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We all want to hear our children speak and when they DO speak we want it to sound polite and respectful. Especially in public.

I know a lot of parents worry that if they give their child things without them talking or saying please that their child won't be polite or won't learn to talk.

Reality is - we can't force kids to talk. SURE - we could probably co-erce them to do anything for a piece of chocolate, but that's not true communication, it's parroting. We don't want our kids to learn that they have to parrot in order to get something, we want them to learn to INITIATE language naturally and RESPOND in turn taking interactions. Talking needs to be something they want to do, not something they HAVE to do.

This can be confusing when you've seen posts like mine about communication temptations and withholding things or hiding things so your little one is tempted to communicate. The important thing in any interactions like this is that you MODEL what you'd like your child to say and then WAIT so they have the opportunity to try.
If they do, they do - great.
If they don't, the best thing we can do is model the word again and hand over whatever it is they're trying to get.
ESPECIALLY if it's a basic need - like food or milk.

I promise you're not holding your little one back by not forcing them to speak. Your child will get there in their own time, and even faster when they don't feel under pressure.

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Ask me your questions in the comments.

You've got this!

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