Babies & toddlers · 2 min read

Pointing and waving are early words

Gestures are how babies talk before they talk.

Before words come gestures. Pointing, waving, and reaching up all send a message.

Research by Rowe and Goldin-Meadow found toddlers who used more gestures at 14 months had bigger vocabularies later.

When your child points, respond with words. You're filling in the language they're reaching for.

Try this: When they point, name it: "Dog! A big brown dog."

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General information, not a diagnosis. Joey supports, and never replaces, qualified speech-language professionals.