Teaching kids to talk: The first 12 months

Language development: 1-3 months

Talking begins with early cries, before progressing onto gurgles, coos and all the other odd sounds that babies make.

In the early days, you will become adept at recognising the differences between your child's cries - whether it's because they need a clean nappy, want a sleep, are hungry or something else totally different.

Language development: 4-12 months

Obviously, your baby still won't be making any sense early on in this stage, although you will hear the odd 'mama' or 'dada'.

Attempts at talking will be a long babble at this age in a baby language that sounds the same regardless of what language you talk: English, Spanish, Japanese or Urdu.

Your child will start to enjoy some specific sounds more than others - this is because they feel nice in their mouth when they are made.

As your child gets nearer to their first birthday, your baby will start to sound as if she's making sense. This is because she's hearing you speak and imitating your patterns and speech.

Your child will also be understanding simple instructions, such as: 'Give mummy the book'.

Singing songs to your child is a good way of helping them develop language skills.