Begins jabbering with “m,” and “b” sounds

Your Child is now able to make sounds similar to consonants, such as “m” and “b”. Being able to say “mama” or “papa” comes next.

Your Child’s speech is starting to sound more like a language day by day! One of the language milestones to keep your ears out for is when babies start jabbering with consonant sounds that are close to letters, such as “m” and “b” or “p”.

Since Your Child is likely to already know how to produce the vowel “a”, combining it all comes next. Expect to hear “mama” or “papa”, a word spoken by babies from China to Germany, in the coming 6-10 months.

How to support this development
Talk to Your Child as much as possible. When chatting with your little one, use proper words in a soothing tone of voice while looking into Your Child’s eyes to encourage response. Parents can use games, like Peekaboo, to engage with babies. You can also read to Your Child, as that will help with their language development. Any language directed at your child is effective. When you talk to your spouse or friends, Your Child also learns but not as effectively as when spoken directly to. At this stage, children hardly learn anything from watching TV. The reason is that children need an emotional bond for their brain to realize that the information it perceives is relevant and ought to be remembered.

Note: All children develop differently and at their own pace. For children born preterm, the referred timeframe for achieving the various developmental milestones might be incorrect.

Sources: The information and graphs about when children reach specific milestones are taken from various sources, including the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Denver Developmental Screening Test, and the State Institute of Early Childhood Research, Germany (IFP).