Toddler Talk Decoded

Written by Cara Barilla 

Decoding the intricate methods of speech, pronunciation and verbal communication are vastly broadened depicting the child’s level of understanding and milestone peaking. The concern for parents these days is whether your child is hitting the right milestones at the right time; it’s quite difficult not to compare your child’s development with another peer who is the same age. Breaking down the fundamental points to toddler talk is fairly simple and can be broken down to help you learn more about your little one.

It’s important for parents to keep their communication levels clear, effective and maintain clarity in every vowel, consonant and sentence.  By the time your baby reaches 12 months old, they will be able to say “mama”, “dada” and point to objects whilst trying to sound them out. Pointing at an orange and cueing  “Ooo” could potentially mean another milestone is heading your baby’s way as they clearly show how to put an object to a noun.

By the time your baby has hit about 2 years old (more or less), your child will be able to create their little first sentences using nouns, adjectives and verbs. They will be able to say sentences such as “mummy, I want drink”, or “let’s play games!” By then your toddler would have reached an excellent amount of 250 learnt words and names. 

Don’t be worried in case your little one hasn’t adapted to putting words together; understanding is more important than actually vocally expressing their needs. Late vocal expression is usually caught up by age 5. If you feel your child hasn’t adapted just yet, it’s a good time to organise a paediatrician to consult your personalised matter further. 

Getting your toddler to unfold their own language takes time, patience and effort. From the moment you wake up in the morning with your little one to the time you go to sleep, vocal expression is just as important as physical expression to allow balance, synchronised learning, articulation, early literacy, social and coordinating motor skills. 

Exercising natural speech can be easy. When you change their nappy in the morning, lift your bub so you can express to them: “I’m just lifting you up to change your nappy so you’ll be nice and clean!”
Children gain the ability to understand tone, rhythmic speech and sound at a very early age. It’s important to give them the tools they need as they are naturally quick learners.

Children remember words easily when they are set and synchronised to song and rhythm.
Try sing educationally to broaden their vocabulary. For example: you can sing what you are doing with them in the tone of ” three blind mice” or ” twinkle twinkle little star”.

Try to add another word to the word your child is saying. For example, when they say “frog” you can add and respond with: that’s a “green frog” when applying emphasis on the two words together. This will strengthen their memory when it comes to the word “frog”. 

Toddlers naturally have their own language at this stage. You can depict their needs by asking them to point to what they need. The corresponding sound to what they have pointed at is their own way of naming the object. Try and make a journal of all the things they point or look at. 

Regardless of what your bub is trying to say, this can be easily understood by their primary parent. By you correcting them, they will develop a wider vocabulary. Toddlers learn new sounds, tone and volume each day. Stimulating their learning ability by reading to them and taking them through what you are doing step-by-step, you will start to see their language blossom.