At birth, the baby can’t understand exactly what the parents say, but he can feel the emotions of the parent, such as happy, sad, love, care, anxiety, anger, etc. By the time the baby is 4 months old, he can hear his own name, 8 to 12 months, he can understand some simple requests, such as “no” or “don’t touch”. By the age of 2, your baby can say two or three word phrases to you, and by the age of 3, your baby will have mastered hundreds of words and will be quite aware of the daily routines of life. How does my baby’s comprehension develop? Birth to 1 month As long as he is awake, your baby uses his senses to absorb new information from the world he lives in. Although he is not yet able to understand new information as well as an adult or older child, he is accumulating new knowledge every day. Many experts agree that babies understand more than most parents think. As a survival skill, a baby is quite capable of “reading”. He can understand your feelings and thoughts by the tone of your voice, the shape of your mouth, the frequency of your whistle, the contact with your skin, and the look in your eyes. Your baby will build his awareness of the real world by the way you react to him. If you come to see him when he cries, if you always look at him with loving eyes, if you feed him when he is hungry, he will understand that you love and value him. As your baby’s body motor skills develop, his memory will become stronger and the duration of his attention will increase. Before you know it, your baby’s ability to want to talk will improve, and his ability to communicate with others will become better as a result. 2 to 3 months Your baby is constantly learning about everything around him. His favorite activity is observing what’s going on around him and he now understands that you coax him, feed him and play with him when he needs you. Your baby loves your reaction when he smiles at you and is beginning to understand that laughing is a way to let you know he feels content. By 3 months of age, your baby will be able to giggle, which is the most primitive way for him to start “talking” with you. 4 to 7 months By now your baby knows his name and knows that you are talking to him when you call his name. He will even turn his head toward you, and he is more aware of the tone of your voice. Your baby will act happy when your tone sounds happy, and will become upset and possibly cry if you speak to him sternly. Your baby is also beginning to distinguish between strangers and acquaintances, and may cry if you put him in the arms of someone he doesn’t know. 8 to 12 months Your baby is beginning to understand simple commands. For example, when he tries to touch an electrical outlet and you tell him “Don’t move”, he will stop and look at your face. Your baby will now also test your reaction to his behavior. He will throw food on the floor to see what you will do and to store your reaction in his little brain’s memory bank. Later, he will test you again to see if you will react in the same way. 12-18 months By 18 months of age, your baby should be able to understand and use at least 50 words. Your baby will usually understand the meaning of a word before he can say it, and he will be able to follow your instructions and even complete commands that include two separate actions, such as “pick up the blocks and put them in the toy box”. 19-23 months Your baby is beginning to understand that you and he don’t always agree. For example, he may stubbornly hide his hand in his armpit when you try to get him to hold your hand. Your baby is also beginning to understand simple concepts like space and size at this time. This means that your baby may be able to play with simple puzzle toys, that he knows the difference between a triangle and a square, and that he can put different shapes into the appropriate shape categories. Your baby can also understand cause and effect: he knows that you get mad at him when he touches the electrical outlet, a new ability that will come in handy later when he is toilet trained. Before your baby can say goodbye to diapers, he needs to make the connection between bowel movements and using the child’s potty. If he can understand that when he pulls the toilet handle to flush, his urine and feces will be flushed away, he will want to repeat this the next time he goes to the bathroom. If he feels that you expect him to use the toilet, he will be more likely to want to try again. 24 to 36 months By this time, babies are able to understand language very well. Most babies around 2 years old can understand at least 150 words, and this understanding grows by nearly 10 words a day. Language learning can be considered second nature to your baby, who is now able to shift his attention to more complex concepts involving emotions. At two or three years old, your baby can understand the basis of relationships: love and trust. He knows that you and other family members care about him and support him. He learned these important concepts in the first few years of his life from the way you treat him and the way you treat him. So, loving your baby more, meeting his needs and keeping him safe will help him grow into a secure and optimistic child. By observing you on a daily basis, your baby begins to understand some of the more complex aspects of life, and in addition, he has a deeper understanding of how to treat others at this time. If you want your baby to grow up to be a kind and helpful person, then you need to treat him and others that way as well. After your baby is able to understand words, the number of words he can understand and say will continue to increase rapidly. Over the next few years, he will grow to understand more complex concepts and situations, such as basic arithmetic, distinguishing right from wrong, and how to anticipate what will happen in the future.