What’s all the babble about?
Written and published in HV Parent – October 2011
My daughter, Isabella has always been a very vocal, communicative baby. When she was just a newborn in the hospital, I would talk to her, telling her how beautiful and precious she was. She’d wiggle around and bat her eyes as if to say, “Yes, mommy, I am!” She might not have been responding to that extent, but I believe she was communicating with me.
Indeed she was! Research has shown that even before they are born, babies are engaged in the earliest forms of communication. When the mom speaks or sings, they respond to her voice with a kick in the belly or an elbow in the ribs. (Fitzpatrick, 2002) Additionally, research shows that babies recognize their mothers’ voices shortly after birth. Using a nipple attached to a sensing apparatus, a study showed that newborns would adjust their rate of sucking in order to turn on the tape of their mother’s voice compared to a tape of a stranger’s voice. As they were newborns, they must have become familiar with the mother’s voice while still in the womb. (DeCasper and Fifer, 1980)
Once babies are born, this journey of communication continues. In the beginning it seems that all newborns do is eat, sleep and cry. Crying is one of the earliest forms of communication. How does the caregiver decode these cries? Does a certain cry mean one thing and others something else? “Well, yes and no.” Debra Zeifman, a Vassar Psychology professor who specializes in Infant development explains, “no – there is not a distinct cry for each painful stimulus like hunger vs pain, but yes – there is a graded level of distress in the infants cry.” The scale of the baby’s cry or distress can help distinguish what they are trying communicate. Combine the gradation of the cry with the caregiver’s awareness that it’s been several hours since the baby ate would tell them the cry means the baby is hungry.
By 1-3 months of age, the American Academy of Pediatrics speech development milestones say, when babies hear their caregiver speak vowel sounds, the baby may begin to repeat the “oh’s” or “ah’s”; and by 3-4 months, they then move to new sounds starting with P’s, M’s, B’s, and D’s. These are the baby’s beginning building blocks for early language development. Zeifman explains that the back and forth exchange of coos and sounds is an example of “turn taking”, which is a very much a foundation building up to language.
Around 6-8 months old, babies will begin to babble. Zeifman states “babbling is universal across cultures and even children with disabilities. Deaf children actually babble with their hands.” They will say a lot of “da-da’s”, “ba-ba’s”, and “goo-goo’s”; and eventually, Zeifman further explains, “at around 9 months, they start to play with intonation, meaning they will say ba-ba.” As if to say, “Can I have my bottle?” This is called jargoning, a more advanced version of babbling.
By 12 months the babbling and jargoning begin to “sound like” talking. (AAP) These are the roots of the first words, which typically come around that one-year mark. The burning question: What does all of this babble mean? Zeifman explains the babble doesn’t really have meaning outside of the fact that they are playing with sounds and imitating the talking that goes on all around them.
From 1 to 2 years of age, the toddler will typically start by saying simple words, like “car” or “dog”, which will soon transition into saying 2-word sentences, as they get closer to 2 years of age. (AAP) My daughter is often saying, “down, play” or “mama, cookie please”. Very advanced!!
Some parents may find themselves concerned when they review the speech development milestone charts wondering, “Why isn’t my child there yet?” Don’t be discouraged; children learn language at their own pace. Zeifman says age ranges are given for a reason. Every baby is different and “the range usually allows for quite a bit of variability…a lot more than what parents might think.” The best advice is to check with the child’s pediatrician whenever there are any concerns.
Over the last 18 months, my daughter has grown and developed so much. During pregnancy, she’d kick me every morning when I’d wake up and speak out loud. She responded to my voice the very day she was born. She’s gone from coos and cries, to babbling and shouting, and now to a full on mixture of babble and words mixed altogether. I may not always understand exactly what she’s been saying or doing, but there’s no doubt she’s definitely been communicating and enjoying her journey along the way.
Resources:
Debra M Zeifman, Associate Professor of Psychology, Vassar College – Special focus on Infant & Child Development
Fitzpatrick, M. (2002) Theories of Child Language Acquisition. Child Language Acquisition
AJ DeCasper and WP Fifer (1980) Of human bonding: newborns prefer their mothers’ voices
American Academy of Pediatrics: “Developmental Milestones: 12 Months” http://www.healthychildren.org
