Is it normal for premature babies to speak late? What should I do if my premature baby speaks late?

Usually premature babies lag behind full-term babies in language development, but new research results show that if parents spend more time talking to their babies, it can effectively promote the baby's language development process. So is it normal for premature babies to speak late? What should we do if premature babies speak late?

Parents talking more is the key

Language ability includes the ability to listen, speak, and use language. Helping your baby develop better language ability is not only about learning to speak, but also about promoting the coordinated development of many aspects of his brain. It is very helpful for the baby's overall cognitive ability and social coordination ability. The baby learns language entirely through communication with the outside world. From the moment he is born, although his hearing has not yet fully developed, he has already responded to the sounds around him. Parents should not be afraid that the baby does not understand anything at this time. The more you talk to him, the faster he can understand, and the easier it will be for him to speak. When playing with your baby, don't play quietly. Talk to him while telling him what you are doing and what the toy is called. Don't worry about whether he can understand or not. Just talk. You will gain something.

When the baby starts to speak, parents should give him full freedom to develop his own language. When children learn to speak, they often have difficulties in organizing language, so they speak in a halting way and take a long time to finish a sentence. Parents should be patient. Although you already understand what the baby means before he finishes speaking, you should never speak for him. Give him time to speak by himself. When the baby speaks out, if there is something wrong with what he says, parents can repeat it according to his meaning and correct the wrong words and pronunciations. Parents should not deliberately indulge the language of children. For example, children like to repeat words. They say "肚肚" when they have a stomach and "老公老公" when they want to eat. When parents talk to their babies, they should say "肚饿了" instead of "肚肚鸿啊" so that they can learn faster.

Bilingual families have advantages

One of the parents speaks Chinese and the other speaks a foreign language. The baby lives in Taiwan and the external environment is Chinese. Should the family create an environment with another language for the baby? Will the baby's living in an environment with two languages ​​affect his language development? The answer is no. Not only that, a bilingual environment actually has many benefits for babies.

Scientists have used technology to monitor the brain activity of people who speak two languages ​​and found that bilingual people have two different active areas in their brains. When they speak language A, a small area of ​​the brain is very active, and when they speak language B, another area of ​​the brain is active. If a person lives in a bilingual environment from birth, it is equivalent to stimulating an extra area of ​​the brain from the beginning, which is a great help to brain development.

From the practical perspective of language learning, no matter what their parents' native language is, all newborns have the same learning potential for all languages ​​in the world. The earlier they are exposed to a language environment, the more discriminating they will be for the special pronunciation of that language. Some scientists have found that babies will gradually develop a special discrimination for the pronunciation of their mother tongue from 6 months old, which means that the window for accepting different languages ​​without distinction is within 6 months after birth. Therefore, if parents are willing to let their babies come into contact with foreign languages ​​early, the earlier they start, the better the effect.

But the question is, will a bilingual environment have a negative effect on the baby's language development? Will the baby be confused when listening to his father speaking English and his mother speaking Chinese, and end up not being able to learn to speak? The answer is no. There is enough data from around the world showing that children in a bilingual environment behave the same as children in a monolingual environment in terms of language development. The only difference is that he can speak two languages. Maybe he will start to speak a little later, maybe he will mix the two languages ​​together when he speaks, but these are all stage-by-stage phenomena, he will figure it out slowly by himself, and parents just need to insist on speaking their own language to him. By the same token, even if both are Chinese, one parent speaks Minnan/Hakka and the other only speaks Mandarin, if you want your child to learn another dialect, you can also create a bilingual environment at home from birth to promote your child's learning.

Is your baby's language development delayed?

Every child has his or her own developmental schedule. Some walk early, while others talk late. Your baby is two years old, but he or she hardly speaks anything except to mom or dad. Are you worried when you see other children under two years old chattering all day? Ask other parents, some of them will say, "My child also talks late, don't worry, wait until he or she starts talking." After hearing this, can you feel relieved?

There is no definite answer to whether your baby is just late in speaking or has language delay. The only certainty is that if parents have doubts, it is best to seek an expert evaluation. Parents should trust their intuition and take their doubts seriously. Children's brains are developing rapidly, and the earlier any problems are discovered, the better the intervention effect; and the development process is irreversible, and there is no chance to turn back if it is delayed.

However, there are some standards for parents to refer to when judging the difference between late speech and delayed language development. The most important thing is to see whether the baby can understand what adults say and respond accordingly. The language development of infants is divided into stages. Listening is always one step earlier than speaking. Generally speaking, babies with language development problems will have a slower process. So when most children start to speak, they may not be able to understand their parents' instructions. On the contrary, children who are just late in speaking have no problem understanding. When their parents say "Let's go out to play", they will quickly run to the door and knock on it, eager to go out. Parents know their children best. Can they understand what adults say and respond correctly? If they can understand, then the possibility of a problem is very small. If the baby really has a problem with delayed language, professional intervention must be carried out as soon as possible. At the same time, bilingual families can consider communicating with the baby only in Chinese to help him catch up as soon as possible. However, parents should understand that a bilingual environment itself will not cause a baby's language development delay. If there is a developmental delay, it will also affect the learning of both languages. In this case, reducing it to a single language environment is to reduce the complexity of the baby's learning and help him catch up with the developmental process as soon as possible.