Baby Communication

Listening to my 7 month old giggle and grunt and coo, and watching him make random movements with his hands lately, got me reflecting on how babies communicate, and how their communication skills develop over time.

In my observation, I can break baby language development down into three stages:
Stage One-- crying
Stage Two-- noises and/or hand signals
Stage Three-- talking

Crying: Obviously, this is a newborn's only way of communicating his needs. Which is I why I believe so firmly that a crying baby should never be ignored. Crying, for a baby, is instinctual as much as it is learned; and it can be unlearned if the baby's cries are ignored often enough to convince him that crying will never lead to his needs being met. This can result in a baby who is too passive and too quiet. In a worst-case scenario, a baby in this situation can die from neglect. Fortunately, most parents seem to also be instictually programmed to respond to the cries of their infant by doing all they can to keep their baby happy and-- yes-- quiet for once. ;)

After a few months, a baby begins to communicate with his caregivers in a more sophisticated manner: by making more distinct noises to express different needs; and also, as gross and fine motor skills develop, by making rudimentary signs.

My 7-month-old is currently in this stage. He grunts at me and pats his diaper area when he needs a diaper change. He claps his hands when he's happy or excited about something. It's interesting to me that, even before I started using a few baby sings with him ("milk," "more," "all done"), he was already squeezing his fingers around his palm in the sign for "milk," though whether he knew what he was trying to say or not is beyond me since I can't read his mind.

Stage Three, talking, is an obvious one, and one that parents eagerly look forward to. I, being no different than most, also look forward to this stage.

But in the meantime, I am having fun trying to decipher my kid's increasing "vocabulary" of signs and sounds. It sure beats screaming and crying all the time, in any case. :D