Attention and Listening

• Recognise voices and turns their head towards them.
• Turns towards you and looks at you when you are talking.
• Can pay attention for short periods of time when looking at a book together.

 Play and Interaction

• Begins to  laugh and smile and get excited when you play together.
• Looks at you when you are talking and starts to ‘read’ some of your facial expressions.
• Likes to look at and be near people who are special and significant in their lives.
• Learning that communication and relationships are rewarding. 
• Copies your facial expressions.
• Starts to be able to take turns in interactions if you give enough time.

Expressive Language

• Starts to try and ‘talk’ back to you using sounds and noises.
• Will make noises to try and get your attention.
• Coos and gurgles with pleasure.
• Starts to babble- repetitive strings of sounds and syllables.

Speech Sounds

• Begins to babble recognisable consonant and vowel sounds  (CV) eg ‘ba’ or ‘da’.
• Vocalisations may vary in pitch, volume and stress as if they are talking.
• Begins to play around with noises and sounds.

 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

• Responding to a baby’s communication attempts will help them to see how rewarding communication is
• Babies will communicate more when they are face to face with an adult.
• Using a sing-song intonation/interesting voice, called ‘parentese’ will help babies listen to and tune in to an adult’s voice.
• Allowing a short time to pause and wait after talking to baby gives them time and encouragement to respond e.g. pause and wait for up to 10 seconds or more to allow them time to communicate back.
• Taking turns – taking back and forth turns in an interaction eg peekaboo helps baby to learn about interactions.

 Promoting language

• Respond to baby’s babbling attempts by looking, paying attention and responding to them.
• Copy and repeat any sounds baby has made as part of back and forth interactions.

Opportunities

• Look for times when baby is alert, bright eyed and calm. These are the best times for interaction.
• Talk to baby as often as possible using simple words and sentences. Talk as if baby can understand you.
• Babies will love singing, the rhythm, patterns and tunes of music. They love to hear the same songs and rhymes repeated over and over.
• There are free songs and rhymes available on the bookbug app. 
• Read every day, it’s never too early to start. Babies will enjoy looking at simple picture books with you. There are free books in the baby box and bookbug bags.

Environment

• Reduce background noise and distractions eg turning off the tv will help baby to focus in on adults voice.
• Share a quiet time each day to play and interact where other distractions eg mobile phones are away.

• A child’s communication environment and opportunities for interaction (playing, talking, singing and reading) can 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.

Which factors are associated with better and poorer SLC outcomes? | Early Speech, Language and Communication Development: Which Factors are Associated with Better or Poorer Outcomes? | Resources | Education Scotland.

Health visitors and family nurses play a key role in promoting early language development and in the prevention and early identification of speech, language and communication needs. Below are some suggested ways of supporting families:

• Promote positive interaction skills by role modelling talking, listening, playing and reading with baby.
• Consider other family members who might be able to help – grandparents, older siblings – and give them key messages around talking, singing, reading and interacting.
• 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 a tuneful voice – but encouragement to try this even a little can be a great help.
• Parents with communication support needs may require additional support in communicating and interacting with baby. Ensure you are aware of individuals communication preferences.
• Signposting: Attending local Bookbug sessions, infant massage or other community resources can support the attachment and communication process and can be a great source of support for families. Bookbug Sessions in libraries and community venues are a great way for families to spend quality time together and meet other families. They also help to build children’s social skills and support their speech and language development.
• Parents have access to developmental guidelines relating to early communication skills through the Red book, Ready Steady Baby, Ready Steady Toddler and Parent Club.

For professionals

• Parent Club website is the host for the Chatting Together messages for bumps to babies, and toddlers to young children and has accompanying videos to share with families.
• Chatting Together Messages | National Early Language and Communication (NELC) Project
• Bookbug for the Home training: Fully funded training available for midwives and health visitors who are working closely with families and would like to use stories songs and rhymes on a one-to-one basis to support families.
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: If children are Looked After when they are born or are care-experienced at any point between birth and 5 years, they will be eligible for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Professionals can make families/carers aware or ensure that children are signed up through their local social work department.
• The Scottish model of infant participation: Key Messages for Best Practice: 2 - Voice of the Infant: best practice guidelines and infant pledge - gov.scot.

For parents

• Parent Club website is the host for the Chatting Together messages for bumps to babies, and toddlers to young children and has accompanying videos to share with families.
• Chatting Together Messages | National Early Language and Communication (NELC) Project
• CBeebies Parenting  Activities for babies, toddlers and children.
• You can also find books and resources in the baby bookbug bag and many recordings of popular songs and rhymes on the free Bookbug app.
• Solihull free resources for parents (using code TARTAN) inourplace | Solihull Approach – Scotland | inourplace.
• Understanding your baby.
• Understanding your preterm or sick baby in hospital.
• Understanding your preterm or sick baby now you're home.