Final answer:
Infants usually start babbling around 6 months of age, which is part of normal language development. Parents should consult a pediatrician if babbling hasn't started by this time. Engaging with infants through reading, talking, and singing is beneficial for language acquisition.
Step-by-step explanation:
Infants typically begin the babbling stage around 6 months of age. Babbling is a normal developmental stage in language acquisition where infants produce repeated syllables like "ma-ma" or "da-da," which do not carry specific meanings but are important for language development. By about 12 months, they are expected to say their first meaningful words such as "mama" and "dada." If a baby isn't babbling by the 6-month mark, it may be worth consulting a pediatrician to rule out any potential hearing or developmental issues. It's also encouraged to expose infants to language through talking, reading, and singing to promote their language skills.
Before babbling, babies engage in cooing, which consists of producing vowel sounds and is seen as early as a few weeks after birth. As they grow, variations in babble start to resemble the cadences of natural speech. The process of learning language begins even before birth, with infants being able to recognize their mother's voice, and continues as they develop the ability to communicate through gestures.