Baby Cooing – When Do They Start and How You Can Help

When Do Baby Start Cooing and Smiling?

Babies start to coo and smile when they are six to eight weeks old. Cooing is among the vital milestones for babies, which babies achieve at a certain age. Don’t worry if your baby does not start cooing while other babies of the same age have started already. Each baby has its own pace to learn and grow. As with all milestones, some babies may start making these sounds a little later than the others.

The babies may start cooing anytime between four weeks to the second month. After two months, babies may use gurgling and cooing sounds to get something or just to catch the mum’s attention.

[Read : When Will My Baby Give Her First Smile?]

How Do You Know if Your Baby is Cooing?

Babies usually start crying when they need anything from the mother or ask for a feed. However, as they start growing, they cross the first milestone and start cooing to communicate. They make cooing sounds and laugh when they look at different things.

Babies do coo when you call them or clap around them. They start making “OOH” and “AAH” sounds when they play and when you address them. Soon they learn about different sound variations, and as the time passes, the babies start crying less and make this cooing sound for communication.

If you want to know if your baby makes a cooing sound or not, then you can address them, call them and notice if they smile back and make a cooing sound while laughing. However, if they aren’t making any noise and just smiling when you address them, they may make different facial expressions and try to copy you.

How Does Cooing Help Babies?

Cooing helps communicate, showing that your baby is developing communication skills. Moreover, it is helpful for the babies to learn complex sounds at a later stage.

• Babies start exercising their palate, lips, and tongue to make cooing sounds.
• Cooing sound acts as a pathway for initiating back and forth conversation with your babies and you.
• You can understand your baby’s reactions easily, happiness and hunger.
• Cooing is a medium and expression that they use to talk with you and help you learn about their need easily.
• It is helpful in a baby’s vocabulary and overall language development.

How to Encourage Babies to Start Cooing?

There are many ways in which you can encourage babies to start cooing. We mention some of them below.

1. Talk to Your Babies

We know it sounds childish to talk in a baby’s language, but it can be a great way to help your baby learn to coo. You can speak in a high tone and make different faces to communicate with babies. Moreover, you can sing some sounds like Ohh and Ahh when with your little one. This way, they may try to communicate and make cooing sounds.

2. Speak Properly

By the time babies reach a certain age, such as three to four months, they start noticing the things around them. Keep in mind that babies understand the words you utter in front of them. Try to speak clearly as it helps to learn vocabulary and make different sounds.

“Your Mommy is here to feed you.” Here is your yummy food my baby will eat now.

Make eye contact with the baby when you are talking to them. Sing in front of them as it helps to learn the cooing sound.

[Read : 10 Tips To Communicate With Your Newborn]

What if Your Baby is Not Cooing?

Babies start cooing when they are a few weeks old or reach the age of two months. However, some babies don’t start cooing even at the age of four to five months. They may start a little later; you can try the above to help your baby learn to coo. But if your baby does not start even after reaching the age of 8 months, make sure to consult with a pediatrician.

Nothing is more amazing than listening to the cooing sound made by your little one. These sounds lay the foundation for proper speech and communication development as babies grow into toddlers, and then kids. While most babies coo, babble and achieve every milestone on their own, a little encouragement from parents goes a long way in ensuring that the milestones happen quickly and babies grow to develop excellent communication skills.

FAQ’s

1. Can Babies Coo at 3 weeks?

Babies can make cooing sounds such as oooh and ahhh at 6 to 8 weeks of age. But some babies can make cooing sounds when they are a few weeks old. Sometimes some babies can coo at 3 weeks too.

2. What’s the Difference Between Baby Cooing And Babbling?

Cooing is generally a vowel sound like aaaah, oooh, or eeee, whereas babbling refers to some consonant sounds that babies use when they are seven to eight months old.

3. What Do Babies Learn First, Cooing or Babbling?

Babies learn to coo first. They start cooing when they are two to four months old. But they make babbling sounds when they are five to six months old.

Read Also: Babbling in Babies – Timelines And What to Expect