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Helping your toddler to talk
- 0-1 Years
- 1-5 Years
- SEND
- Child development and growing up
- Speech, language and communication
Talking can be intimidating for babies and toddlers. It can take some toddlers a little longer to speak. Every child is different and may start speaking earlier or later than others.
Explore the topics on this page:
Using words to encourage your baby or toddler to talk
Copying
Copying is an important skill to learn as it involves working together. Games and activities that encourage copying are very helpful for babies. Do not force your baby to copy you.
You can help by:
- pulling silly faces like sticking out your tongue and puffing out your cheeks
- copying your baby’s babbling, you can take turns to babble like a conversation
- playing games like peek-a-boo
- encouraging them to wave bye-bye and shake their head for no
- making different noises like animal sounds or making sounds with objects
Using words to encourage your baby or toddler to talk
Talking can be intimidating for children. Do not put too much pressure on your child to talk all the time. Here are a couple of ideas to help them become more comfortable with talking.
Gone, all gone or bye-bye can be used in a variety of ways such as when:
- a person leaves a room such as “daddy gone”, “daddy bye-bye”
- tidying toys away such as “dolly gone” “bye-bye dolly”
- your baby or toddler has finished their food or drink such as “juice gone” “juice all gone”
Repeating these words and phrases whenever you can will encourage your baby or toddler to use them.
When your toddler wants more of something like food or drink ask them in a clear voice “more?”. Repeat this as much as you can until your toddler understands what more means. You can try the following activities to encourage them:
During meal time, give your child a smaller portion of food or drink so they need to ask for more. When they ask, give them more food or drink.
When playing with puzzles or building blocks, pass your child one piece at a time. Only let them have more pieces when they ask for more.
Choose a game that your child really enjoys like being tickled or blowing bubbles. Every so often stop the activity and encourage your toddler to ask for more before continuing.
When your toddler is regularly asking for more, you can then move onto using 2 words at a time like “more drink” or “more swing”.
Helping your child form sentences
Once a child has learned enough words, they will start to say short sentences or phrases using 2 words. If your child only speaks to you with 1 word when they could have used 2, try to encourage them to say more words.
Dummies and pacifiers
The desire for babies to suck is normal and natural. Dummies were made as a substitute breast to comfort and reassure babies who couldn't breastfeed. A dummy or pacifier may be helpful for a bottle-fed baby once feeding is established. This is because they can provide comfort sucking opportunities that a breastfed baby will receive at the breast.
Babies breastfeed for comfort, love and security, as well as nutrition. By breastfeeding your baby as much as they want, it is unlikely they will need a dummy. This is because their sucking needs will be met through their breastfeeds.
When your child starts to babble and learn words, a dummy may affect how much they can experiment with making sounds. This can affect the way they say words and sounds and lessen the opportunities they have to practice words. A dummy could also affect the structures in a child’s mouth if used for extended periods of time. A dummy with an orthodontic teat can help with this.
Using a dummy in the day is more likely to affect speech than at night as your child will not be experimenting with sounds when asleep. Dummies can increase the risk of ear infections, so always make sure the dummy is clean no matter the age of your child. We recommend working towards removing the dummy from 6 months of age. This is so they no longer have a dummy at all by the time your child reaches their first birthday.
If you choose to use a dummy it can be helpful to:
- wait until breastfeeding is established (usually around 4 to 6 weeks old)
- use an orthodontic dummy as it adapts to your baby's mouth shape
- use it as part of your baby's regular sleep routine
It's important to never force your baby to use a dummy. It's best to try and stop giving your baby a dummy when they are between 6 and 12 months old.
Tips on how and when to stop using a dummy
- Choose a time when your child is healthy and emotionally stable to stop using the dummy.
- Replace the dummy with other soothing techniques. This might include cuddling, nursing or carrying your baby in a sling.
- Try to restrict dummy use to specific times, like bedtime.
- Use rewards for older children when they stop using a dummy.
- Explain to your child about the 'dummy fairy' taking the dummy away, or that the dummy is broken.
- Hide the dummy so your child can't see it or ask for it.
Last reviewed: 11 February, 2025
