MOST of us take it our ability to speak, to interact verbally with our fellow human beings, for granted.

It is simply second nature for us to talk but it's easy to forget that we didn't start out that way.

A new book by a Princes Risborough journalist aims to make the art of communication less frustrating for babies and their parents. Daily Mail editor Tracy Blake has penned her first publication with friend and speech therapist Nicola Lathey and it's all about reassuring and guiding newcomers to the world of parenting about how their child's talk is developing.

Newly launched 'Small Talk: Simple ways to boost your child's speech and language development from birth' was produced after Mrs Blake found there was no other similar book out there.

She was fascinated after watching Mrs Lathey speak to her then baby, Minni, now nearing four years old, but couldn't find any literature on the subject.

Speaking to Freetime, she said: "What we noticed is there no advice out there, there isn't one book which is for parents to teach them about how communication develops in children.

"The minute you've got someone whose child speaks a lot better than your child you get that insecurity creeping in. You think 'what's happening?' Why's my child not saying 'mummy' and my friend’s child is saying ten words'."

The mother-of-two said: "The message is definitely to reassure parents really so they can be informed of what should roughly happen when, how to help them along, and all the different stages in helping a baby to talk."

Explaining how it can help mums and dads she uses the analogy of trying to put up a flat pack wardrobe without instructions. She said this would be frustrating but as soon as you understand the process, it is more simple.

Mrs Blake, who edits mainly women's interest sections such as Femail, in the Daily Mail, said: "It's also a lot less frustrating for your child when they can tell you they're hot, hungry, thirsty, the quicker the quicker they can tell you what they want and how they feel which should make life easier for everyone."

She insisted she and her co-author are far from 'pushy parents' and said despite some of the initial comments she received about the book, this is not the case at all.

Mrs Blake, who now works on the Mail's i-pad newspaper, said: "Some people have said we must be pushy parents but it's not about saying your child should speak this many words at this time.

"The book is very careful to explain that every child develops at a different pace and it's perfectly normal that at one age one child will have just two words and another might have 50 words but that's still in the normal parameters of speech development. It's very much a guide for parents."

She said it is difficult for parents to sit down and concentrate to give one to one time to their baby because of the hectic nature of modern life. But the book aims to show how just a focused ten minute spell a day can help.

The book also covers all sorts of common concerns for parents - from how to ditch the dummy, to what kind of beaker to use, how weaning affects speech and how to get the most out of story books. The authors have covered all the stages and phases of language development from 0-4 years.

The new co-writers recently held a party to celebrate the launch of the book, which is published by McMillan and is out now.

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