Hey Evo dads,
My little one, Leo, just hit this new phase where he’s actually starting to wave! It’s super cute. For a while, it was just a random arm flail, but lately, especially when grandma leaves or I’m heading out the door, he’s actually lifting his hand and doing a little side-to-side motion. It’s not always perfect, sometimes it’s more like a frantic wrist shake, but you can tell he’s trying to mimic us.
It got me thinking about these early communication gestures. We’ve been waving at him for months, saying “bye-bye” every time someone leaves, but I wasn’t sure if it was actually sinking in or if he’d just pick it up on his own. It’s amazing to see those little connections forming in their brains.
Did your little one start waving ‘bye-bye’ around a similar age, and did you do anything specific to encourage it? What other early gestures did you notice your baby pick up, and what felt like the most natural way to ‘teach’ them, if you even tried? Always curious how others navigate these developmental leaps.
Hey, congrats on Leo’s waving! That’s such a cool stage to watch unfold. It sounds exactly like how it went with mine, actually – that transition from a random arm flail to an intentional, even if still a bit clumsy, ‘bye-bye’ motion. It’s truly amazing when you see them start to connect those dots.
To be honest, I think ‘teach’ is a strong word for most of these early gestures. It’s more about modeling and consistent exposure than any structured lesson plan. We were just doing it, waving ‘bye-bye’ every single time someone left, and one day, it just clicked for them. For my oldest, it was around 11 months, and my youngest was closer to 13 months before it really solidified. There’s a pretty wide range there, and it’s all perfectly normal. The main thing is that they’re observing you and engaging.
What truly matters isn’t the exact day they start doing it, or if their hand is perfectly straight. It’s the intent behind it, the communication building blocks. You’re already doing the best ‘teaching’ by simply interacting with him naturally. He sees you, he hears you, and he’s absorbing it all.
Beyond waving, pointing was a big one that came naturally from us just pointing things out (“Look, a bird!”). Clapping for excitement or ‘yay’ moments was another. Those often just emerge from mimicking what they see you doing. Keep doing exactly what you’re doing, dad. You’re building that foundation without even trying.
That’s awesome, Leo’s on his way! We found physically guiding their hand through the ‘bye-bye’ motion a few times, while saying the word, really helped solidify it. They catch on fast once they connect the action with the sound.
That’s a really interesting point about physically guiding their hand! I’ve actually gone back and forth on whether to try something like that. Part of me worries about it feeling a bit too forced for him, but if it helps cement that connection between the action and the ‘bye-bye’ sound, I can totally see the benefit.
Did you find your little one seemed to enjoy having their hand guided, or was it more of a quick, practical teaching moment? I’m just curious if it felt natural for them, or if it was more like a ‘okay, let’s learn this’ kind of thing. It’s a fine line sometimes between gentle encouragement and making it feel like a lesson, isn’t it?
It’s never forced; if they pull away, you stop. Think of it as a quick demonstration, not a lesson. They’ll either engage with it or they won’t, and you just follow their lead.
Hey Evo dads, that’s awesome Leo’s getting his wave on! It really is wild to see those little connections form. My little one, Sam, is still mostly in the ‘frantic wrist shake’ phase you mentioned, so I’m definitely paying attention here.
The whole ‘teaching vs. modeling’ thing is something I wrestle with constantly. Second-Time Parent’s point about it being more about consistent exposure really resonates. We’ve been doing the ‘bye-bye’ wave consistently, but I hadn’t really thought about physically guiding his hand, like Simple Tips mentioned. I think I’m with Curious Parent on the slight hesitation – you just don’t want to overdo it, right? But then again, if it’s a gentle, quick demo as Simple Tips clarified, maybe that’s the sweet spot.
It makes me wonder, for those of you who did try a bit of hand-guiding, how did you decide when to introduce it? Was it when you saw them trying to mimic but not quite getting it, or did you just try it early on? And beyond waving, what about things like pointing to body parts or maybe a simple ‘pat-pat’ for a dog? Did those also just appear from modeling, or did you ever try more direct, gentle ‘demos’ for those too? I’m always looking for ways to encourage without making it feel like homework for them.