Do Babies Understand What You Say? (The First Year)

You know you’ve said a few words around your baby that you’re happy he doesn’t understand. But what do they understand? Are they likely to ignore the word or look like the baby in the photo below (who I presume is listening to gangsta rap)?

Here’s a nice little timeline of when babies understand your words, with the ideas from here. Spoiler alert: They think you’re as difficult to understand as you think Ozzy Osbourne is.

Newborn to 3 months

In the first three months, your baby is learning all about the new world around him.  He will start to recognize voices and faces, connect that you are the provider of food, and make simple cause-and-effect connections. For example, I’m pretty sure my son thinks that every time the kitchen sink turns on it’s to make him a bottle. This is often correct, but sometimes very disappointing when doing the dishes doesn’t lead to a fourth dinner for him.

At the end of this period, your baby will do some coo’ing and it’s encouraged to talk to him as if you’re having a conversation. Sure, it’ll be a bit one-sided, so you might want to use the time to practice your arguments against people who talk back. You can also practice your singing skills as babies have worse musical taste than teenagers: they smile at EVEERRRYYTHHIINNG.

4 to 7 months

This is a pretty good time. Your baby will recognize his name and start to make that connection. With our son, we’ve been starting to use his name to get him to turn, but it’s likely just recognizing our voices. I’ve found that I can say something a room away and he’ll hear me and turn his SONAR right to my direction.

He will also recognize voices of people he knows and this is when “stranger danger” starts. We just crossed six months and he’s doing OK with this so far, but we shall see. We have some plans Saturday where he will see a lot of new people, so this could be a real win … or debacle (and I’m just talking about the Nebraska-Illinois game!)

8 to 12 months

He’s almost a year old but it’s still not too impressive in the linguistic brilliance department. He will start to understand simple words — like “NO” in such phrases as “NO!!! PUT DOWN MOM’S PINOT GRIGIO!!!!”

As he is gaining a better understanding of tone, this is the perfect time (if you haven’t already) to respond strongly with tone, even if the words are meaningless. If he does something he shouldn’t, speak sternly. You could say “OOGA BOOGA BOOGA” in a stern tone and it will be likely as efficient as “Don’t do that” at this juncture, though.

Gesturing also starts here. Waving hello or goodbye or shaking your head yes or no can take off in these months.

Throughout the entire year, though, it’s important to talk to babies like they’re real people. Let me change that: like they’re smart, real people. All of the baby talk isn’t going to help, especially because he’s likely to learn most by imitating you. Unless you want your 14-year-old baby talking his way to being picked last for dodgeball, use real words and talk as if it’s a real conversation!

Enjoy the transitions from silence to coo’ing to babbling to words (which usually start after one year)!

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