Talking to your bump

Bonding can begin before birth. Babies’ brains develop very quickly during pregnancy – they can hear and feel things too. Did you know that babies’ hearing starts developing from about sixteen weeks into pregnancy? By 6 months of pregnancy, your baby can hear music and voices, recognise familiar voices, learn and remember

Babies recognise voices and can start to respond even while they’re still in the womb. Feeling your baby move and kick in response to your voice and your touch makes those early conversations really rewarding and making a connection with your baby helps you feel very close to them even before they are born.

• Bump chats TOP TIPS
• • Find regular quiet times when you can talk and sing to your baby
• • Try ‘turn taking’: when you feel them kick, rub that spot. Wait for another kick and respond again
• • Babies hear their mother’s heartbeat all the time, day and night. Try gently tapping or making a sound along with it
• • Encourage partners, grandparents and any older siblings to get involved too
• • You may notice your baby relaxes at the sound of familiar voices, and becomes calmer and quieter when you are talking to them. Notice how your baby responds
• • If you’re not sure what to say, try reading a baby book aloud or sing nursery rhymes or talk about everyday things, your baby will just enjoy the sound of your voice
• • Gently rocking and moving to music is a good way for your baby to develop good physical, movement skills and balance even before birth.

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• make sounds, like cooing, gurgling and babbling, to myself and with other people
• make noises to get your attention
• watch your face when you talk to them
• get excited when I hear voices coming, showing excitement by kicking or waving my arms or making noises
• smile and laugh when other people smile and laugh
• make sounds back when talked to.

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• I struggle to keep my milk down.
• I’m not startled by loud noises.
• I don’t use my eyes to watch you when you talk to me.
• I don’t ever smile back when someone is communicating and smiling at me.
• I don’t show interest in my parent’s face when talking to them.

See it in action, just click on this link.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/speech-lab-peekaboo/zqntxbk

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• make talking noises – babble strings of sounds, like ‘ma-ma-ma’, ‘ba-ba-ba’
• make noises, point to things and look at you to get your attention
• start to say sounds that will become my first words and use gestures
• start to understand words like ‘bye-bye’ and ‘up’ especially when a gesture is used at the same time
• recognise the names of familiar objects, things like ‘cup’ and ‘bowl’, ‘teddy’ and ‘mummy’
• look at you when you speak or when I hear my name called
• take turns in ‘conversations’, babbling back to an adult

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• I have not made any babbling or other sounds by 6 months
• I don’t point by 12 months I don’t try to get your attention (this might be by making noises, eye contact, facial expressions, reaching, throwing toys from my buggy or highchair)

BBC Tiny Happy people have some great advice and tools for talking here.

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• begin talking! I will be able to say around 20 words. These are usually things I hear a lot at home or in my early years setting – such as ‘milk’, ‘doggy’, ‘hurrah’, ‘bye-bye’, ‘more’, ‘no’
• say words in a baby way, but the words usually sound the same each time I say them
• understand some simple words and short phrases. These are usually things I hear a lot during the day, such as ‘coat on’, ‘drink’, ‘shoes’, ‘bus’, ‘in your buggy’, ‘dinner time’, ‘all gone’
• recognise and point to familiar objects when you ask me
• enjoy games like ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘patacake’ and toys that make a noise – I still like the comfort of a familiar adult nearby
• be exploring my world and starting to enjoy simple pretend play, like pretending to talk on the phone

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• • I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• • I don’t show enjoyment of being with a familiar adult
• • I don’t look towards familiar people or objects when their names are said
• • I don’t bring objects to an adult to show or to share.
• • I don’t follow simple instructions.
• • I don’t look for or go to a familiar adult for comfort when I am scared, upset or hurt.
• • I don’t try to show you things by pointing at them and looking back at you.
• • I don’t use gestures like nodding or shaking my head, waving, putting my hands out in a ‘where’s it gone?’ gesture.

To contact the 0 to 19 Torbay health visiting team, please call us on 0300 333 5352 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm) or email: publichealthnursing.torbay@nhs.net

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• • use over 50 single words like ‘juice’, ‘car’, ‘biscuit’
• • be starting to put short sentences together with two to three words, such as “more juice” or “bye-bye daddy”
• • be asking simple questions such as “what that?”, “who that?”. They might do this quite a lot!
• • understand between 200 and 500 words
• • understand simple questions and instructions like “where’s baby”, “go and get your coat”, “mummy’s turn”
• • enjoy pretend play with their toys, such as feeding dolly or pretending to drive a car, usually making noises and talking while playing
• • become very frustrated when they cannot get their message across. This is one reason for toddler tantrums

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• • I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• • I don’t play with objects by pretending? – e.g. give teddy a drink; using a box as a doll’s bed; pretend talk on the phone

To contact the 0 to 19 Torbay health visiting team, please call us on 0300 333 5352 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm) or email: publichealthnursing.torbay@nhs.net

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• • use up to 300 words and use different types of words to do different things; to describe what things look like (‘big’, ‘soft’) where they are (‘under’, ‘on’) what they are for (‘eating’, ‘playing’) and to describe how many (‘lots’)
• • refer to something that has happened in the past
• • put 4 or 5 words together to make short sentences, such as “me want more juice”, “him want his coat”
• • ask lots of questions
• • have clearer speech, although I will still have some things I don’t get quite right. I might say things like ‘pider’ instead of ‘spider’. However, people who know me can mostly understand me
• • listen to and remember simple stories with pictures
• • understand longer instructions, such as “put on your coat and get your bag” or “where’s mummy’s coat?”
• • understand simple ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’ questions
• • play more with other children and join in with play
• • play more complex imaginative games
• • be able to have a proper conversation, though I may flit around the topic a bit and be difficult to follow at times
• • be able to recognise how other people feel and will try to do something about it (e.g. “Ah, Josie sad. She need a hug.”)

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• • I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• • I don’t regularly use words to express myself
• • I don’t follow simple, everyday instructions
• • I can’t settle and play with activity that I choose myself even for a very short time
• • I don’t show any response when somebody talks to me
• • I don’t show any interest in communicating
• • I am not using sentences with 2 words
• • I seem to have stopped making progress with my talking
• • I use gesture to get what I want rather than using the words
• • My parents can’t understand what I say
• • I rely on being shown what to do rather than on understanding the words people say.

To contact the 0 to 19 Torbay health visiting team, please call us on 0300 333 5352 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm) or email: publichealthnursing.torbay@nhs.net

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• • ask lots of questions using words like ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘why’
• • be able to answer questions about ‘why’ something has happened
• • use longer sentences and link sentences together, E.g. “I had pizza for tea and then I played in the garden”
• • describe events that have already happened, E.g. “We got dressed up and we went to the hall and singed songs. All the mummies and daddies did watch”
• • have mostly clear speech, though will continue to have difficulties with a small number of sounds – for example ‘r’ – as in ‘rabbit’, ‘l’ – as in ‘letter’, ‘th’ as in ‘thumb’, ‘sh’ as in ‘show’, and ‘j’ as in ‘jam’
• • listen to longer stories and answer questions about a story they have just heard, for example, simple questions such as “Who did Cinderella dance with at the ball?”, “Were Cinderella’s sisters kind?”
• • understand and often use colour, number and time related words, for example, ‘red’ car, ‘three’ fingers
• • enjoy make-believe play
• • start to like simple jokes – though often their own jokes make little sense
• • start to be able to plan games with others

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• • I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• • I don’t use sentences with 3 words or more
• • I don’t understand simple commands
• • Close relatives can’t understand me most of the time
• • I struggle to turn ideas into sentences
• • My words are often jumbled, and my ideas are difficult to follow

To contact the 0 to 19 Torbay health visiting team, please call us on 0300 333 5352 (Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm) or email: publichealthnursing.torbay@nhs.net

Remember, not all children develop at the same rate but during this time I will:

• • take turns in much longer conversations
• • use sentences that are well formed, for example, “I had spaghetti for tea at Jamilia’s house”
• • be learning more words all the time as well as thinking more about the meanings of words, such as describing the meaning of simple words or asking what a new word means
• • be able to re-tell short stories I have heard in roughly the right order and use language that makes it sound like a story
• • use most speech sounds. However, I may have some difficulties with more difficult words such as ‘scribble’ or ‘elephant’ and some speech sounds such as ‘r’ and ‘th’ may still be difficult
• • enjoy listening to stories, songs and rhymes and will start to make up my own
• • ask relevant questions or make relevant comments in relation to what I’ve have heard
• • understand spoken instructions without stopping what I’m doing to look at who is speaking to me
• • understand more complicated language such as ‘first’, ‘last’, ‘might’, ‘maybe’, ‘above’ and ‘in between’
• • understand words that describe sequences such as “first we are going to the shop, next we will play in the park”
• • choose my own friends
• • use talk to take on different roles in imaginative play, to interact and negotiate with people and to have longer conversations
• • use talk to help work out problems to organise my thinking and take part in activities

My parents might want to speak to a Health Visitor or GP if:

• • I’m not doing some of the things a younger child would (see previous age boxes)
• • I don’t use sentences with 3 words or more
• • I don’t understand simple commands
• • Close relatives can’t understand me most of the time
• • I struggle to turn ideas into sentences
• • My words are often jumbled, and my ideas are difficult to follow
• • I have poor understanding of spoken language.
• • Strangers cannot understand much of my speech.
• • I have difficulty with abstract ideas such as size or time.
• • I cannot identify the words to be able to say what I want.
• • I struggle to organise my words into an order when I talk, e.g. I might miss connecting and describing words – I might say ‘playing ball’ instead of ‘Jake is playing with the ball’.

Talk to your school nurse, GP, school/setting practitioner

CFHD All age Advice line 0333 321 9448 (Mon-Fri 2pm-4.30pm