Your baby may not be able to talk straight away, but from the first few weeks they’ll start learning the art of socialisation and will be developing their skills. It’s a crucial part of their growth, and there are many ways you can play a key role in helping them learn to communicate.
Here are things you can do to help encourage your baby’s social development.
Parent & Baby Groups
Parent & baby groups are beneficial socially for both you and your baby – you get to meet other parents, make friends and find support whilst your baby gets to spend time in a new environment with other babies and new faces. They’ll feel secure having you by their side, but will also start to learn to trust other people - even if they’re unfamiliar and unsure with them at first. The more they’re exposed to these new environments, the more confident and calm they’ll feel when they return to them, improving their ability to adapt to social situations outside of the home. When your baby becomes a toddler, they may begin to engage with parallel play – where they and another child play next to each other, but not with each other. Eventually, doing this will lead them start to learn about sharing and co-operation. They may also practice parallel play at home if they have older siblings.
Be Descriptive
Babies absorb information, so be descriptive when describing emotions, actions and social interactions. When handing them a toy, talk about what toy it is – such as describing the colour, texture and type of toy they’re being given. When they’re showing emotion, express out loud why they’re smiling, crying, or making specific noises. This helps them to learn as they grow up and begin to talk, learning how to describe theirs and others’ different senses and emotions – instilling empathy, social awareness and a general understanding of how they are feeling.
Reading books is a great way to boost your baby’s development in multiple areas. When it comes to their social development, point to the words and pictures and describe them, discussing what these words mean or what is being shown in the pictures. It helps them connect meaning to specific words, improves their focus and gives them the opportunity to recognise patterns and rhythms in your voice, see your expressions, and develops their language skills.
Face To Face Interaction
Your baby will watch your facial expressions, and often will try to copy them. Making funny faces or playing a game like peekaboo aren’t just fun activities that help you and your little one bond, but they also teach your baby social cues such as reading emotions and taking turns. These moments help them to learn how to engage with others as they start to recognise and pair a specific facial expression to a certain emotion.
Respond To Their Cues
Social development goes hand in hand with emotional development – around 8 weeks old your baby will begin expressing emotion by smiling and adapting their cries to different situations. This is the first sign that they’re learning to communicate.
Paying attention to your babies cues and signals and responding to them helps them feel secure and understood. Acknowledging their cues with eye contact, comforting them and talking to them helps them to learn trust – letting them, over time, realise their needs are cared for and emotions are valued. As they get older and become more vocal and expressive in their movement, talk to them as if you’re having a conversation and ask questions. A back-and-forth interaction sets the foundations for social development by teaching them the basics of conversations.
Whilst your baby will learn social skills from day-to-day interactions, your can help the process along by using these tips. Some babies may take less time than others to begin talking or mimicking interaction, whilst others may take longer. Going at your baby’s pace will help set you on a healthy path for continuing their social development into the toddler stages and childhood.