When do babies start talking?
Language starts long before the first word. Cooing, babbling and responding to your voice are all steps towards talking, and most babies say their first words around their first birthday.
Typical stages
0-3 months: crying, cooing and turning towards familiar voices.
4-6 months: laughing, squealing and experimenting with sounds.
6-9 months: babbling with repeated sounds such as 'ba-ba' and 'da-da'.
9-12 months: understanding simple words like 'no' and 'bye-bye', pointing and often a first word such as 'mama' or 'dada'.
12-18 months: a growing handful of words, and understanding much more than they can say.
18-24 months: word combinations such as 'more milk', and a vocabulary that grows quickly.
How to encourage language
Talk to your baby throughout the day, describe what you are doing, sing and read together, even from the first months. Respond when they coo and babble as if in a conversation, and give them time to answer. Reducing background TV helps them hear you.
Bilingual families
Babies can learn two languages from the start. They may mix words at first and sometimes start talking a little later, but this is normal and not a delay.
When to talk to a health nurse
Mention it at the check-up if your baby does not respond to sounds, does not babble by around 9-12 months, has no words at around 18 months, or loses words they used to say. Early checks of hearing are important.