Say their sound back to them

At about four months, babbling may start to turn up, and when it does it tends to carry the rhythms and characteristics of the language spoken around it. There is nothing here to teach. You hand back whatever sound arrives, in your own voice, and on the days when none arrives you have still spent a few minutes face to face with someone who likes your company.

🛡️ This one is easiest on the floor, where there is nowhere to fall from. If you do it at the changing table instead, one hand stays on baby the whole time — a first roll comes on a day nobody predicted, and waiting for a sound is precisely when your eyes are on their face rather than on the edge.