how to teach a baby

Joking aside, what you are asking is more important AND much more difficult than anything else on this forum!!

Kramarat is right (I'd give that 2 GA's if I could), and don't think you can do everything by yourself. Make sure that friends and family are agree - especially on the discipline and BE CONSISTENT. It's hard.

Teaching to talk is helped by talking to them - as often and as much as you possibly can, about anything and everything. The discipline bit is more difficult.

Go to a search engine and type in "teaching baby to talk".

Follow the directions.

Don't rush the child. They are all different. some will talk sooner than others.

Discipline GENTLY and fairly. Treat the child as you would want to be treated.

I have a 36 year old wife and I need help on teaching her how to stop talking and she too needs much work on the discipline area.

Any thoughts?

(Seriously. Any help would be appreciated.)

Babies are teachable. Wives are not.

At this age, the learning curve is steepest at any other point in his life. I agree with JDG. His mind is like a sponge, taking in so much. Talking will come at his own pace. My daughter didn't start talking cognitively until she was 4 years old, now at 18 she is a regular public speaker and a "chatterbox".

Discipline takes into account give and take, cause and effect, rewards and consequences, setting limits and being prepared for the child to test those limits. Be patient, be objective, be fair, and be consistent.

Good Luck my freind.

Provide a healthy diet, lots of love, and age appropriate toys for visual and tactile stimulation. Speech and walking are dependent on brain development and that will happen when it happens. Read to your son every day and speak to them as if they could comprehend normal adult speech, that means no baby talk.

Dicipline is a last resort. The most powerful behavior modifier is positive reinforcement. This means rewards and praise when they are doing the right thing. Sadly, the first word many children learn is "no", because they have heard it so much. Babies are easily redirected, they really do want to please you and love to see you smile, the word "no" is likely to confuse or frustrate them as to what they should be doing. And remember if they only get attention when they are doing something inappropriate, that attention, even if negative, is a reward, and will reinforce the behavior.

There are many great books on child development and your greatest asset will be knowledge, and a lot of patience. Enjoy watching your child learn, grow, and explore. It is the most rewarding experience you will ever have!

Here's some advice to use not so much right now, but as the child gets older --

NEVER, ever, try to reason with a child. They don't understand what reasoning is.

ESPECIALLY don't do what so many young parents do (that I see so often when I'm in a store) - which is: They tell a child what is going to happen and then say "Okay?" [Like they'll say, 'If you're quiet now, you can have a piece of candy later. Okay?'] -- NO! You don't ask a child if something is 'okay?'. Never, ever say 'Okay?' to a child when you are telling the child something. Don't ask a child a question where the child is asked to make decision. You're the adult, so be the adult.

I almost forgot...............

Nothing against engineers, but there might be better sources for child rearing advice than an engineering forum.

Engineers tend to get cranky when things don't work as expected..............including children.