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Question & Answer - Development



What signs show mothers whether their babies are developing well with month-to-month milestones from 0 to 12-months?



April 2016

   
 

The following is an interview with Diane Bahr (Published Author and International Presenter on Feeding, Motor Speech, and Mouth Development) by Cintia Saporito (Journalist in Argentina). This interview was conducted in August, 2015.

Question from Cintia Saporito (CS)

Answer from Diane Bahr (DB)

CS: What signs show mothers whether their babies are developing well with month-to-month milestones from 0 to 12-months?

DB: I am going give you some information from my book Nobody Ever Told Me (or My Mother) That! Everything from Bottles and Breathing to Healthy Speech Development (Chapter 7 - “The Secrets to Good Speech Development”). I think communication milestones are so very important for parents to observe because this is the area where symptoms of problems (e.g., autism and other developmental disorders) often first appear.

-1 month: Baby begins to smile socially and makes vowel-like sounds. (p. 235)

-2 to 3 months: Baby follows parent’s movements with eyes; vocalizes in response to speech and other sounds; may laugh, chuckle, or coo. (pp. 236-237)

-3 to 4 months: Baby takes vocal turns with parents, listens to speech, and begins to babble (p. 238)

-4 to 6 months: Baby vocalizes when hearing singing, looking in a mirror, playing with toys, or a person talks to him/her; looks at faces and imitates facial expressions; and looks at objects with another person. (pp. 240-241)

-6 to 7 months: Baby begins to imitate babbling and cooing; seems to be naming things with his/her own sounds; vocalizes often when hearing his/her name (p. 244)

-7 to 9 months: Baby plays speech and gestures games, begins using standard gestures and body language (e.g., waving bye-bye), sings with parent, imitates parent’s speech sounds and other sounds (e.g., a cough) – (p. 245)

-9 to 12 months: Baby says first word(s) such as “dada,” “mama,” “bye -bye,” etc.; participates vocally in songs and rhymes, uses gestures and vocal sounds to get attentions or help; looks at toys and books with others; plays early games like knocking over blocks (pp. 247-248)

About the Interviewer

Cintia Saporito is a Journalist and Sociologist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has contributed as a writer to different media and editorials in her country, as well as collaborated in the writing process of books specializing in subaltern movements and economic history. Cintia is also a Human Studies and Communications Middle School Teacher and is now in the process of getting her degree in Psychology.

Here is the article written by Cintia as a result of her interview with Diane Bahr:

-Saporito, C. (2015, August). What signs show mothers whether their baby is developing well (month-to-month) from birth to 12 months? (Text in Spanish). Univision.com.

About Diane Bahr

Diane Bahr, MS, CCC-SLP, CIMI is a certified speech-language pathologist and infant massage instructor. She has practiced speech-language pathology since 1980 and has been a feeding therapist since 1983. Her experiences include teaching graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education courses; working with children and adults who exhibit a variety of speech, language, feeding, and swallowing disorders; and publishing/presenting information on oral sensory-motor function, assessment, and treatment. She is the author of the textbook Oral Motor Assessment and Treatment: Ages and Stages (Allyn & Bacon, 2001). She has also written a book for parents entitled Nobody Ever Told Me (or My Mother) That! Everything from Bottles and Breathing to Healthy Speech Development (Sensory World, 2010).