At What Age Can A Baby Communicate With You Better?

Question

what age can a baby, he/she tell you what she wants to eat, drink, use the bathroom,etc.

Answer 1

All children are different. Girls tend to be more communicative than boys....boys are more active.

Either way...babies have a way of communicating their needs regardless of where they are developmentally. As a mother, I was able to figure out what my child needed just by knowing her and observing her actions - even when she was a tiny baby.

My husband had a harder time - but he wasn't the primary care taker at that age - he worked and I stayed home with her for 9 months.

Answer 2

I agree with the posters who suggest Baby Sign. I have taught probably 50 different kids or so to Baby Sign. Start about 6 mos and they will be able to sign back to you starting at around 9 mos. Of course, crying is a form of communication from birth. Facial expressions help some, but children do not have the muscle control to intentionally make facial expressions until they are about 18 months old (not saying they don't smile when they are happy, just that they don't INTEND to smile). Verbal speech can start anywhere from about 11 mos to 20 mos.

Answer 3

Teach your baby sign language. I used Baby Signs and my son began at about 13 months. He started with "more" and "all done" at meal times and quickly added signs. He had over 50 signs by the age of 2. He was also speaking by 2. The sign language helped prior to his being able to say the words and then with more difficult words. Now at the age of 3, he likes to learn or make up signs to words he can already say, it's become a fun game.

Answer 4

Babies can communicate at a very young age actually, you can teach a baby of 6-9 months to use sign language.

Answer 5

babies can communicate through facial expressions very early, as you watch the baby, notice her reactions to different activities.

my granddaughter is 9 months old now and is saying 'bite' when she wants to eat and 'ba-ba' means gramma and 'mama' and 'dada' and 'kt' means kitty and 'pa' means papaw.

use the same word every time you do an activity with the child and they pick up the sound easier. like eating is 'bite', and and say 'wawa' for water. as they get older they will learn to be more vocal but in my experience my 4 kids and 1 granddaughter all started making these sounds for things they want by age 3-4 months.
also, watch where they point, and use the same words each time you tell them what something is. and then they learn to point when they are interested in something.
another thing my granddaughter has learned to do is share her toys with mama. like she will chew on a chewtoy and offer it to mama to chew on too. then mama says thank you and the baby then takes a chew. in this way she is learning to share and manners at the same time.

wishing you many hours of fun with your baby
lily

Answer 6

My daughter is 18 months old, I taught her on her birthday to say "food" and "drink" in sign language so we can communicate better. Now she says Food, More, Drink, and makes the sign for bed, but it actually can mean both bed or blankie (just found that out recently). But it makes our lives so much easier, the signs are simple and some babies learn them with ease. She now is starting to tell me she has to go potty by taking off her diaper or pointing at her diaper and crying (a little annoying), but we are in EARLY stages of potty training! She can say mama (but it can mean anything), dada/daddy, uh-oh, 'ish (mean fish, like goldfish crackers), bye-bye, hi, and has a TON of body language. It just depends on how many words your baby can say and if you choose to teach sign language.

Oh! BTW, I actually taught her the sign for "eat" and told her it means "food". Just made it easy because the sign is so easy to do.

There are tons more signs at that site and my daughter LOVES watching the pretty lady do the signs.

Answer 7

I guess it depends on the child, the gender of the child, and how vocal the child is. My son can point and stuff at things he wants and stuff and say a couple small words so we know what he wants, and he's about 19 months old. it's not necessarily about the words they are speaking, it's more about the body language and expressions. he isn't potty trained yet, but other than that he can communicate pretty well.

Answer 8

I think that a baby can tell u these things from day one they know when they are hungry and have to go to the bathroom.

Answer 9

You can try baby sign language if the baby's about 6 months, but I agree that every child is different.

Answer 10

I highly recommend reading the book Baby Signs, How to talk to your baby before they can talk. Both my children were signing things like eat, more, milk, and done by the age of 8 months thanks to this book. I also think it helps their brain development in language in general and it will avoid a lot of frustration for both of you. good luck