Communication and Social Development in Your 1-Month-Old Baby
Communication and interaction are important parts of newborn development. Your baby's auditory development began in utero, and now continues to improve. Their vision is blurry and their hearing muffled, however they can recognize your body scent and voice intonation patterns, meaning that they will respond to your voice and will look to you for comfort. You can nourish the development to help them reach milestones by providing balanced nutrition and stimulating their cognitive development with interactive activities, such as:
- Providing a different perspective: Hold them against your chest, facing over your shoulder. Support their head gently but firmly.
- Imitating them: When they’re quiet and alert, watch to see what they do, then mimic them.
Social and Social Development in Your 2-Month-Old Baby
At this point, your baby will not only begin to recognize your voice but will also begin to respond to your voice with vowel-like sounds (vocalize, gurgle and coo). What’s more, they may openly exhibit their pleasure in being held and spoken to and even give you their first responsive smile.
It is an ideal time to stimulate their linguistic skills with simple language games. Engage in activities such as “vocal volley” where you make sounds and encourage them to imitate them. By doing so, they will learn that taking turns is the key to making conversation. Play when they are alert and ready. It is recommended to hold them in an upright position on your lap while supporting their head so that you may “talk” face to face.
Social and Social Development in Your 3-Month-Old Baby
At 3 months, your baby has reached a new level of coordination, independence, playfulness, emotional and verbal response. They are becoming increasingly alert and social. They may demonstrate a wider range of emotions, including fascination and boredom. They can create different vowel sounds on their own, called cooing, and may use a variety of sounds and gestures as “conversation”.
Encourage their progress through interactive play and conversation. Mimic their sounds and talk your way through the day, introducing and explaining their everyday surroundings. Explore different pitches and rhythms to discover which ones your baby enjoys. Experiment with different cadences and notice what makes them turn toward you.
Social and Social Development in Your 4-Month-Old Baby
At 4 months, your baby should be able to turn their head toward a noise and will do so often, as if looking for its source. In addition, they may start to laugh. While all milestones are incredibly rewarding, this one is particularly enjoyable for parents. Your infant's brain is developing and growing in new ways, resulting in heightened physical activity and social interaction. Continue to help them reach milestones by providing balanced nutrition and stimulating their cognitive development with interactive activities, such as engaging your baby in fun games to make them laugh. Make faces, tickle them, blow "raspberries" on their stomach – are some ways to stimulate baby giggles!
Social and Social Development in Your 5-Month-Old Baby
At 5 months, your baby's language skills start to advance rapidly as they may start making consonant sounds like "b," "n" and "m." Continue to talk to them so that they may mimic your sounds. Encourage interaction of all kinds. Arrange playdates or join a social group to expose your baby to other children. Let them look at each other, smile, make sounds and reach out to touch.
Social and Social Development in Your 6-Month-Old Baby
When your baby is 6 months, they are determined to communicate, as shown by their efforts to gain your attention either with gestures or by babbling strings of vowel and consonant sounds to imitate adult speech. They may listen closely when hearing their own name. What’s more, they may mimic simple behaviours, like raising their arm when you make the Itsy-Bitsy Spider climbing movements. This social imitation is a form of self-expression; stimulate this development with mirror image games. Encourage your baby to follow and repeat your gestures or facial expressions and praise them for their efforts.
Social and Social Development in Your 7-Month-Old Baby
During your baby’s 7th month, you will notice progress in your baby's talking abilities. At this point, most babies start to vocalize more, from stringing together chains of vowel-consonant sounds to combining syllables (babbling). They're likely to babble when they just want to talk to you. Your baby can now recognize familiar words (such as their name) and may listen more carefully or respond selectively when they hear them. What's more, they may understand when some words begin and end, leading to their next language milestone - word comprehension.
Social and Social Development in Your 8-Month-Old Baby
In addition to their rapidly developing linguistic skills, your baby may begin to use hand gestures to communicate, such as clapping What’s more, they may begin to understand the meaning of words, "no" in particular. They'll start babbling with adult intonations, forming clear syllables such as "ma-ma", and imitating how you speak.
Babies of this age love to hear music, especially songs. Introduce different genres of music to your child. Experiment with pitch and intonation when you speak.
Social and Social Development in Your 9-Month-Old Baby
As your 9-month-old baby’s communication skills improve, they may demand more control over their social interactions. They can vocalize vowel/consonant combinations that resemble words, and they are developing their ability to connect words with their meanings, or the sound and the object to which it refers. For example, they may be able to point to their shoe when they hear the word. Encourage alternate forms of communication, such as simple sign language. Wave “bye-bye” and shake your head "yes" or "no". If they use them back, explore further signs to learn together, such as "finished" when they have had enough to eat or "more" if they are still hungry.
Social and Social Development in Your 10-Month-Old Baby
At 10 months, comprehension typically comes before the spoken word and your baby may now show a dramatic increase in single word comprehension. Understanding or comprehending words is truly a major developmental milestone because it demonstrates that the baby recognizes that a sound or a word is always associated with a particular thing.
The word “no” is an extremely important word in your baby's preliminary vocabulary. While they probably can't say it yet, they are starting to understand it. Most babies start expressing “no” by shaking their heads from side to side or by gesturing, such as by flinging the offending object to the floor. Firmly and clearly saying “no” is a good way to set limits for your baby, especially when their safety is concerned.
Social and Social Development in Your 11-Month-Old Baby
With increasing cognitive, motor, communication and social skills, your baby is developing a sense of independence and confidence. Their comprehension continues to expand, and they may be saying “mama”, “dada” and waving “bye-bye”. Two-way conversation may become more interesting, too. Encourage your baby's verbal communication skills by actively listening, understanding and responding to their attempts to speak. Read aloud often with lots of dramatic voices and sounds.
Why Is Nutrition Important for Your Baby?
The brain and nervous system continue to develop until about the age of three. Language and hearing development is linked to proper nutrition. Good nutrition contributes to increased activity levels, enhanced social interaction, heightened curiosity and overall higher cognitive functioning. Children who are nourished by a healthy, balanced diet are typically more energetic and exhibit greater interest in social environments, which leads to a greater opportunity to learn and grow.
Safeguard the health and cognitive development of your child by providing a balanced diet of healthy foods from the four food groups. Essential nutrients provide the basis for healthy growth and development. A balanced diet that includes adequate amounts of DHA (Omega-3) and ARA (Omega-6) contributes largely to your baby's healthy brain and eye development. If you are breastfeeding, make sure that you are consuming enough to meet their developmental needs. If you are formula feeding, choose an iron-enriched formula that contains DHA and ARA like Enfamil A+®.
Babies require a balanced diet that includes adequate amounts of essential nutrients to fuel their healthy growth and development. Iron is a key factor in red blood cell formation. Without adequate supplies of iron, your baby will form fewer neural connections, resulting in both mental and motor impairments. Deficiencies in this mineral also affect learning, memory and attention. It is recommended that infants from 0 – 6 months consume 0.27 mg per day from either breast milk or iron-enriched formula.