Although a baby does not yet speak, it communicates with its environment from the very first moment. As a baby grows up, its repertoire of communication increases and it learns to communicate what it wants and how it feels. From the very beginning, parents should communicate properly with their baby and respond to their communication.

Babies initially communicate unconsciously and must first learn to communicate with their parents. It learns this through the parents' reaction to its messages. A newborn baby only knows crying as a form of communication. Crying can therefore mean anything from feeling hungry, a full nappy, tiredness to needing love. Every attempt by the baby to communicate should be rewarded by the parents, even if they do not immediately understand what the baby is trying to tell them.
When the baby begins its first attempts at verbal communication, i.e. gurgling and babbling, parents can show the baby that communication is two-way. The best way to show this is by imitating the same sounds as the baby.

Babies also communicate with facial expressions. When they smile, you also react with a smile. If it is waving its arms and legs wildly, it is obviously excited to see its parents. Parents do not need to wave their arms in response, but can react to the baby's joy through speech and gestures.

Babies do not yet understand spoken words, but they do learn the sounds of language. Even if it sometimes seems fruitless to tell a baby what you have experienced during the day, it is still important for familiarising them with language and voice. That's why it's good to read stories to babies, even if they don't understand the content.

So that the baby learns that communication is a give and take, you should always wait for a response. Sometimes it takes a little longer for a response to come, but you should give the baby time to react to show him how important his contribution is. After a while, the baby will start to imitate a conversation by babbling.

Parents need to translate the baby's language. When the baby says "ba" or "baba", parents should always respond with the correct word and repeat it over and over again, for example "do you want your ball? Here's your ball." The baby is happy when it is understood and learns the sound of the correct word through constant repetition.