Blog
You probably know someone or have at least heard stories of people who skipped crawling, went straight to walking, and “turned out just fine.” We’ve met these people too! If your baby skips crawling, he/she WILL probably be just fine, BUT we are here to make a case for not “skipping” this milestone and circling back to it if your baby did not, or only briefly crawled on hands and knees before walking.
Although you may jump right to thinking about baby’s first word when you think of communication development in the first year, there is so much that needs to develop in baby’s brain before we can expect to hear that first precious “mama” or “dada.” We use the term communication to encompass many aspects of speech and language development, including vocabulary (i.e., how many words a child says), articulation (i.e., how words are formed in the mouth), language expression (i.e., what a child says) and comprehension (i.e., what a child understands), gesture use (e.g., waving), and social skills (e.g., eye contact, turn-taking).
You’re likely already spending time each day talking, reading, and playing with your baby. Engaging and bonding with your baby with these three activities when you can throughout the day are likely all he/she will need to develop communication skills on time. But not all interactions are created equal when it comes to enhancing speech and language development. All children will develop at their own pace, but making a few small changes to how you talk to your baby can make a big impact on your child’s ability to both understand and use language when he/she is ready.
One of my most commonly asked questions from parents is, “How do I teach my baby to walk? He seems close!” Without seeing your child, it’s hard to say exactly why he isn’t walking yet, but it is most often because he needs to do a little more strength and endurance work before he is really ready to take those first dynamic steps unsupported- it is a ton of work!
