It's an exciting time when, after months of babbling, your child begins to form recognisable words. It's not an overnight process, and the pace varies significantly from child to child. One thing is sure, though: he understands far more than he can say. Some things to watch for include:
- Gestures that speak louder than words. Your toddler may be a man
of few words but talking up a storm in gestures, like raised arms for
"up" or a pointed finger for "What's that?" Toddlers who learn sign language as babies are especially "fluent".
- Words with many meanings. An early word like "joos" may mean,
"I'm thirsty for milk," "No, I want water," or "Mum! I dropped my
bottle!" Listen to the tone. He'll say the same word in different ways
and using different gestures.
- Words from everyday life. Perhaps not surprisingly, your
child's first words probably relate to things in his immediate life:
"Mama" and "Dada", other favourite people or pets or words to do with
eating ("baba" for bottle), sleeping ("nite-nite"), possessions ("ba"
for bear) or desires ("up").
Your life now: big dangers for small fingers
Your toddler's pincer grasp is probably well developed by now, so he can pick up small objects between his thumb and forefinger fairly easily. He may enjoy practising this skill on any little thing he finds on the floor, which is a lot closer and more visible to his keen eyes than it is to yours.
Be extra careful about small but potentially dangerous items that fall to the floor without adults noticing, such as vitamins and other pills, pieces of food (and pet food), pushpins from the kitchen noticeboard, tiny toy parts used by older siblings and so on. They could end up in your child's mouth.
Parent tip: learning languages
"Kids grow up all over the world learning more than one language, and our children can too. Malaysians know this better than most other people. We should encourage and help our kids learn more than one language." – Vishnu
Community
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Things to consider
Help your toddler develop his love of reading.
Off on the road? Print of our packing checklist for toddlers.
Wonder what to expect from your little one now he's a toddler? See our toddler milestone charts.
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