Your baby's development
Babies are learning from adults as soon as they are born. At this age, your baby will love when you chat, play, sing and read to them, even when they are too young to understand everything.
Chat
Your baby starts trying to communicate with you from day one. You can practise communicating together to build your bond and help them develop. Your baby loves the sound of your voice, so little chats throughout the day will make them happy.
Play
Your baby starts exploring the world straightaway through movement, sights and sounds. Playing helps your baby get stronger, become more coordinated and learn new things.
Sing
Babies who are exposed to and engage in music, singing and rhyming regularly with parents and carers learn to speak more easily. They have more words to express themselves and are more confident and creative. Babies like hearing songs and rhymes over and over again.
Read
Reading to your baby has many benefits long before they can read or understand words. Your voice stimulates their brain and your voice is soothing to them.
What to expect at six months
Babies develop at different rates. However, understanding what is typical ccan help you indentify speech and language problems early. By six months, children will usually:
- Turn towards a sound/voice when they hear it.
- Be startled by loud noises.
- Watch your face when you talk to them.
- Recognise your voice.
- Smile and laugh when other people smile and laugh.
- Make sounds to themselves, like cooing, gurgling and babbling.
- Make noises, like coos and squeaks, to get your attention.
- Have different cries for different needs. For example, one cry for hunger, another when they are tired.
