Teaching a Baby New Words
The exploration of new words using pictures and sounds adds to a broader understanding of a word’s meaning. This also helps to reduce misconceptions.
What Are a Baby’s Most Common First Words?
Receptive language—words a child understands but doesn’t yet say—typically precedes language production by several months. At 8 months, a little one begins to understand his or her name along with such common words as “bottle,” “mama,” “dada” and “bye-bye.” “No no” and “all gone” typically are understood at about 11 months. By age 1, a child will understand more than 50 words, and that number will continue to grow dramatically month-to-month, even though that child may barely be talking. Meanwhile, the acquisition of expressive language—words a child understands and says—relates to what a child best knows and is interested in—mom and dad, for example.