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Building Conversations
Talk About
What Interests Your Baby
download the pdf
 How
does your baby let you know what is interesting? Usually,
babies look at, touch, grasp, listen to and chew on objects
they like. They try to reach interesting objects, or light
beams, or other babies. They laugh at unexpected actions
and faces. They pay attention to what is interesting and
new.
We know all about those things, but
for babies, they are new and exciting. When you talk or
sign about your baby's experiences while they are happening,
then your baby will pay attention to you, too.
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Do's |
Don'ts |
| Provide information about the
subject."Airplane. Up-up-up." |
Provide too much information."That's
an airplane. It can fly high in the sky and up in the
clouds." |
| Leave a space for another turn."Big
airplane." Then wait expectantly for your baby
to take a turn |
Decide what the baby's turn will
be."Can you say, `up'? Let's say, 'up.'" |
| Support the child's topic.(baby
reaches for a rattle) "Want your rattle?"
(baby giggles in response to a game) - This signals
mom or dad to play more. |
Change the subject.(baby reaches
for the rattle) "Look…Here's a truck." |
| Encourage turns.(baby laughs at
being jumped) "Jump again?" |
Take too many turns."You
like to jump. Want to jump again? Say jump. Say it again.
Want to jump?" |
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click
on image to view movie |
Practice Example
Let's practice with more clips of moms, dads and babies. In each of the movies, you will see the "do's" in action. Can you pick them out? Each of the parents does a nice job of commenting on the baby's idea or action. You can practice by observing what the parent said and thinking about how it related to the baby's interest.
In the movie above, the dad sees that his little girl wants to play a familiar social game with him. Each time she giggles, he takes this as a signal that she wants the game to continue. He does not "drop the game" and call her attention to something else. He stays with her interest.
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Part
of responding to your baby's interest involves reading
her mood. The mom soothes her baby by talking about
her owie. She then shifts to talking about what the
baby is looking at (Bert!) |
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click
on image to view movie |
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This
mom watches closely what her daughter points to and
does. That leads her to comment on the eyes and on "giving
a kiss." Again, this supports the baby's topic
of interest. |
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click
on image to view movie |
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