First words: Teach your child to say "up!"

The first words a child learns to say are typically the most important people ("mama, dada") and things ("milk", "dog") in their environment. "Powerful words" are another category of words that develop early, and include words like "more, done, go, up".  These are learned so quickly because they really teach the child the power of communicating--I say this word, and my wants/needs get met.

Teach your child to say "up":

• When your child is reaching his arms up and screaming, don't just bend down and pick him up, model saying "Up!" while you pick him up.
• After doing this 10-20 or maybe 100 times, your child will hopefully get the idea and start to say "uh" for "up".  Once he is doing this, don't pick him up unless he says "uh" first.
• Eventually he will learn to say "up" correctly, but a child can be two years old before putting the final consonant, in this case /p/, on a word. 
• As soon as possible, fade out modeling the word "up" so that he starts making the request spontaneously.