Sneak peek: When do babies start babbling? Learn when babbling begins, the different types of babbling, and how you can support language development.
Baby babbling usually begins around 6 months, although there is considerable variation in when babies start. Babbling is an important step in language development because babies are learning to control their voices, experiment with sounds, and eventually combine consonants and vowels. How parents respond to those early sounds may also influence how babies learn to communicate.
Key Takeaways
Babies typically begin babbling during the second half of their first year, although there is plenty of normal variation in when it begins.
Babbling is an important step in language development. Babies are experimenting with sounds and learning how to use their voices to communicate.
Babbling changes over time. Early sounds gradually become longer, more varied, and more speech-like.
Babbling isn’t usually meaningful speech yet. When your baby says “ba-ba,” they aren’t necessarily referring to a particular person or thing.
How you respond matters. Talking back, imitating your baby’s sounds, taking turns, and putting words to what your baby is experiencing can encourage early communication.
I still remember the first time my oldest son started babbling as a baby. He had been cooing for months, but then one day he made a real noise that sounded more like a word—something like “ba” or “ma.” I, like most parents, thought he must be a genius 🙂 You probably remember this milestone of child development and parenting with your child, too.
As a parent, you may wonder whether infant babbling is a good sign. As you’ll soon see, it is crucial to your baby’s language development. You’ll respond to those first attempts at sounds, and then your babbling baby becomes more consistent and the sounds start to make sense. This is the beauty of language development in children.
Many of us have probably wondered if trying to understand our baby’s babbling is an effort in futility. Turns out, the answer might be, “no.” A new study published in the journal Infancy challenges the notion that children’s language development is innate and that we cannot significantly alter its course.
What Is Baby Babbling?
Babbling is one of the ways babies begin experimenting with speech sounds. It usually starts with simple vocalizations and gradually becomes more complex as babies learn to put consonants and vowels together.
You might hear your baby make sounds like “ba,” “da,” or “ma,” followed by longer strings such as “ba-ba-ba” or “da-da-da.” Eventually, babies begin mixing different sounds together, creating babbling that sounds more like the rhythm of actual speech.
Babbling is different from the cooing and other sounds babies make when they are younger. Early on, babies may make mostly vowel-like sounds, squeals, or gurgles. As their vocal development progresses, they begin producing more speech-like combinations of consonants and vowels.
When Do Babies Start Babbling?
Although infant development varies quite a bit, most babies begin babbling around 6-9 months of age. Babbling in infants is a little different from cooing (which usually develops earlier). Babbling is when the baby makes repeated sounds, usually easy-to-say syllables like “baa baa” or “maa maa.”
What Are the Different Stages of Baby Babbling?
Speech pathologists tell us that there are, indeed, different phases of babbling in babies. Each of these represents a stage closer to a fully formed language.
Single-syllable sounds (ma, da, ba): around age 4-5 months
Reduplicated babbling (repeating the same sound like ba-ba or ma-ma): around age 6-7 months
Variegated babbling (using different sounds together like ba-ma-da): around age 8-9 months
Jargon (more complex sounds and sometimes simple words like ma ball da): around age 10-11 months
| Age | Type of babbling | What it may sound like |
|---|---|---|
| Around 4–5 months | Early sounds | “ba,” “ma,” “da” |
| Around 6–7 months | Reduplicated babbling | “ba-ba,” “ma-ma” |
| Around 8–9 months | Variegated babbling | “ba-ma-da” |
| Around 10–12 months | Jargon babbling | Longer strings of sounds with speech-like rhythm |
After these types of babbling emerge, the movement towards language is on its way. Before long, your baby will be communicating in full words.
How Should Parents Respond to a Babbling Baby?
When your baby starts babbling, it can be tempting to think of those sounds as something they need to practice before they can learn to talk. But babbling isn’t just vocal practice. It’s also a way for babies to interact with the people around them.
One of the simplest things you can do to support your baby’s developing communication skills is respond to their babbling as though you’re having a conversation.
1. Talk back to your baby
When your baby says “ba-ba-ba,” you don’t need to turn it into a lesson. Simply respond.
You might imitate the sound—”Ba-ba!”—or respond with words: “I hear you! You’re talking to Mommy!”
These back-and-forth exchanges give your baby an early experience with the rhythm of conversation: I make a sound, you respond, and then I get another turn.
2. Imitate some of your baby’s sounds
Babies are fascinated when we imitate them. If your baby makes a particular sound, try making the same sound back.
You can even experiment with the sound together. If your baby says “ba,” you might say “ba-ba” or “ba-bah.”
This isn’t about getting your baby to repeat you. Instead, you’re showing your baby that their sounds can have a social response — and that communication goes both ways.
3. Give your baby time to respond
It’s easy for adults to fill every pause in a conversation. Try doing the opposite with your baby.
After you respond to a babble, pause and wait. Your baby may make another sound, smile, move their mouth, or otherwise signal that they’re ready for another turn.
These little pauses help create the beginnings of a conversational pattern.
4. Put words to what your baby is experiencing
Babies learn language in the context of everyday life. You don’t need flashcards or elaborate activities to give them opportunities to hear language.
Talk about what your baby is looking at, touching, or doing.
“You’re looking at the dog.”
“Here comes your bottle.”
“You’re kicking your feet!”
“That’s a big red ball.”
When you follow your baby’s attention and put words to their experience, you’re connecting the sounds of language with the world around them.
5. Follow your baby’s lead
Pay attention to what captures your baby’s interest and talk about that rather than trying to redirect their attention to something you think they should be learning.
If your baby is fascinated by a ceiling fan, talk about the fan. If they’re watching the dog, talk about the dog. If they’re enthusiastically banging two toys together, describe what they’re doing.
These ordinary moments provide plenty of opportunities for meaningful interaction.
You don’t need to make every interaction educational
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you don’t need to turn babbling into a learning activity.
Your baby is already learning through these everyday exchanges. Talk, listen, imitate, pause, and respond. A few seconds of back-and-forth interaction during a diaper change or while you’re making dinner can be just as valuable as a carefully planned “language activity.”
Babbling is your baby’s way of experimenting with sounds and connecting with you. When you respond, you’re showing them something important: their attempts to communicate matter, and someone is listening.
Research on babbling in infants
The researchers closely observed interactions between mothers and their 8-month-old infants over the course of six months. What they found was that among children whose mothers responded to them by trying to understand what they were saying, they developed more advanced language sounds sooner. In contrast, children whose mothers respond by directing their child’s attention to something else developed language sounds more slowly.
It’s important to note in this study that all the mothers responded to their infants’ babbling, but it’s a distinction in how they responded that seems to make the difference.
The mothers who actively engaged with their infants’ babbling and responded to what they thought they were saying seem to promote the child’s learning to communicate. Among these children, by 15 months of age, they had more words and gestures compared to the other babies.
Is babbling in infants a good sign?
Your babbling baby is more than just cute. Babbling is one of the early stages of language development, so if your infant is learning to make sounds like “maa” or “baa” they are on track for learning language. Of course, language development in humans is complex and takes years to master. This first babbling in infants is a big step.
Over the next few years, your child’s language will continue to develop and its structure refined. Parents can play a huge role in their child’s language development by simply talking to them, narrating their activities, pointing out objects, and engaging with their efforts to communicate (even if you don’t understand what your child is saying).
When Should You Be Concerned About a Baby Who Isn’t Babbling?
Babies don’t all begin babbling at exactly the same age. Some babies are very vocal early on, while others take a little longer to experiment with sounds. So if your 6-month-old isn’t making lots of “ba-ba-ba” sounds yet, there’s not necessarily a reason to worry.
What matters is the overall pattern of your baby’s communication and development, rather than one milestone occurring on a particular date.
That said, babbling is an important part of early communication, and a baby who isn’t making many sounds as they approach the later part of the first year is worth mentioning to their pediatrician. You may also want to bring it up if your baby isn’t responding to sounds, doesn’t seem interested in interacting with people, or has stopped doing something they were previously able to do.
For example, if your baby was regularly babbling and then suddenly becomes much quieter, that’s something to discuss with your child’s doctor.
It’s also important to remember that babbling isn’t the same thing as talking. A baby can babble for months before saying their first meaningful words. Early sounds are part of the process of learning how to use the voice, mouth, and tongue to communicate.
If you’re concerned about your baby’s communication development, you don’t need to wait until a particular milestone or birthday to ask about it. Your pediatrician can help you determine whether your baby’s development is within the expected range and whether a hearing or speech-language evaluation would be helpful.
Most importantly, try not to compare your baby’s vocal development too closely with another baby’s. Development isn’t perfectly linear, and babies can vary quite a bit in when and how they reach early communication milestones.
Does my baby’s babbling mean anything?
What the researchers believe is happening is that, by responding to the infant’s communication, the mothers are reinforcing within the child that he or she can communicate. Early on, babies don’t even understand that they can communicate, so this encouragement from parents is crucial.
Early baby babbling does not have much meaning. The babies are just testing out sounds and figuring out how to make noise. Over time, they learn more and more how to refine that communication with consonant-vowel sounds, which are the beginnings of word formation. Consonant-vowel combinations like “da-da” or “ba-ba” are common because they are easy for the baby to produce.
So put aside your self-consciousness and just chat with your baby like you really know what they’re saying…even if you don’t (and you probably don’t). You can chat with them pretty much like anyone else. They will feel like they’re really communicating. Need an example? Check out this dad who’s a pro at chatting:
Once again, this reiterates the importance of parent-child interactions at the most in-depth level. All that babbling your infant does really is the beginning stages of learning to speak. Responding to your child as if you know what they are saying is just one step along the path of learning language.
FAQ’s About Baby Babbling
Most babies begin babbling during the second half of the first year, although the exact timing varies.
Babbling may include sounds such as “ba-ba,” “da-da,” or “ma-ma,” and gradually becomes more varied and speech-like.
Yes. Babbling is an important part of early speech and language development as babies practice producing and combining sounds.
Yes. Treating babbling as an interaction—taking turns, imitating sounds, talking to your baby, and responding to their attention—can support early communication.
Related resources
Curious Baby: Activities for Parents and Baby
Our Big Book of Words for Language Development
About the author: Amy Webb, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in Human Development and Family Sciences and writes about child development by translating research into practical information for parents.
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