Language & Emotion Coaching · 6–18 months

Answer the Babble Like It's a Conversation

When they babble, wait for the gap and answer. The back-and-forth matters more than how many words you say.

The moment

Your ten-month-old is in the high chair going 'ba-ba-ba, da!' at a spoon while you scroll through messages. You're not sure whether there's anything to answer.

What to say

Four ways to say it. Research doesn't rank these against each other, so pick the one that sounds like you.

Emotion Coaching · Answer the feeling in the sound

"Ba-ba-ba! You're telling me all about it. … Yeah? … You like that spoon."

You treat the sound as something meant, and reply to it.

Montessori / Respectful · Wait, then give the real word

(They babble at the spoon. Wait for them to finish.) "Spoon. That's your spoon." (Pause for their turn.)

Clear, real language offered at the moment of their interest.

Connection First · Phone down, take turns

"Da! … Oh, da? … Da-da-da. Your turn." (Wait, eyebrows up.)

Taking turns is the first kind of cooperation there is.

Choices & Logic · Ask, and leave the gap

"Is that right? … And then what happened? … No way."

You hand them a turn and trust them to take it.

What's going on

Babble is practice at conversation. When your reply comes right after their sound, they notice the link and start shaping their sounds toward yours.

What it looks like day to day

Strings of 'ba-ba' and 'da-da', a pause and a look at you, louder babbling when you answer, and pointing with a sound attached.

What the research supports

When mothers of 9.5-month-olds spoke right after their baby babbled, the babies quickly changed their babbling to sound more like speech; babies who heard the same amount of talk at unrelated moments did not (Goldstein & Schwade 2008). In a randomized trial with 71 families, parents coached from 6 months to use the slower, sing-song 'parentese' and to take turns did more of both, and those increases went with stronger language at 18 months (Ferjan Ramírez 2020).

Where it's your call

Whether you answer in real words, copy the sound back, or name what they're looking at is up to you. All of them are a reply.

Sources

Each one links to the paper. How we check them is on the sources page.

Goldstein MH et al. (2008) · Psychological Science
When mothers of 9.5-month-olds spoke right after their infant babbled, the infants quickly changed their babbling to take on the sound patterns of the mother's speech. Infants who heard the same amount of speech at unrelated moments did not.
Laboratory experiment · 9.5-month-old infants and their mothers
PubMed(opens in a new tab)
Ferjan Ramírez N et al. (2020) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Parents coached when their infants were 6, 10 and 14 months used more parentese (higher pitch, slower tempo) and took more back-and-forth turns than control parents. Increases in both were correlated with the children's language growth and with their language at 18 months.
Randomized controlled trial · 71 families of typically developing 6-month-olds, followed to 18 months
PubMed(opens in a new tab)

Hard moments land differently depending on how you were raised.

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This guide is parenting education, not medical advice. The scripts are examples to adapt, not tested treatments. If you're worried about your child's health or development, talk to your pediatrician.