01 Emotional Recognition through Language
From birth, babies listen to various sounds and observe how people communicate. Initially, they are most interested in your tone and volume. When spoken to in a comforting tone, they may stop crying because they sense reassurance. Conversely, if you raise your voice in anger, they might cry and show signs of being startled because your tone tells them something is wrong.
02 Learning to Express Emotions through Language
By around 4 months, babies not only pay attention to how you speak but also start to focus on each sound you make. They carefully listen to various vowels and consonants and begin to notice how they combine to form syllables, words, and sentences.
In addition to listening, babies start making sounds early on, initially in the form of crying and then cooing. Around 4 months, they begin babbling, using many rhythmic patterns and pronunciation styles from their native language. Though their words may sound like gibberish, if you listen closely, you'll notice variations in pitch, as if they're expressing opinions or asking questions.
03 Responding to Sounds with Vocalizations
After 6 or 7 months, your involvement becomes crucial to your child's language development as they actively imitate human speech. Before this, they might repeat the same sound all day or even for several days before moving on to the next. But now, they respond more actively to the sounds you make and attempt to imitate them. This is when you can teach them some simple syllables and words like "baby," "cat," "dog," "hot," "cold," "walk," "mama," and "dada." While you may not understand what they're saying until around age 1 or later, your child can understand many words before reaching 1 year.
04 Watch for Language Development Delays
If a baby nearing 7 months hasn't started babbling or imitating any sounds, it could indicate hearing or language development issues. Babies with partial hearing loss will still startle at loud noises, turn to locate sounds, or respond to your voice but may struggle to imitate adult speech.
If your child isn't babbling or making different sounds regularly, consult a pediatrician. If they frequently have ear infections, fluid buildup in the middle ear may affect their hearing.
Language Development Milestones for Babies aged 4-7 Months:
Responds to their name.
Begins to respond to the word "no."
Can differentiate emotions through tone.
Vocalizes in response to hearing sounds.
Expresses happiness and unhappiness through vocalizations.
Produces a series of consonants.