The Speech Snowball: Help Your Baby to Start Snowballing

The 'Speech Snowball' - it's a phenomenon I've named to describe something magical that happens on your baby's journey to talking. Read on to find out what it is, and how you can help your baby to start 'snowballing!'. 

There's so many things that go on in your baby's communication development journey before they get to saying many words independently. 

Right from the day they are born they begin their communication journey - from simple eye contact to gorgeous coos, from babbling to copying words. From first words to sentences....and beyond!

I often get parents telling me that their baby/toddler has a few words but can't quite seem to move past this. They aren't interested in copying words, they sometimes say a word but then don't seem to say it again.....it can be really frustrating for a parent, and you may be asking yourself....when will they TALK??!!

It's all about waiting for that snowball....!

The 'speech snowball' is a term I use to describe the stage in a baby's development when they go from saying a few single words, to all of a sudden copying words left, right and centre. They also start producing soo many words independently, you suddenly have lost count of how many words they can say.

I often say to parents, 'once they start copying words frequently, you'll see their language just start to snowball'. 

Once your baby's language starts snowballing....you'll know what I mean!

I've talked about this term to Alison (the Walky half!) before and her youngest, baby F (not so much a baby anymore...now 18 months old!) has just started to 'snowball'. Alison said to me the other day 'She's snowballing! She has just all of a sudden started copying words all the time and keeps coming out with so many new words each day. She doesn't stop talking!'. Baby F's words aren't all clear, and mainly understood by Alison, but this is completely appropriate for this stage of language development (read our previous blog on speech sound development if you want to know more about your baby's speech clarity).

Now she's started her 'speech snowball', there's no looking back! Soon she'll be joining words together and more.....next thing she'll be a toddler asking 'why?' questions repeatedly 😂🤦‍♀️.

When does the 'snowball' start?

Typically, this burst in language development is seen between the ages of 1 and 2, usually in that second half of the year. First words usually start developing around 12 months of age, and by 18 months, on average, children have around 50 words. By 2 years, they have 200-300 words....that's a huge jump in words! This is when the 'snowball' has occurred.

What needs to happen to get there?

In order to reach this burst in language development, your baby needs to be doing a couple of things.

Understanding words

Before your baby can say a word, they first need to understand it. Once you feel your baby is understanding many, many words and instructions, they're closer to the snowball!

Copying sounds and words

In order to have this burst in language development, your baby first needs to be able to copy your sounds and words. Babies start by copying actions, then sounds and finally words. 

Confidence and a reason to communicate

The most important part.....a bit of confidence and a reason to say those words!

Your toddler will start by copying a few words every now and then. Once they build their confidence with talking and feel like they really understand what all these words mean, they'll realise that they can say them too, and most importantly, say these words to get what they want. This is where you come in parents....we need to create opportunities around the home to give them a reason to communicate and say these words :)

How do I help my toddler to get snowballing?

There are so many strategies that you can use to help your toddler reach this amazing stage of language development. You're probably already doing so many already without even realising it!

For most toddlers, they won't need additional help to get to this stage. 

Some toddlers need an extra little push, and a few tailored, individual strategies to help them get there a bit quicker.

It's always hard to know which toddlers will need that extra push until a bit later. I often don't see children for speech therapy intervention until after 2. I always think that if I could have got in a bit earlier with some extra little strategies, they wouldn't have needed to come see me and their child might have already been talking!

This is where we come in....the Walky Talky Toddler membership. We've got all the information about this stage of development, and most importantly, how to get your toddler there. Strategies that I have used successfully with parents over and over again....and we have videos to demonstrate each strategy too!

We love to help parents get ahead of the game, put those strategies in place early...and see your baby flourish! In our Walky Talky Village (our online community) we can answer your question about your baby's language, and help you tailor the strategies included in our core content to suit them best.

What do I do if I'm worried about my toddler's language?

The information I wrote above about the number of words to expect around 18 months and 2 years are the averages.

The milestones (the minimum we expect by these ages) are 10 words at 18 months and 50 words by 2 years.

If your baby isn't meeting these milestones, we'd recommend seeing a Paediatric Speech Pathologist. It's always better to get in early than wait and see.

If your baby is meeting these milestones, but you're still concerned and want to do everything you can to support their communication development, read below for something new coming your way which will be perfect for you! The Walky Talky Toddler membership is about to launch! Join us and we can support you and help you decide if you need additional intervention from a Speech Pathologist.

We'd love to help you get your toddler 'snowballing' with their language so you can enjoy this milestone as much as we do!!

The Walky Talky Toddler membership is here!

It covers everything you need to support your toddler's language, motor and play development from toddlerhood through to pre-school years.

It has a HUGE section on supporting language development....because as I've explained in this blog, there is a HUGE burst in language development in these years. I've incorporated ALL the strategies I use in clinic with my clients with language difficulties into this membership. Tips for boosting their vocabulary, getting them to join words together and more.

Join the Walky Talky Toddler Membership

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