What is baby talk for?

From five months onwards, your baby will produce repeated vowels and consonants, known as babbling, or baby talk, which varies considerably from one language to another.  At this stage, a French baby will make completely different sounds to a British baby, for instance, as each language uses a different set of muscles.  Just as his movements will develop over time, he will also learn to use the muscles of his larynx which controls his vocal chords.  Encouragement from the people around him is essential to help him along his path of amazing discovery, after vowels, he will start producing short syllables like ba, da and you’ll notice his first nasal consonants (b, d, t, p).  Our expert advises you to keep an eye (or ear) out: “Listen to what he says to you.  He may not have the words yet, but he’ll be developing tones of voice, he’s at the proto-language stage.”  His voice will become a toy and he’ll practice making sounds, especially when he’s in bed alone at night.