Sounds and first words

Between 9 and 12 months, the child begins to really want to communicate with the world. Even if he does not yet pronounce real words, he experiments with a thousand ways to make himself understood: he looks into your eyes, points with his finger, makes gestures, laughs, vocalizes, calls. Every sound, every look, every movement is a form of language: this is how communication is born. At this stage, you may hear sounds like “ba-ba”, “ma-ma”, “pa-pa” - repeated sounds that already have an affective meaning for him or her, even if they are not yet “complete” words.Around the year, many children begin to say one or two recognizable words, often related to the most familiar people or objects (“mom”, “dad”, “baby food”, “hello”) .Talk to him often, with a calm and affectionate tone stingy. Even if he doesn't answer in words, he is listening to you. Name what you do together (“now let's put the food”, “let's get the ball”), so he connects the words to the experiences. Repeat and expand his sounds: if he says' ba ', you can say 'ball, yes, the ball!' So he understands that what he says makes sense. Read simple hardcover books together, with large images and short words.Respond to his gestures and looks: every time you do it, you reinforce his confidence in communicating. Often, observation, games and shared reading are enough to stimulate language in a natural way.