to be generous with our attention, and make ourselves available to our children in order to support their social skills learning.

Tips to support your child’s perspective taking:

  • Ask your child to describe the situation.
  • Break situations into small concrete parts.
  • Offer a feeling word to label how you perceive your child is feeling.
  • Explain what lead you to that belief about his feelings. Help him see your perspective because, personal problem solving relies on perspective taking.
  • Encourage him to think about how he feels and how the other person might feel.
  • Suggest how the other person might be feeling.
  • Describe the facial expression and body language you might expect from a person who feels that way.
  • Praise your child for her attempt to maneuver through a difficult social situation.

Modelling  HOW you think about your child’s thoughts and feelings, and helping him examine his own thoughts and feelings, will go a long way to support his problem solving and friendship skills.

In addition to supporting friendships, working on perspective taking will  improve understanding of material studied in school. Not only is it an essential skill when participating in group work, it is vital to appreciating and interpreting a lot of academic content.  Imagine for a moment trying to understand significant historical or political events, or even simply relating to characters in novels, without the ability to take on another person’s perspectives.

Boost perspective taking, self-reflection and more, with my FREE GAMES

These games offer opportunities to:

  1. Think about others. Specifically what others would like to do, not like to do, what they might have tried, or what they would never consider trying.
  2. Reflect on your own preferences and interests.
  3. Store personal information about others in “memory files”, and then access the stored information.
  4. Formulate and ask personal questions with how, would and have.

Watch How to Play the Games.

In an era of increased time spent socializing on-line and a reduced rate of face-to-face interactions that are rich in social cues afforded through facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and cadence, all children will benefit from thoughtful, straightforward, and honest interpretations and discussions of social situations. It requires more effort for sure, to create opportunities for face-to-face interactions, but they are loaded with social language learning opportunities and…  it’s worth it!

Michelle Garcia Winner is an internationally recognized SLP who specializes in helping people develop their social competencies. I recommend her website for further information on social learning challenges. https://www.socialthinking.com/

 

 

Early Speech and Language Support Made Easy!

Becoming a parent brings with it plenty of responsibility. You brought a being into this world who is completely dependent on you and you put a lot of pressure on yourself to get it all done, leaving little if any extra time at the end of each day.

The good news is…supporting your baby’s speech and language development doesn’t require you to find extra time…NO EXTRA TIME! You can model and facilitate communication skills during your regular routines and play times.

Language skills begin to develop early.

Before he is even 2 months old, your baby stares intently at you and enjoys your attention.

By 6 months old, she watches your face as you talk, smiles in response to your smiles, and anticipates what will happen next.

By 9 months old he communicates non-verbally, uses sounds and gestures to get what he wants, and plays simple games.

It should come as no surprise that what your little one is most interested in is YOU! Take advantage of her natural interest in you to promote her attention and turn-taking skills… the skills needed to absorb speech and language modeled for her.  Good attention and turn taking skills are the foundation of oral language development.  Before learning to speak, your baby must learn to attend to others and take turns.

 

Here are 3 ways to promote good attention and turn-taking skills.

 1.  Follow your baby’s lead. Talk about what he is looking at. This helps him link sounds and words to the things he pays attention to. It also helps develop his confidence when he realizes you are interested in him and having fun with him. The more fun and interest you bring to playtime, the more he will pay attention to you.

2.  Pause regularly inviting your baby to take her turn. Get face to face, lean in, and look at her as if you expect her to take a turn. This might be a small movement or sound. Repeat your baby’s sounds and encourage her to repeat your sounds. Acknowledge her turn and continue with this pattern of making a sound, pausing and acknowledging. You are having a conversation!

3. Tempt your baby with something you think he really wants. Hold two toys in front of him and encourage him to look at or reach for one of them. Name them for him and reinforce his choice. Pause a familiar activity or routine (a song, a rhyme, shaking a rattle, a repetitive knee bounce) and wait for him to indicate he wants you to continue.

 

Whether you are talking, singing, reciting nursery rhymes, reading or playing with your baby… Follow her lead, use the power of pause and tempt her to take a turn.

Check here for some great games you can play with your baby!