Babbles with consonants (ba-ba, ma-ma)

What is this milestone?

Combines consonants and vowels

Babbling is the adorable phase where babies string together consonant-vowel combinations, such as 'ba-ba,' 'ma-ma,' or 'da-da.' It’s an exciting progression from simple cooing to more complex, structured vocal play.

Why it matters

This is a massive linguistic leap. Babbling shows that your baby is learning to coordinate their lips, tongue, and jaw to produce distinct sounds. It’s the direct precursor to forming actual words and sentences.

What to expect leading up to it

Before true babbling starts, you may hear single consonant sounds mixed with vowels. Soon, they will begin to repeat these syllables in long chains, often experimenting with volume, pitch, and intonation, sounding like they are giving an important speech.

How to encourage and support it

Respond to their babbles as if they are telling you a fascinating story. Introduce simple, real words that match their sounds (e.g., if they say 'ba-ba,' say 'Yes, that’s your bottle!'). Reading aloud also provides excellent auditory modeling.

When to talk to your doctor

The CDC's milestone checklists say what most children (75% or more) can do by each age. They list “Makes a lot of different sounds like ‘mamamama’ and ‘bababababa’” by 9 months. If your child is not doing this by then, the CDC's advice is not to wait: talk with your child's doctor, share your concerns, and ask about developmental screening. The same goes at any age if your child loses a skill they once had, or if anything else about their development worries you. Source: the CDC's “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” milestone checklists, checked October 5, 2026.

CDC: Milestones by 9 months · CDC: all milestone checklists