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Speech and Language UK have an ages and stages guide to give you an idea of what to expect when.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Sometimes sound as if they are stammering or stuttering. They are usually trying to share their ideas before their language skills are ready. This is perfectly normal at this age, just show you are listening and give them plenty of time. It's not helpful to draw attention to their 'stammering' by saying things like 'take your time'.

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Try and make your voice sound fun and interesting and use the facial expressions to match.

Young babies pick up on your tone of voice much more than they pick up on the words you're actually saying.

Yeah, oooh! Where are they?

When your baby is first learning new words, keep it simple, focus on the main word that you want them to hear.

Bike, blue bike!

Whatever sound your baby makes, copy them!

When they're babbling, babble straight back to them.

They're learning all about communication skills and they're learning how to take turns in conversations.

If your baby is trying to babble or say words, it can help if they don't have a dummy in their mouth.

Try to make sure they have some time without their dummy, as it can affect some children's speech as they get older.

Shall we take the dummy out?

Good girl, yaaay!

Try playing 'Ready, Steady, Go' games with your baby this can really help build their attention and listening skills.

Ready... steady...

And wait for them to give you a little sign or make a sound before you go, GO and blow the bubbles.

Ready...steady...

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Early language development - Five top tips from a Speech and Language Therapist

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Try and make your voice sound fun and interesting and use the facial expressions to match. Young babies pick up on your tone of voice much more than they pick up on the words you're actually saying. Yeah, oooh! Where are they?

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Find our top tips for talking with your baby here!

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Sharing songs and rhymes is great for babies communication development and bonding.

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If you are worried about your child's communication skills, a good place to start is to speak with your Health Visitor or your child's preschool/nursery.

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Further support is available from Flying Start.

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Baby For any health enquiries, please contact the Children's Community Health Hub on 0300 555 0606, ccs.bedsandlutonchildrenshealthhub@nhs.net or visit https://www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk/luton/childrens For BABY SELF-WEIGHING 15 minutes slots, please book via the links below:Thursdays 9.15am to 12pm at Luton Library (LU1 2NG)Fridays 9.15am to

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If you are worried about your child's speech and language development, look at this Progress Checker from Speech and Language UK

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words.

It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children. It's not the same as a standardised measure a specialist would carry out but it should give you an idea of how your baby or child is developing and whether you need some support or advice to help you and them.

Choose the right age and answer the questions, at the end, we will let you know how your child is doing and what help is available if you need it.

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Our progress checkers will provide short questions you can answer to see how your baby or child is getting on with their talking and understanding of words. It's based on what we know about how talking and understanding of words develops in babies and children.

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Talk and chat happens all day every day. Make the most of bath times and meal times when you get the opportunity to focus on your child.

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A fun activity for babies aged 9-12 months to help with their development and language learning. Chatting to your baby during bath time is a great way of developing your baby's language skills.

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Spend time one to one and face to face with your child to build your bond and support their communication development.

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A fun activity for babies aged 6-9 months to help with their development and language learning. Babies love spending one on one time with you, and it helps boost bonding as well as their listening skills.

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Tune in to your baby's interests and notice what they want to explore and learn.

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Pay attention to the things that your baby is taking an interest in as they play.
Name that thing and talk to them about it. So, if they were looking at a toy mouse like the child in the video, and they seem taken with the mouse's eyes, you could say 'that's Mouse and that's Mouse's eyes.' If they move on to touch the toy's whiskers, you could move on to 'that's his pointy whiskers'. Or you could talk about the noises the mouse makes - 'Mouse goes squeak!'.

Try keeping the toy between you so that you can both focus on it.

If your baby loses interest and starts playing with or looking at something else, move your attention to that thing too.

Remember to use a sing-song voice - this helps baby to engage and pick out the different sounds that make up words . Also, get close to baby, face-to-face and make plenty of eye contact.

If your baby makes a noise or gesture, - this shows them that you're paying attention and that their attempts to communicate are important. This could include actions like pointing or clapping.

Repeat the names of things and actions over and over again - the more they hear the words, the more likely they'll connect your words to the things they see.

Activities to build joint attention

There are many ways you can help your baby develop joint attention skills. We've listed a couple below:

Practise joint attention as part of your daily routine, during tasks such as brushing teeth or at bath and

Playing hide the toy helps teach your child to follow your gaze, point and head turns.

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Pay attention to the things that your baby is taking an interest in as they play. Name that thing and talk to them about it. So, if they were looking at a toy mouse like the child in the video, and they seem taken with the mouse's eyes, you could say 'that's Mouse and that's Mouse's eyes.'

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Copy your baby's babble to show them you are interested and ready to have fun!

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Copying your baby's babbling and cooing helps them learn the rhythm of conversation. It's also great for bonding and spending time one to one.

Watch the video below to see how to make the most of copying your baby's babble.

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Copying your baby's babbling and cooing helps them learn the rhythm of conversation. It's also great for bonding and spending time one to one. Watch the video below to see how to make the most of copying your baby's babble.