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How old are babies when they really start to speak?

28 November 2009 10 Responses

A Parent asks, I’m totally aware that babies say, “ga-ga, da-da, and ma-ma,” but when do they REALLY begin to communicate verbally? I am also aware that sign-language is another option, meaning that the brain is functioning well. In fact, my eight-month-old is able to communicate through signing clumsily, but her mouth is not accustomed to moving dexterously enough to speak. I would like to know what sort of a jump she has gotten in communicating.
When I said that my 8-month-old can communicate clumsily, she understands about five signs, but only can depict two; “more” and “milk.” Her 5-year-old brother and I sign repetitively with her.

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10 Responses »

  • reflux mommy said:


    It depends on what kind of communication you’re talking about. Just to give you an idea of the progression (and the dr always said my son was right on track with speech) I think that my son had one word when he turned a year old, and that was kind of iffy. By two years old he knew about 200 words, if you included colors and the names of the characters on the Wiggles and Teletubbies. At around 2 1/2 he had very broken speech, kind of like someone who recently immigrated to a new country. But by 3 he was talking a mile a minute.

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  • backza said:


    ga-ga etc is REAL communication.

    Im not into the whole signing crapola Im afraid.

    Babies should learn verbal communication. In my opinion.

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  • Mommalady said:


    Check out Barns & Nobles in a couple of books when your around your baby you develop a language and tell what she will tell you either by pointing or her own gu – gu, ga – ga…

    Pay more attention to the way she react with other children in Child care….

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  • littledueceb said:


    It depends on the child. My son knew how to saw milk and bottle and dippey. By a year old. But didn’t talk in complete words till much older. But with my daughter once she figured out how to make noise i think she started to talk lol. She is 4 now and never shuts up. LOL But beware of what you wish for. My son was also in speech cause of a speech impetiment from people constantly talking baby talk. so when they are learnign to talk it is best to talk clearly not babby talk.

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  • j_ace84 said:


    i know a few friends who have taught their children sign language when they were a few months old. This helped when they were young because they could communicate early, but all of them found that they began speaking a little later than normal maybe because they were more comfortable with signing. I dont know for sure though. My doctor told me that by age one they should say at least 3 words besides mama or dada. And by 15 months at least 6. I hope this helps some.

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  • iheart_cats said:


    when a child is about 1 and a half to about two you can start speaking with them.

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  • terri d said:


    Every child is different. My oldest two who are 3 & 5 spoke fluently (complete full sentences and clear) by 1 1/2….My baby who just turned 1 just says simple one word comments right now , so honestly it depends on the child.

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  • Colleen O said:


    Babies learn to talk when they are ready to talk. 8 months is pretty much too early for really talking other than baby babble even with signing.

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  • shannonmangan said:


    It depends on the child. My daughter could say things like baby, daddy, mommy, go, bye-bye by the time she was 10 months old. By the time she was 18 months old you could actually have a conversation with her, complete sentences. People were amazed when they found out how old she was after hearing her talk to me at like the grocery store, etc. She could count to 10 (English and Spanish), say her ABC’s, and sing several childrens songs, along with some choice songs off the radio (Ciara 1-2 step, I have it on video). The doctor told me she is very advanced and my sister-in-law did an apptitude test on her for her work and she scored over what most kids her age are doing. Now my son, he is another story. He is 14 months old and does not even say mama or dada. He does a lot of babbling but nothing even close to what his sister could do at that age. All kids are different and we have done nothing different with my son than we did with her so it’s nothing that we did or did not do.

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  • MJ said:


    As some of the others have said, every one, every baby develops at their own rate and stages. It doesn’t mean they are behind or anything. If your baby isn’t using speech by around 30months, then I’d definitely check it out.

    Of course you know that sign language does NOT hurt your baby’s speech, but just in case, here are some excellent benefits of babies using sign language: http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/baby-sign-benefits.html

    Here are some emotional, psychological, and intellectual benefits of baby signing: http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/baby-sign-psychological-emotional-benefits.html
    http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/baby-signs-intellectual-benefits.html

    If you are looking for more signs to use with your baby: http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/browsers-free-sign-language-asl-bsl-auslan.html

    Your baby is so lucky to be able to communicate with you and sibling so early!

    Don’t worry about the speech yet, Baby has plenty of time! :-)

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