0 - 3 months: what your baby's saying

Learn how your baby expresses their needs and feelings through sounds from day one!

It won’t come as a surprise to hear that your baby’s main means of communication at this stage is crying! By responding quickly, you let them know they’re being listened to and give them a sense of safety and security. You’ll find that you’ll soon learn to work out why your baby is crying. Eventually, by around 1 month, you’ll start to notice that they use gurgling, grunting and humming sounds when feeling snug and content.

Although your baby won’t be able to talk using words for about a year, at 2 months they’re already learning how to communicate. Your voice is probably their favourite sound. When your baby hears it they’ll instinctively respond by making a sound in reply.

By 3 months they may start to make soft ‘cooing’ sounds. These will tend to start with letters like p, b and m, which can be made with their lips. It’s not surprising then, that ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ become some of your baby’s first words.