Interaction Discussion Sheet - Bigger Babies Looking after yourself How are you feeling at the moment? How are you encouraging other people to talk and have fun with your baby? Do you want to discuss anything? Directing attention to sound Have you noticed your baby reacting or responding to sound? How are you directing your baby's attention to sound? Hearing aids and cochlear Implants Do you have any questions about the equipment? Are these working properly? Is hearing aid /cochlear implant use becoming more of a challenge, now that your baby is using their hands? Have there been any problems? Background noiseHow are you managing this at home? Live Interaction/Video Discussion What went well? (Share at least three positive points) Looking at faces: Eye contact provides an early lesson about communication. Talking and understanding involves looking at another person and getting information from them by reading their facial expressions. I make eye contact with my baby whilst talking Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always/As appropriate Copying babble: Older babies begin to produce babble - this forms the basis of first words. Parents copy their baby by babbling back to them. This shows the baby that the parents are interested and gives opportunities to hear sounds. I copy the speech sounds that my baby makes Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always/As appropriate • Shaping babble into words: Parents reshape their baby's babble sequences into words. This gives the opportunity to hear and practice new sounds. When my baby babbles I reply, shaping their babble into a real word that is appropriate to the situation Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always/As appropriate Sharing attention: As babies grow older they begin to be more aware of when they and their parents are focusing on the same object/ activity. They are able to follow their parent's line of vision and make use of pointing gestures. This helps them to begin to match the language they hear with the shared focus of attention, which in turn helps them to attach meaning to sounds. My baby and I direct each other's attention and make comments about it Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always/As appropriate Taking turns: Parents respond to their baby's actions or expressions as if he/ she is speaking. A parent will wait for their baby to do something and then interpret it as a contribution to a conversation to which they can respond. Taking turns in this way helps the baby to understand the way conversation works. I take turns with my baby using voice, natural gesture and pauses Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly A lways/As appropriate Keeping language simple: When talking to older babies parents use shorter sentences as if to simplify the task of learning language. The short sentence length is more manageable for the child's limited attention span. At this stage, nursery rhymes and action songs begin to be very popular. When talking to my baby I use simple language and short sentences. Never Rarely Sometimes Mostly Always/As appropriate