HOW I GROW UP AND DEVELOP
WHAT I NEED
FROM PEOPLE WHO LOOK AFTER ME
MY WIDER WORLD
SUPPORT
THE HEALTH VISITING PATHWAY
4 MONTHS AND 6 MONTHS
NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND
SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
GIVING CHILDREN THE BEST POSSIBLE START IN LIFE
Likes to look at and be near people who are special and significant in their lives.
Learning that communication and relationships are rewarding.
Coos and gurgles with pleasure.
Reduplicated babble - repetitive strings of sounds and syllables.
Begins to babble recognisable consonant and vowel sounds (CV) e.g. ‘ba’ or ‘da’Q!.
Vocalisation may vary in pitch, volume and stress.
Expansion of vocal play.
Smile and laugh - laughing is a shared experience that helps to reinforce attachment and communication.
Recognises voices and turns head towards them.
Developing Anticipatory Communication – reacting in consistent ways before an event to indicate likes, wants, dislikes, awareness of the familiar and unfamiliar.
Will be able to 'read' some expressions.
SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT KEY
LOOK OUT FOR
- Baby does not appear to fix his interest on an object or voice
- Baby does not babble or make noises to communicate
- Parental concern
PROMOTING INTERACTION
- Proximity: babies will communicate more when they are face to face with an adult.
- Encouraging Turn taking: using play and simple games such as peek-a-boo help baby to learn about taking turns in an interaction.
- Wait and allow pauses after talking so that baby can communicate back
PROMOTING LANGUAGE
- Responsiveness to babbling attempts
- Imitating: repeating any sounds baby has made
OPPORTUNITIES
- Look for times when baby is alert, bright eyed and calm. These are the best times for interaction.
- Talking to baby as often as possible using simple words and sentences. Talk as if baby can understand you.
- Reading: Babies can start to be interested in books from a very early age.
- Music: Babies will love singing, the rhythm, patterns and tunes of music.
ENVIRONMENT
- Reduce background noise and distractions e.g. turning off the tv will help baby to focus in on adults voice.
- Sharing a quiet time each day to play and interact.
A 2012 NCT review of evidence found that:
- A child’s communication environment and opportunities for interaction will directly influence their speech, language and communication development.
- Anything that decreases a parents ability to interact with their child and reduce opportunities for communication may influence a child’s speech, language and communication development.
Health Visitors and Family Nurses play a key role in prevention and early identification of Speech, Language and Communication Needs. Below are some suggested ways of supporting families and signposting them to relevant support services.
- Consider any support a parent with Communication Support Needs may require. Parents with CSN may be less able to access additional supports and information that could assist with their child's development. Ensure you are aware of parents communication preferences and can respond appropriately to these.
- Demonstrate and discuss effective interaction skills.
- Parents with mental health issues, including postnatal depression and postnatal post traumatic stress, may need more support and encouragement to talk with their babies and use ‘parentese’ – but trying this even a little can be a great help to them. Be aware that postnatal mental health issues can affect both mothers and fathers.
- Where there are capacity issues for parents, consider other family members who might be able to help – grandparents, older siblings – and give them key messages
- Signposting: Attending local bookbug sessions, infant massage or other community resources can support the attachment and communication process.
- Tips and advice on effective strategies to support language and social development for sharing or signposting with parents can be found on the bumps to bairns website.
- Parents have access to developmental guidelines relating to early communication skills through the Red book, Ready Steady Baby and Ready Steady Toddler.
- Play at home book contains lots of examples of activities which promote communication.
- Play, Talk, Read website contains many ideas and examples of positive interaction.
- Consider Motivational Interviewing/ Health Coaching Strategies: Health Behaviour change e-learning suite
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Using the Elicit-Provide-Elicit model of sharing information and checking understanding.
- Elicit - what the parent/carer knows already
- Provide - fill in any gaps or misconceptions
- Elicit - Explore what fits with family life
- Using open-ended questions, active listening, reflecting back and summarising.(for more information on these techniques- see NES Motivational Interviewing resource).
- Using a collaborative communication style - working in partnership with families, empowering them to solve issues and make decisions
RESOURCES
FOR PARENTS
Free Talking Tips Worksheets for parents
Through the Eyes of a child for parents age 0-6 months (video clips)
Words Up – parent-friendly posters explaining development and key messages
REFERENCES
Hamer C. 2012. NCT Research overview: Parent-child communication is important from Birth. Perspectives – NCT’s journal on preparing parents for birth and early parenthood. March 2012
NHS Education for Scotland
102 Westport
Edinburgh
EH3 9DN
www.nes.scot.nhs.uk
OTHER LINKS
- NES website
- The Portal
© NHS Education for Scotland 2018. You can copy or reproduce the information in this document for use within NHSScotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES.