Since our little son is born, and before that too, we begin to communicate with him. Each of us will do it differently but there are some details that we can take care of and that will help the communication with the baby be more fluid and simple, which will give us both satisfaction and allow you to better relate to the environment.
The baby will be very aware of us because he knows that we will be his guide in the discovery of a fascinating and unknown world. The verbal and gestural language is the vehicle of communication that we will use and, since the child still does not know the words or the situations, our guiding role is even more important.
When we are with him at home, he will see us do many things, some related to him and others that are simply part of our normal life. Like any person who was present, even if he didn't need us so much to interpret what his senses capture, let's treat him with courtesy. Since he doesn't know anything yet, we're going to explain it to him.
Let's see some ideas that we can adopt to improve our communication with the baby and lay the foundations for a better future relationship.
If we dress it, we can accompany each gesture with its explanation, looking directly at him, speaking normally and with love. Let us tell you if we are putting on the diaper, buttoning the buttons or putting on the annoying coat. The bathtub, the soap, the water temperature, the washing of the hair, everything can take your comment at the same time. Even if we are cleaning or ironing, we can explain what we do. Although we think he doesn't understand us, he will do it very soon and sooner he will do it the more we talk to him and teach him.
It is convenient to make him a participant in the conversation, asking him things, and listening very openly to your answer, since you will not initially use understandable words, but if gestures or noises, and little by little babble with sounds that will remember a word. Asking him is important, it makes him discover that communication is a two-way path in which he can also participate.
Also, as your answers are understandable to us, let's do our best to respect them: if you don't want more food, more teat or more safe water that says it clearly by moving away. In that case, as I said, it is important for the child to let him know that we understand him and that let's respect his control over the basic functions of his body, not insisting or qualifying him.
Even if he doesn't answer us yet, when talking to him, it is convenient to leave the necessary pauses so that he, although he cannot do it, if he perceives that this would be the moment in which he would respond. When he begins to respond, with gorgorites or screams, let's listen to him and translate what we think he says if we have not understood.
That, although sometimes exasperating them if we do not understand them, will help you feel that we are aware of them and want to understand them. In his mind the words are clear long before they are in his mouth, so if they get impatient let's get in their place. I can think of few things more desperate than not being able to move as and when I want and also not being able to speak in a way that they understand me while in my head I am clear about what I say and what I want to do. Therefore, if the child gets angry if we do not understand, remember what we always have to keep in mind, the adult is us and we must show patience before we demand it from a baby.
It is convenient that we use a clear language, simple and correct, to familiarize you with normal grammatical structures and common words. It is also appropriate to refer ourselves and others with the proper names, since it takes some time until the baby is able to analyze the pronouns and can refer to different people. That does not mean that we do not use them, but that we complement them with the name of the person or the word that defines the relationship with the child: "Mom is going to give you the tit", "Dad is putting on the diaper", etc. If we think about it, we all do that instinctively.
Do the slightly sharper voice It is something we all do unconsciously. Parents a lot, but even mothers raise their voices one or two octaves when speaking to the child. In reality, we must each test what tone our child prefers, focusing on his attention and reactions.
Another one of the things we do is use diminutive or specific baby language words. It is not bad, as long as we do not let our child grow up in an environment where no one speaks normally. It is better to use normal language but letting that pleasure for special and affectionate words also have its place.
The communication starts being non verbal. Hugs and glances feed the intelligence and understanding of our son. We are their natural habitat when they are born, our skin is their home, they feel safe in it and in our arms. Of that there is never too much. From then on, the ability to understand and understand the child will increase, even if he does not respond for a while. Emotion, caresses and smiles are a complement to the words that have their effect.
One of the things that make the baby enjoy the most in the first months is imitation. Get in front of him and make gestures and noises that he tries to imitate in an educational game that they love. That we imitate him too, and will make them aware that we receive their actions and we like them. That makes them feel very satisfied and happy.
The stories They are another element that will improve our communication and language learning. Reading aloud, slowly, showing images, in each case with stories suitable for their age, is an intellectual and emotional food. Familiarize the child with books as a pleasant element, learn that their parents also use them, create great complicity and precious memories between parents and children.
This is the way in which we explain and ask for things but also for them it is the way in which they will be able to explain and ask us for things. Listening is as important as transmission. Sometimes we are so clueless with a thousand thoughts that we do not focus on the child, and ignore his demands and gestures as if he did not exist, which must be very sad. No one, not them, likes to be ignored, and more serious is for a child who needs us so much. It offends me that they ignore me, they suffer but leave their mark.
Communicating with them actively and attentively is an investment for the future. The listened child learns to trust us, understands that he receives respect and that he can count on his parents when he needs them, that they will not put him aside for "more important things." As you learn to communicate verbally, you can better explain what you feel, what you want or what you fear, so your emotional behavior and tantrums will not disturb us so much. When you are older, in childhood and adolescence, the emotional communication of childhood, may be the basis of the necessary confidence so that the family can understand each other and be happier together.
I hope these ideas help you communicate better with the baby. Of course it is worth the effort.
