Now Your Baby Can Say Hi and Bye

When Your Baby Starts to Wave Hi and Bye

Babies are excellent observers. They watch you say hi and bye to someone and they start mimicking your actions. Usually, your baby can say hi and bye through hand movements when he is about 8 months old. This is also the time he may start to babble and grab things around him. Some babies may start flapping their hands to say hi and bye only when they are about 10 to 12 months old. If your baby hasn’t started waving after this stage, don’t panic. Instead, watch out for his other developmental milestones, such as motor skills, hand-eye coordination, ability to sit independently, grabbing toys, etc.

If he exhibits these milestones, you can wait for your baby to say hi and bye directly through words instead of waving actions. However, if you don’t notice these milestones in your baby, you must seek medical help quickly, as this could indicate developmental issues in your baby. When he starts waving hi and bye, you can teach him the words for each wave so that he knows exactly when to say hello and when to say goodbye! Your baby may take several more months to actually utter these words, but encouraging him to display them through waving, flapping hands, clapping, etc. can greatly improve his non-verbal and motor skills.