January 2021 -

TAKING CARE OF BABY

Whether it’s a baby doll or your baby’s favorite stuffed animal, pretending to take care of it can be a great way to teach speech and language skills. As I have stated in previous posts, pretend play is important for many developmental skills. It also can give your child a sense of playing an important role within the family. It’s a great way to prepare your kiddo for becoming a big brother/sister!

Before the age of 2, you will see your child engaging in some independent pretend play. They may begin to imitate some everyday routines they see parents/caregivers doing, such as wiping up the table or try on their highchair or booster seat. Similarly, they may pretend to feed dolls or stuffed animals, wash them, change their diaper, or dress/undress them. Much the same as these consistent routines YOU are helping them with! If you do not see your child engaging in this type of play, you can demonstrate it for them. If they are playing in their play kitchen, show them to pretend to give the doll or stuffed animal a drink. Model sounds/words/word combinations to “talk” for the toy. For example, “Milk please.”, “Thank you.”, make a sipping sound, then “ahhhhh” or “mmmm, yummy!”. Pretend to give the doll or stuffed animal a bath and narrate what you are doing. “Time to get a bath!”, “Wash, wash, wash”, or talk about what you’re washing to work on labeling body parts. For example, “Wash toes!”, etc. Then you can incorporate transitioning the baby from getting a bath to getting dry and dressed. You can model “We need a towel”, “Dry, dry, dry”, then “All done!”, “Pajamas on”, “Feet in”, “Arms in”, etc. In addition, you can expand this further to a bed time routine and they can help you put the baby to bed. Model “Night-night baby” and give your child directions to “Give the baby a blanket” or “Give baby a kiss”, etc(then make the kissing sound).

These activities can help build your child’s vocabulary, ability to make sounds, and turn taking skills with you. It may even help with some of these routines if they give you a hard time getting through it without a meltdown. Pretending to take care of a favorite toy builds their speech and language development, pretend play skills, social skills, and so much more!

Sounds/words to include: baby, eat, sit, drink, wash, water, milk, juice, names of foods, soap, bubbles, pop, body parts, names of clothing, night-night, all clean, all done, on, off, be, blanket, shhhhh, ahhhhhh, mmmmmmm, yum/yummy, etc.

MIRROR PLAY

Have you ever walked into a child care and notice mirrors on the walls? In some infant or young toddler rooms, they are placed at ground level. Why is this? As infants, it is important for babies to see their own reflections, as well as, the reflections of those that care for them. This is a great way to teach them they have a name and so do the other people around them(Hi Joey, Hi Daddy – as you wave). It is also helpful for them to see their actions, giving them the visual feedback as their movements are giving them proprioceptive and vestibular feedback.

Mirrors can be helpful to begin teaching body part identification, for both themselves and on other people(Joey’s nose, Mommy’s nose). Also, it’s a fun way to give them awareness of how their mouth moves and sounds they can make.

For those children that are delayed in their speech and language skills, this can be helpful. However, some may avoid looking in the mirror and resist when it’s introduced. In my experience, these are the kiddos that also resist imitation for a long time. Anecdotally, there seems to be a connection in their perception of potentially failing at the task. They avoid at all costs until they feel confident that the attempt will be a perfect imitation.

If you have a child that does not enjoy looking in the mirror and making silly faces, try setting up a mirror where he/she plays the most. They may end up watching themselves play periodically, learning about how their bodies move. This could aid in less resistance to watching themselves, and you in the mirror. Once they realize watching themselves move their bodies(including their mouths)can help them to imitate more accurately, you can begin to teach them new sounds and words. Have fun and provide a lot of reinforcement as they try new things outside of their comfort zone!

PACIFIERS AND SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

One of the most common questions I get as an Early Intervention Speech Pathologist is about pacifier use. Pacifiers certainly have their use for our babes. Not just to help soothe those fussy babies! It has been linked with decreased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS) and can help babies learn to self soothe. Some studies have shown pacifiers can be helpful for babies who may have trouble sucking or have an underdeveloped sucking reflex. Sucking is a reflex for newborn babies. Newborn reflexes do disappear as babies grow. We should see our babies decrease their need for sucking. They grow and take the bottle or breast less frequently. They begin to eat purees and transition to cup drinking(which I will have more information on).

There is much debate when your baby should no longer have the pacifier. In my experience, “cold turkey” may be more trouble than it’s worth. If it can be slowly decreased, it will be easier(for everyone!) when it suddenly “disappears”. Once your baby begins to show joint attention and imitation, he/she should begin to have it less often during the day. They can begin to explore how their mouths move and all the sounds they can make using toys, teethers, and even foods as they begin venturing through the feeding stages. As they get older, their awareness and memory begin to grow as well. Strategies to decrease pacifier use when they are in toddler stages will be more difficult because of this. In addition, the longer they use the pacifier, the structure of their mouth will begin to be affected and dentition shape will impact speech production.

If you have found yourself with a toddler attached to their pacifier, there are a few things to try to replace the soothing comfort it has provided them. Some children do truly have an oral sensory need for more input to help them feel regulated. Currently, Occupational Therapists(OT) and Speech Language Pathologists(SLP) are recommending use of straw cups over sippy cups. There are many reasons for this shift. One of them being the input your child receives with sucking liquids through a straw. If your child seeks oral input, a straw to drink form is a great alternative and provides regulation to the sensory system. In addition, there are many tools that can be a good substitute throughout the day when they are looking for something to chew on or put in their mouth. When they are teething, these tools can serve double duty! Some of these can also be used to assist with feeding difficulties. It is important to always seek the assistance of a professional pediatric OT or SLP in this case. Contact your pediatrician to inquire about your local Early Intervention program. This is a process. It may happen more slowly than you would like, but it CAN happen with a plan. Please see link below for more information if you would like to explore some alternatives to decrease pacifier use.

https://www.arktherapeutic.com/oral-motor/?aff=59

DIAPER CHANGES

Not always the most pleasant routine of the day, but diaper changes can be a great learning opportunity for your baby! During this time, you are usually face to face. This gives your baby the perfect view of your mouth. As your baby watches you move your mouth, and hears the sounds/words you make, they will begin to imitate(as long as hearing is in tact). Not only are they imitating the motor actions of your mouth, but their tiny brains will make new connections, and the output will be imitation of sounds! So, as many times as you change diapers all day, will be the number of times you are teaching them speech and language!

This is a great time to make silly faces and sounds(raspberries, ooooh, ahhhh, etc). Talk about what you are doing(up, lay down, pants off, wipe, all clean, socks!, etc). Sing songs to your baby and gain eye contact with them. So many ways to engage with them and teach them during this routine! As they get older and begin to wiggle, protesting the process, any of these strategies can work to distract them from their protest.

Diaper changes can be a perfect time to gain interest and increase imitation for those kiddos who are not imitating or using sounds and words. Watching your mouth as they listen can be helpful to their ability to imitate. See developmental milestones in the resources tab for more information regarding when and what you should expect.

*If you have concerns that your baby is not reaching speech and language milestones, speak to your pediatrician or reach out to your local Early Intervention program.

Sounds/words to include: diaper, shirt, pants, socks, up, down, on, off, ooooh, yuck, stinky, wet, dry, all clean, all done, eye, nose, mouth, ears, head, arms, legs, feet, make “raspberries”, pop lips, click tongue, make any silly sound